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Name the operation

lane

Regular Member
Lets suppose you wanted to do operations rather than paperwork and the variety of tasks that the people who don't want you to do operations set you in order to fill up all of your time...

What would be a good operation to get good at? I mean... Thinking of Hollows... Travelling around Australia doing cataract surgery. High need for it. Fairly short operation. Short recovery time. Could take an ambulance or something and go on tour...

What other sorts of operations are there that could be done like that? That would, uh, help lots of people, and stuff? Grommits?

Who wants to help me make a list :-D
 

Facebook

Regular Member
I would say getting good at open craniotomies would be a handy one to have in your skill set and a nice little earner. Most people are bound to need one (or just want an elective one) at some point and the cost per job is pretty high, and because the patient can be kept awake during the surgery you could probably figure a way to do it without all the carry-on of a hospital environment and those expensive hangers-on, like the anaesthetist. You could rig up a camper to be a mobile clinic, although you'd probably want to get a decent sized rig so that you could keep a separate living space. Maybe something like this: http://www.trademe.co.nz/motors/car...homes/9-metres-and-over/auction-853466561.htm would be good because the mirrored surfaces would wipe down well post-op.
 

Dsquall

Regular Member
Adult circumcision is another good one, you could use all the left over skin to start a premium leather goods company on the side.

The $s would flow like water.
 

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lane

Regular Member
I didn't know about the ship when I started this thread. I found it after. I was being facetious about it, I apologise. I haven't watched the movie and I don't know anything more about it. Probably should learn before opening my yap.

I wasn't particularly kidding about the idea of learning one particular surgery and then figuring out a way of getting that to the people. Seems to me that that's exactly what Hollows managed to do. It is what a lot of people in science do, as well, with going overseas and learning lab techniques then bringing them back and figuring how to make a living from them.

With respect to not getting to operate... That seemed to me to be pretty much the moral of Health Systems, this semester. Surgeons are expensive because operations are expensive. ACC seems to have it sorted delay delay delay and insofar as possible we can save money when the people just give up and go away... 'Elective surgeries' more generally. How many hip replacements per day is one allowed to do? We learned specifically that getting doctors doing cheap things like paperwork saves money from their otherwise doing expensive things like prescribing and operating... This isn't news to anyone - is it?
 
News to me... And it probably shouldn't be if I was doing my job properly for the past 8 years.

ACC seems to have it sorted delay delay delay and insofar as possible we can save money when the people just give up and go away... 'Elective surgeries' more generally

Do you have any idea how many elective surgeries ACC fund each year?
> 50000 applications
> 80% approved for funding
> $250 million in approved procedures, every year.

The limiting factor for timeliness in the vast majority of cases is surgeon availability, not ACC decision making. ACC provides the funding, but it's the surgeon who determines scheduling, facilities, componentry etc. The private surgery industry in NZ is largely reliant on ACC. And despite its flaws, it's a far superior system to many. Patients and surgeons are much better of for it.

We learned specifically that getting doctors doing cheap things like paperwork saves money from their otherwise doing expensive things like prescribing and operating

This is what they teach in Auckland? I can assure you that consultant surgeons doing "paper work" is still very expensive. Surgeons do a lot more than just rock into theater and slice people up. Consider all the assessment and treatment planning; pre and post-op work... None of that involves a knife. And most of if involves a pen and paper. But it's just as much a part of the job.

If you just want to cut things open all day, then maybe this isn't the career for you? A butchery apprenticeship might be more up your alley?
 

lane

Regular Member
Vet science? I hear there is a shortage in rural communities. Everybody wants to be a Bondi Vet, but the cows aren't going to artificially inseminate themselves, now, are they?
 

lane

Regular Member
Or a plastination sweatshop in China?

I suppose I just feel a bit sad about having missed the 'good old days' of a couple centuries ago where the human body was ill understood and uncharted.

I mean, things like anaesthetic and hand washing are clearly good... But things like being a government worker and managers and paperwork and so on aren't so clearly good. So clearly as good. Something...

I suppose people come back with how incidents of the wrong leg being cut off etc etc etc are down because of these things. On the other hand, it seems to me, that a number of people do choose to bugger off overseas (by which I mean to developing nations rather than to Sydney / Melbourne) in order to get away from the system (somehow) and back to... Medicine. At least... That is what some of them say about that.

I don't know.

Grommits, though.... I'm thinking about grommits. It would result in people being a bit quieter most probably - yes?
 

Mana

there are no stupid questions, only people
Administrator
I suspect you might be putting the cart way, way ahead of the horse here. or whatever the saying is
 

lane

Regular Member
In one way I'm kidding around. It is looking fairly unlikely that I'm going to get to do med... Then even if I got to do med I'm not at all sure how likely it would be that I would get to be a surgeon...

Sometimes the cart appears to be before the horse when a process is cyclic, or has a cyclic component.

Imagine being asked why you would rather be a doctor than a vet on interview, though. Heh heh. Why don't more people go into vet science?
 
By vet science do you mean becoming a veterinarian? I don't think they're the same.

You can only become a vet at Massey. And my understanding is it's just as competitive as getting into med. I think you do a very similar first year of Chem, biochem etc. Just swap the human anatomy for dogs.
 

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frootloop

Doctor
Moderator
By vet science do you mean becoming a veterinarian? I don't think they're the same.

My mum is a vet and her (Massey) degree is a 'Bachelor of Veterinary Science', so I'm pretty sure they're the same (similar to how some unis give out 'Bachelor of Dental Science' degrees for dentistry).

Edit: Yep, Massey vet is a BVSc
 

lane

Regular Member
Yes, I meant veterinarian.

I agree they aren't the same, but I guess I was thinking that it might be closest to medicine in the sense of doing a fairly similar range of things for species other than homo sapiens. There would probably be more opportunities to pioneer surgical technique and assess efficacy on critters who do their rehab and who don't smoke and who eat well... Hmm...

It seems that it is competitive - but not as competitive as medicine. Not surprising really... Less $$$ Less kudos... I might just have to put it down as # 3 or 4 on my list of things to do if medicine doesn't work out for me (so I don't feel destroyed if I don't get a place for next year).
 
Dang, got confused with vet technology.

I'm not sure vets are short of a crust. Not if my vet bills and the vet's car are anything to go by. I'd suggest an experienced and established vet in private practice earns as much as an equivalently experienced GP. Careers NZ seems to have them about the samre. Specialist equine vets would be doing very well for themselves I'd think.
 

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