By Sharon Savely Odegaard 鈥�72
As a second-year resident in orthopedic surgery at the UC San Diego Medical Center, TYLER PARAS 鈥�16 focuses on caring for his patients and developing his skills.
鈥淥rthopedics is the best field,鈥� he says. 鈥淚 could stay in the operating room forever and not get tired. A surgery eight hours long flies by because it鈥檚 so cool.
鈥淛oint replacements are awesome. People who can鈥檛 walk come in, and a week after surgery, they鈥檙e walking pain-free.鈥�
Tyler earned his 蜜桃传媒 degree in cellular and molecular biology. He scored in the 99th percentile when he took the Medical College Admission Test (MCAT) and graduated from the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine. He鈥檚 pleased with his choice of specialty and grateful to be at UC San Diego, his first choice for his residency.
He says 蜜桃传媒 prepared him to be a successful surgeon. 鈥淎bout half of my honors chemistry classmates went on to medical school. That鈥檚 insane.鈥� He attributes this success rate to small classes, study groups and one-on-one time with professors. At larger schools, undergraduates typically work with graduate students, but Tyler conducted research with his professors. That mentoring proved invaluable.
Dealing with learning disabilities challenges Tyler, but he doesn鈥檛 dwell on them. With diagnoses of dyslexia, dysgraphia and auditory processing disorder, he may work harder than others, but that鈥檚 fine with him. He takes extra care to avoid mistakes. 鈥淚 can get things backwards, so if a patient has a left ankle fracture, I鈥檓 careful to note it鈥檚 the left and not the right ankle,鈥� he says.
Tyler looks at orthopedics 鈥� and life 鈥� in three parts: innate talent, how hard you work and techniques. 鈥淵ou can鈥檛 change your IQ, and you can only work so hard with just 24 hours in a day. So I focus on the third area: techniques. You can improve techniques forever. You can always find ways to become more efficient.鈥�
Tyler thrives on the variety of patients he treats. 鈥淪omeone can come in with a femur fracture and be in a ton of pain. Then we can take them to surgery and have them walking the same day. It鈥檚 so rewarding.鈥� He talks about seeing 37 patients in a day and scrubbing in for eight surgeries the next day. He loves developing the skill sets required in orthopedics, from the brute strength needed for realigning a patient鈥檚 bones to the finesse of microsurgical nerve repairs.
Besides working with patients, Tyler helps others who are training in orthopedics. He writes for Orthobullets, the go-to resource for aspiring orthopedists. He contributes to the question bank, writes up cases, and designs flash cards.
Patient care remains his first priority. 鈥淭oday I took a seven-pound tumor out of someone鈥檚 leg,鈥� he says. 鈥淚t鈥檚 gratifying when you walk through a terrible situation with a patient and give them a great outcome. The goal is to find something you鈥檙e good at, that you like, and that you鈥檙e grateful you get to do.鈥�