Life as a surgeon, sort of.

Surgeons typically sign their name fifty to one hundred times per day. Other than that they typically write in charts, a sort of medical record, fill out prescriptions, and publish case reports on unusual or difficult patients. Along with this of course there is an element of professional, long term writing such as text books, dissertations and medical journals, but mainly the day to day life of a surgeon is lots of fast paced and on your feet writing of a technical nature.

                Challenges of this type of writing is obviously getting to the point, and being able to do so in a quick and decisive manner. One cannot get bogged down with fancy wording, as it will take far too long, but at the same time, attention to detail is key. If mistakes are made accidents happen, and that is not an option to a doctor. In addition, many people in the medical profession are serious critics, and one mistaken semi-colon could be the joke of some obnoxious person for all eternity.

                Preparation or training to write such technical documents is obviously attaining the medical knowledge to make educated decisions. Practicing writing one-paragraph-papers helps coach doctors to be concise and to be honest medical school teaches the ability to quickly get stuff done or students drown in the workload. The entire path up to becoming a surgeon trains the doctor to think and write critically, and do so quickly and report the information accurately.

                Personally, I have had little training in this type of writing up to this point. I’ve never had a semester at Purdue with fewer than  2 bio/chem/synthesis labs, and typically we write two reports per week per lab, not counting research. Although, in medical school I assume I will be tested on a daily basis as the workload and pace will pick up quickly. I think I have an advantage over other ’17 med school students because of my intense workload, and experience with technical writing, but I’m still worried about my ability to write the longer and more in detail essays and dissertations.

                With works of these sorts, the devil is in the details. An essay can be flawless in grammar ect, but receive failing marks because it simply doesn’t cover everything needed.  Every report written must be incredibly detailed, and be able to be read in a few minutes, and tell the entire story to a party that, while educated, probably doesn’t have personal experience with the specific matter. A good report is all of these things and also draws conclusions where appropriate, and allows reader inference in others. Sounds fun eh?