Why did you go into your particular specialty?

Must be because I love the field that even if it makes more "sense" for me to go into other fields...I'm sticking with it. SOmetimes I still wonder why...hahaha

MedicineDoc said:

This poll means nothing. You would probably get a more accurate poll by creating a public poll listing names asking guys "how long is your penis?" It's ridiculous. How about creating a poll asking if they would be willing to choose an area of medicine that pays less than some advanced nursing degrees? Maybe you would be able to come fairly close to answering the question of how many liars there are on this forum.

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So, if people were responding the way you expect them to, it would have more value?

Do you have some sort of inside knowledge about why people choose their specialties, or is this just from your personal experience with your "n" of how many?

Most people aren't even posting when they vote. What is the motivation for lying here?

ah man! i was really hoping to see some awesome replies to this thread, but nobody really posted...


i'm sure i'll get ripped apart, but i picked my specialty because i couldnt' decide what to do.....I knew i absolutely hated ob/gyn (knocking out ob/gyn and family med), and surgery (plus all is surgical sub-specialties)....I can't read a film for the life of my (radiology out)....and I almost failed path..

I was left with Medicine and Peds....I am so logical

Here are the reasons I picked my field (EM):


1- diversity of patients. I liked some of everything.
2- Realized I like multitasking, seeing 40-60+ patients a shift, from the really sick, to the not sick, covering all fields, appeals to me.
3- 'Lifestyle'. the lifestyle of EM isn't that fantastic in that you have to work nights/etc. However, the shift work appealed to me.
4-The pay is decent.

Blade28 said:

Off-topic, but congrats on your move to UCSF!

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Thanks, I am here in SF for a week (we have new interns to orient) before I move out here for good. Its HOT!

Moving from NY to SF. (I just had graduation from fellowship and had to come out west to do some of the warm fuzzy intern orientation stuff at UCSF. ) Then back to NYC to get all packed up and moved to SF! But its hot! its not supposed to be hot in SF!

Blade28 said:

Ah, gotcha!

Well it IS summer! SF can get kinda warm then...but don't worry, it'll be back to greyish and foggy come fall.

Ah, great city! I grew up there.

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Oooooooooh, I will have to pimp you for all the cool secret places to go. I want the coooool weather! I am dying to start some hiking when I get here.

Blade28 said:

Well it's warmer in the summers (obviously )...usually temps run between mid-50s to high 60s, sometimes even low 70s towards the end of summer. But that's still very pleasant! It's been in the mid-to-high 90s here (with humidity) for a while!

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Oh yeah...I love that heat. I miss the South.

Blade28 said:

Well it's warmer in the summers (obviously )...usually temps run between mid-50s to high 60s, sometimes even low 70s towards the end of summer.
As for the fall, you can expect temps to drop to the low-to-mid 50s mid-60s. By winter it'll be from the 40s to 50s on most days - very pleasant for someone like you coming from NY!

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To paraphrase Mark Twain:

"The coldest winter I ever spent was a summer in San Francisco."

They do get heat waves which is a problem if you live in an older flat which hasn't been updated with central air. Many cars are sold there without AC. August for some reason can get really cold.

I love the city but its too cold for me. October is probably the best month out of the year - cool but not cold, clear skies, no tourists, etc.

But that's still very pleasant! It's been in the mid-to-high 90s here (with humidity) for a while!

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My aunt just left and she said despite the hundred-teens weather here, since the humidity was so low it was much more tolerable than what you guys get back east. I'd have to agree...90s with humidity? Ugh.

It cooled down significantly tonight

Why I went to FM? Because I wanted to get into Surgery, but could not....And after eliminating other back-up specialties.

Internal Medicine:
I hate IM
No surgical training in residency
Minimal procedure training...sutures/skin procedures/vasectomies....
No peds
No OB/GYN

Peds:
No surgical training in residency
Minimal procedure training...sutures/skin procedures/vasectomies....
No OB/GYN

Ob/Gyn:
I am a male (bad experience in med school)

Anesthesia:
I do not like it
No surgical training in residency

EM:
I hate the ER
limited variety/flexibility as far as practice setting (private practice clinic, hospitalist, ect...)

My major overriding interest has always been brain science, so I pretty much knew I would do either neuro or psych. I originally was almost certain it would be neuro, because I thought psych would be too touchy-feely.

During third year I found out I loved both IM and psych. I hated neuro (but in retrospect it was probably just a malignant program; I've loved the neuro months I've done during intern year).

IM didn't make sense with my overall career trajectory and focus on the brain. Psych was perfect because it was very much a thinker's rather than a doer's specialty, and it offered lots of flexibility and time to ponder. It is a little touchy-feely but the upsides far, far outweigh the downs.

This poll offers a false dichotomy. I chose my field because I love it, but I'm extremely happy that it's also a flexible 'lifestyle' specialty. I wouldn't have done surgery no matter how much I loved it (I did like it well enough but not as much as IM or psych) because the hit to personal freedom is too great.

It was love of 'clinic' as opposed to hospital medicine as well as the process of elimination. I love adult internal medicine, derm, preventive screenings, musculoskeletal problems, well women exams/reproductive health and other non-surgical gyn stuff.

I don't enjoy OB and surgery ( excludes all the 'O' specialties) that much but there are plenty of programs where only 2 months OB is required.

Internal Medicine is a very strong contender but I would rather be an FM/PCP than an Internist so I get more variety.
In any case, if I get to see all these variety of cases in a clinic setting, I will be a happy clinician ( maybe with some occasional paperwork grumpiness)

I like rad onc because it's interesting and I can do some real good for people. The lifestyle and financial benefits are added perks.

I chose A, but B is close behind. I feel I could have been happy doing a variety of specialties, but the deciding factors had to do with lifestyle and compensation.

eyesarecool said:

The reason for my ideal specialty being family medicine is that it's what I really want to do all. All specialties make some money, and since some money is better than no money, I am perfectly fine with family medicine.

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i don't think premeds are supposed to be answering this question

well, voted for 'love of specialty', but the other one is mighty big for me. i wanted to do radiology since i can remember, and i was pleasantly surprised at its pay/lifestyle when i looked into it more closely. kind of like falling for someone over the internet and then, when you finally meet them in person, you're stunned to see they're actually attractive, too.

Ortho was all I could get into . . .

MedicineDoc said:

This poll means nothing. You would probably get a more accurate poll by creating a public poll listing names asking guys "how long is your penis?" It's ridiculous. How about creating a poll asking if they would be willing to choose an area of medicine that pays less than some advanced nursing degrees? Maybe you would be able to come fairly close to answering the question of how many liars there are on this forum.

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[YOUTUBE]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NSnUN-2oSng[/YOUTUBE]

"It's like a baguette."