A Surgeon's Thoughts on Oncology

Since it's Block III, we have switched anatomy professors again. Our new one seems ok, decent guy, albeit a bit forgetful. Today he asked me to sit down with him and chat for a few minutes... apparently he likes to get to know each student on an individual level. Which I think is pretty nice. So he asked me where I was from, what I have done previously, yada yada. Then I told him how much I like EM, but I was trying to keep my options open. Then I mentioned how I was liking my pancreatic cancer research. He got wide eyes and said "so you like oncology?" I shrugged and said " I don't know, maybe"... then he gave me a funny look, waved his hand and said "Uh. Oncology is like pissing into the wind. Really." Not so encouraging... but funny nonetheless.