Just curious,

What other specialities were you interested in during medical school, and why did you ultimately choose ophthalmology?

I started medical school wanting to go into internal medicine, then decided I wanted to do a subspecialty of medicine (GI or cards), now I want to do a surgical subspecialty. The two that excite me most are ophtho (#1 choice) and ortho (a far second). My options are still open, but I am pursuing ophthalmology (I'm a sophomore).

What's your story?

Hi twintiger32,

For me it was geriatrics. But then I decided I wanted to do something surgical during 3rd year. Ophtho has surgeries you can do on old people that will help them much more than hurt them. The field also has a lot of variety. It opens the door to some fascinating research, too. Plus the hours are good. AND there is a lot of opportunity for international work (I shouldn't list this last).

Good luck pursuing ophtho!

Lily

Just curious,

What other specialities were you interested in during medical school, and why did you ultimately choose ophthalmology?

I started medical school wanting to go into internal medicine, then decided I wanted to do a subspecialty of medicine (GI or cards), now I want to do a surgical subspecialty. The two that excite me most are ophtho (#1 choice) and ortho (a far second). My options are still open, but I am pursuing ophthalmology (I'm a sophomore).

What's your story?

I love FP, with it's small outpt clinics and long-term relationships. However, I found myself frustrated that I could not offer further care to the patients if their problems progressed from medical to surgical care being needed. My mentor (an FP) was pretty influential in turning me towards ophtho.

Plus, sight is such a huge deal! Having the ability to affect a patient's quality of life so profoundly will be an honor.

I love the microsurgical technigue...plus there are many toys to play with including lasers (think halo 2)

like many others, i considered a lot of other fields. i thought about ophtho when i first entered med school, but over the first two years was leaning towards cardio. after my surgery clerkship i realized that i wanted something surgical and decided on urology. i also thought about ENT, anesthesia and to a lesser extent a medical subspecialty again. after doing neuro and then an ophtho rotation i was sold. the topics in ophtho are a lot more interesting to me than all the cancer in uro. in retrospect ent has a lot of cool stuff (otology) too, but the mouth disgusts me and the tools arent quite as cool as ophtho. also, with the hours in many ophtho subspecialties (i think) you might have more time to be involved with research, academics, teaching, business, your family, friends etc than most fields. i think ophtho is the ultimate field because i will get to do everything that i want to do (see above) and get paid for it. what else could you want? :luck:

I am a third year medicine resident and I decided to switch into ophthalmology when I was an intern. It was too late to apply as an intern so I applied as a 2nd year, and I matched! I considered anesthesiology and radiology also, but what attracted me towards ophthalmology was the good outcomes, interesting and short surgeries, and opportunity to apply my skills in a mountain hut in the middle of nowhere. I was very inspired by an ophthalmologist named Geoffrey Tabin who was feature on a National Geographic Explorer episode who goes to Nepal to set up cataract surgery clinics in the Himalayas. He initially started out as an orthopedics resident, but took a year off to train and climb Mount Everest. But after encountering ophthalmologists during his travels, he decided to switch to ophthalmology. As I am taking care of medical patients with orthopedic problems, I am attracted by some aspects of the field (ie. again, good outcomes, healthy and grateful patients). However, being able to restore sight to a person that is blind is one of the best feelings I can think of, and this is why I ultimately decided on ophthalmology.

The best advice someone gave me when I was deciding about which specialty to choose was imagine yourself in a room the rest of your life. Suppose there were a host of doctors from every specialty in this room. Which kind of doctor would you enjoy spending time discussing interesting cases? I also recommend spending at least 2 weeks with a private practicioner in whatever field you are considering. Most of us spend a bulk of our time in medical school in an academic setting which is much different than the pace/lifestyle of private practice.

I was gung-ho ER until my third-year of med school. The fast pace, wearing pajamas to work, getting to dash my beeper into a hundred pieces, all seemed very enjoyable. But the patient population was a real turn-off.

I was gung-ho ER until my third-year of med school. The fast pace, wearing pajamas to work, getting to dash my beeper into a hundred pieces, all seemed very enjoyable. But the patient population was a real turn-off.
Yeah, I've considered ER - but pediatric ER rather than general just for the patient population. Radiology, orthopedics, and ophthalmology have all held my interest at various points during the year. I don't want to spend my life in a dark room doing radiology, orthopedic surgery residency and long hours in surgery don't really appeal to me, so I've been planning on ophthalmology so far this 3rd year just in case; I can always switch to something else if the passion strikes me, but it's hard to suddenly go into the Ophtho at the last minute.

i like everythig so far, but love medicine and neuro and later realized that i loved them both mainly for the old people. i love senior citizens!

i've just decided on ophthalmology as a specialty (i'm a third year) and have a lot of catching up to do...