This might not be the appropriate thread for this, but it seemed like the most appropriate.
Since I've been in medical school I keep finding myself dreaming about teaching. My heart has always been torn between teaching and medicine and I've always told people that I somehow want to do both. This being my first year of medical school I suppose it might be a good idea to investigate how I can do both. Obviously I'm not certain what area of medicine I'm going into but right now I'm really interested in doing Infectious Diseases. Is there a way that I can become an infectious diseases doctor who can teach a class such as immunology or Medical Bacteriology at the Undergraduate level and perhaps at graduate/professional levels (although I'm much more interested in teaching one or two undergraduate classes a semester) in addition to practicing medicine? I don't really care about where I could teach really as long as it's an accredited university.

If you want to teach, your choices are pretty much internal medicine or pediatrics (aka future IM patients). None of the other specialties have a particularly established culture of teaching (sorry, but it's true). You can certainly teach as a specialist or do general medicine and work as an academic hospitalist (full-time in-house attending).

This might not be the appropriate thread for this, but it seemed like the most appropriate.
Since I've been in medical school I keep finding myself dreaming about teaching. My heart has always been torn between teaching and medicine and I've always told people that I somehow want to do both. This being my first year of medical school I suppose it might be a good idea to investigate how I can do both. Obviously I'm not certain what area of medicine I'm going into but right now I'm really interested in doing Infectious Diseases. Is there a way that I can become an infectious diseases doctor who can teach a class such as immunology or Medical Bacteriology at the Undergraduate level and perhaps at graduate/professional levels (although I'm much more interested in teaching one or two undergraduate classes a semester) in addition to practicing medicine? I don't really care about where I could teach really as long as it's an accredited university.

most who teach are in academic medicine which essentially is research+teaching+clinical duties. However, a few can teach and do clinical stuff without much research, but this takes a bit of luck. As for teaching outside of medical education, the undergraduate level, etc. This is possible but you would likely need to have some sort of basic science type expertise, hence research.

I am curious why you would prefer teaching graduates/undergraduates over medical students?

most who teach are in academic medicine which essentially is research+teaching+clinical duties. However, a few can teach and do clinical stuff without much research, but this takes a bit of luck. As for teaching outside of medical education, the undergraduate level, etc. This is possible but you would likely need to have some sort of basic science type expertise, hence research.

I am curious why you would prefer teaching graduates/undergraduates over medical students?

I would enjoy having a whole course to teach rather than simply teaching a few lectures.

I am curious why you would prefer teaching graduates/undergraduates over medical students?

You must not have much experience w/ med students then! (I'd insert one of those stupid emoticons here but I hate that stuff.)

Seriously though, I've taught high school students, undergrads, med students and grad students during my time in med/grad school and I'd say that it was the high school and undergrad students that were the most interested and provided me with the most rewarding experience. Those were the kids who I really felt were interested in learning. Med students are a total nightmare to work with, grad students are only slightly better. I'm going to punch the next person I hear ask, "is this going to be on the test?".

Looking forward to a nice long career of teaching med and grad students.

BE

You must not have much experience w/ med students then! (I'd insert one of those stupid emoticons here but I hate that stuff.)

Seriously though, I've taught high school students, undergrads, med students and grad students during my time in med/grad school and I'd say that it was the high school and undergrad students that were the most interested and provided me with the most rewarding experience. Those were the kids who I really felt were interested in learning. Med students are a total nightmare to work with, grad students are only slightly better. I'm going to punch the next person I hear ask, "is this going to be on the test?".

Looking forward to a nice long career of teaching med and grad students.

BE

I didn't want to say that but that's also a factor.

My experiences have been rather different. High schoolers are largely total ingrates unless you get a group of gunner wannabe doctors. College students are the same. Med students are professionals. If you get asked "will this be on the test" you ("you" in general, not you in particular) are teaching too much information and/or you are teaching at an inappropriately high level. The important material should be obvious. Not doing 150 powerpoint slides in an hour helps.

If you have a serious desire to teach, you can mould your career as you see fit. I have met a couple of docs at my med school who balance private practice with an academic career in medical anthropology and medical history. They work as hospitalists part-time, teach undergrads and med students, write books, and publish in academic social science journals. From my conversations with them, their careers have entailed a major pay-cut compared to their colleagues who practice medicine full-time, but they really enjoy what they do. There are others who have entered predominantly research or public health oriented careers, and teaching undergrad and grad student courses is a formal expectation. There are also full-time clinical faculty, particularly in the medicine subspecialties who are the course directors for their particular field (eg - cardiology, pulmonary, etc) - the course takes up a lot of their time for a few weeks and then theyr'e back to their regular schedule. Teaching tends not to advance careers in the way research does or reimburse like a private-practice doc doing beaucoup lucrative procedures, but if you wanna teach, there are plenty of opportunities no matter what specialty you choose.

If you have a serious desire to teach, you can mould your career as you see fit. I have met a couple of docs at my med school who balance private practice with an academic career in medical anthropology and medical history. They work as hospitalists part-time, teach undergrads and med students, write books, and publish in academic social science journals. From my conversations with them, their careers have entailed a major pay-cut compared to their colleagues who practice medicine full-time, but they really enjoy what they do. There are others who have entered predominantly research or public health oriented careers, and teaching undergrad and grad student courses is a formal expectation. There are also full-time clinical faculty, particularly in the medicine subspecialties who are the course directors for their particular field (eg - cardiology, pulmonary, etc) - the course takes up a lot of their time for a few weeks and then theyr'e back to their regular schedule. Teaching tends not to advance careers in the way research does or reimburse like a private-practice doc doing beaucoup lucrative procedures, but if you wanna teach, there are plenty of opportunities no matter what specialty you choose.

What I have in mind would be to have some sort of affilitation with a local university and maybe teach an advanced course on infectious diseases or perhaps work at the junior college level providing a good microbiology course. It doesn't really have to help my career, it's just that whenever the stress of medicine is getting to me the only thing I can think about it how much fun it would be to take what I'm learning and make it more accessible to people that want to learn.

You must not have much experience w/ med students then! (I'd insert one of those stupid emoticons here but I hate that stuff.)

Seriously though, I've taught high school students, undergrads, med students and grad students during my time in med/grad school and I'd say that it was the high school and undergrad students that were the most interested and provided me with the most rewarding experience. Those were the kids who I really felt were interested in learning. Med students are a total nightmare to work with, grad students are only slightly better. I'm going to punch the next person I hear ask, "is this going to be on the test?".

Looking forward to a nice long career of teaching med and grad students.

BE

LOL or "Do I have to know this for the test" or any other derivation which shows they completely miss the fact that i am trying to teach concepts and understanding not just facts.

Don't forget about teaching other physicians and professionals if you are expert enough to get lectureship oppertunities (usually related to research or industry experience). In actuallity is isn't that hard to do medical teaching. If you work at a hospital where medical students etc. rotate you can teach them. FOr free of course.

If you want to teach, your choices are pretty much internal medicine or pediatrics (aka future IM patients). None of the other specialties have a particularly established culture of teaching (sorry, but it's true). You can certainly teach as a specialist or do general medicine and work as an academic hospitalist (full-time in-house attending).

Surgery has a pretty established tradition of teaching

Not in my experience unfortunately. It's a very different kind of teaching too.