Hi
I am a 3rd Year Medical Student at Imperial College Medical School, London, UK, and I have set my sights on practising in the US once I graduate.
In the UK the route to becoming a doctor is different to the US, and the MBBS/BSc is a 6 year undergraduate degree (2 years theory, 3rd year clinical, 4th year BSc, 5th and 6th years clinical). My BSc is going to be in Endocrinology, and I am not able to change it because of the way the application system worked out.
I plan to do the USMLE before I graduate, so when I do, I won't have to work Foundation Year 1 in the UK before going to the States.
The summer of 2009 will be my last chance to get some proper research under my belt (apart from in the BSc) in an area that I could potentially specialise in, because after that I will get no summer holidays. When thinking about what kind of research I wanted to do, I reached the dilema of thinking, Oh my goodness, I actually need to decide what speciality I want to go in, there is no point doing research in dermatology if I would want to apply for an anaesthesiology residency once I graduated. Also, being a UK student applying to the US, I would want to have as much experience under my belt as possible in order to get a good job.
As a female, I plan to eventually get married and have children. It was originally Obs and Gynae that drew me to be a doctor, but I realised that I would have a very hectic lifestyle in that profession and would always be on call. I was naive when I was younger. I have now realised I just want to specialise in a field where I can help people, but I have HIGH aspirations and want to be very successful, I want to make a LOT of money and have a relatively good lifestyle.
Therefore I cancelled Surgery and Obs and Gynae off my list. I love endocrinology but I don't think the opportunity to make a lot of money is in that field.
I have boiled it down to 4 options: Dermatology, Opthalmology and Anaesthesiology.
Please could any of you enlighten me on this, I feel really underpressure at the moment to make a decision and focus on it whole heartedly and not walk blindly into a specialty. I need to start applying for summer research opportunities ASAP!
Thanks guys, I'm really looking forward to hearing from you
I am a 3rd Year Medical Student at Imperial College Medical School, London, UK, and I have set my sights on practising in the US once I graduate.
In the UK the route to becoming a doctor is different to the US, and the MBBS/BSc is a 6 year undergraduate degree (2 years theory, 3rd year clinical, 4th year BSc, 5th and 6th years clinical). My BSc is going to be in Endocrinology, and I am not able to change it because of the way the application system worked out.
I plan to do the USMLE before I graduate, so when I do, I won't have to work Foundation Year 1 in the UK before going to the States.
The summer of 2009 will be my last chance to get some proper research under my belt (apart from in the BSc) in an area that I could potentially specialise in, because after that I will get no summer holidays. When thinking about what kind of research I wanted to do, I reached the dilema of thinking, Oh my goodness, I actually need to decide what speciality I want to go in, there is no point doing research in dermatology if I would want to apply for an anaesthesiology residency once I graduated. Also, being a UK student applying to the US, I would want to have as much experience under my belt as possible in order to get a good job.
As a female, I plan to eventually get married and have children. It was originally Obs and Gynae that drew me to be a doctor, but I realised that I would have a very hectic lifestyle in that profession and would always be on call. I was naive when I was younger. I have now realised I just want to specialise in a field where I can help people, but I have HIGH aspirations and want to be very successful, I want to make a LOT of money and have a relatively good lifestyle.
Therefore I cancelled Surgery and Obs and Gynae off my list. I love endocrinology but I don't think the opportunity to make a lot of money is in that field.
I have boiled it down to 4 options: Dermatology, Opthalmology and Anaesthesiology.
Please could any of you enlighten me on this, I feel really underpressure at the moment to make a decision and focus on it whole heartedly and not walk blindly into a specialty. I need to start applying for summer research opportunities ASAP!
Thanks guys, I'm really looking forward to hearing from you
I think Anesthesia is the least competitive of the fields you've listed, I know people who have failed their boards the first time and gone on to match in it. In general, though, good students shouldn't have a hard time getting in. It's difficult to get into dermatology, period. Many top students go unmatched. As a foreign grad, it's much much more difficult, unless you have many other qualifications (PhD, already an attending in that field in your home country, etc.). I don't know much about Ophthalmology, but from my own experience with fellow students who applied and matched, top students with some research experience get in relatively easily and to great programs. I am not sure of the extra obstacles you will face as a foreign graduate in the Anesthesiology and Ophthalmology fields. You may want to post on boards for those specialties as well to get the inside scoop. Good luck!
