I recently started the ambulatory portion of my surgery rotation. That means that I just go to clinics for pre-op and post-op patients but don’t actually operate on any of them. This is an interesting situation for me because I work with three different physicians in three different specialties (ENT, ortho, and urology). The different personalities are fascinating, and you can tell they’re each drawn to their specialty for a reason. If I were to write a “Help wanted” ad for each specialty based on the physician I follow, it would go something like this:

_ Dr. Urology_ Must love shooting the shit with old men who can’t urinate. Being able to tolerate listening to  excruciating details about the process of urinating required. Excellent skill at performing digital rectal exams a plus. Women need not apply (patients dislike discussing erectile dysfunction with young 20-something women)

-Dr. Ortho_ Do you hate spending time with patients and listening to them complain? Then this job is for you! In and out of patients room in < 5 minutes! Not very concerned if your patient is in pain? Inquire within. Punctuality not required.

_Dr. ENT_ If you get extreme satisfaction from cleaning out your own ears, imagine how satisfying it is to pull out chunks from little kids’ ears. Sure they scream and require multiple restraints to get the job done, but if you could only see the amount of ear wax you can get from a 4 year-old’s ear! Unbelievable! Must be able to tolerate snot, mucus, and many, many tears. 
Needless to say, I won’t be answering any of these ads any time soon…