General surgery and bariatric surgery were both 2 fields entirely untouched in my ISM study until this week. This is largely due to the fact that, and Dr. Patel confirmed this, the da Vinci isn’t as essential in these fields. Dr. Patel described robotic surgery in her field as something that is fun and less labor intensive, but not a necessity when surgeons are trained in laparoscopic and traditional means. While the da Vinci is absolutely beneficial in gynecology, urology, and colorectal surgery, these are where the necessary fields stop. Anywhere else, and robotic surgery is simply a novelty.
This new information will help me to better refine my study on robotic surgery, making sure to only focus on the relevant fields in the future, particularly in the aid of creation my Original Work and selecting a mentor. I now know that my best bet in the mentor selection process will be to opt for a operative gynecologist, of which I have interviewed 2 thus far, in order to maximize my learning potential in the field.
