31 y/o, married, MS4...what to do

[medic170]

You are a 4th year student now. Your wife is not crazy about you having a career in any type of surgery, so you have been looking into anesthsia, ER, and maybe OB/GYN.


You did manage to score well on your USMLE Step 1. You have some minor but noteable research experiences, as well as "real life" experience

What would you chose as a specialty and why????????????

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[gstrub]

Pm&r.

 

[bkpa2med]

Nuclear Medicine.

 

[Long Dong]

Derm

 

[OncoCaP]

I really need to hear opinions..........Ok, your 31, married, no kids but wife is ready and taking pre-natal vitamins.

You are a 4th year student now. Your wife is not crazy about you having a career in any type of surgery, so you have been looking into anesthsia, ER, and maybe OB/GYN.

You have not done great during MS3, but/because you were Dx with tumors in your spine,so it was a rough year.

You did manage to score 257 on your USMLE Step 1. You have some minor but noteable research experiences, as well as "real life" experience as a manager and paramedic before returning to college.

What would you chose as a specialty and why????????????

I'm sure you probably know the pros cons and caveats of the various fields by now. Is it that you feel becoming a parent would prevent you from training for a specialty you really want? While parenthood comes with responsibilities, I wonder if you are maybe overcompensating a bit (I never was under the impression that residency was a cakewalk for single or married/no-kids people either). Just as an aside, while marriage and kids make time management more complicated for me, I find them to be a source of significant joy and benefit in my life. I'm not sure that they really impact my specialty choice except perhaps in positive ways.

Or, is it that you feel discouraged about the impact your illness had on MS3 grades / references and you don't think you would get the recommendations that you need to match anesthesia or ER? If so, maybe you could talk to one of your former attendings about that and either confirm or refine your concerns about this.

Or, are you feeling physically not up to training in your specialty of choice (illness, currently dealing with chemo, pain, ...)? I'm not sure how the process works at your school, but don't you all talk to one of your deans during MS3/4 about the match and s/he either confirms your desired career path as being a logical step based on your accomplishments and interest or injects reality in one of several forms?

I guess it's not clear if you are mostly looking for an informal analytical pre-match assessment, insight into what changes parenting brings, heard some war story that freaked you out, or just want pat on the shoulder and a little "you can do it" encouragement (or some combination of the above). My impression is that you know what you want to do but are battling self-doubt or other internal factors about whether you can match / survive / thrive in your desired specialty and that it's mostly just a discouragement issue, but I could be wrong, which is why I'm asking these questions.

 

[exmissionary]

1. make a list of what you would accept doing as a specialty.
2. Have your wife make a similar list.
3. Make a list that includes common selections.
5. Chose one and never look back.

 

[Mariah246]

Derm

Can he get in with stats like that?

 

[Pinkertinkle]

ophtho

 

[doc20]

Neither OB/GYN nor ER, both fields have intense schedules and early burn out factor

 

[geogil]

Can he get in with stats like that?

I believe a 257 will be sufficient for derm. What else he has to offer, I don' know, but at leas the step 1 score is ok.

OP, I will be your age as an MS4, and I will have a 2 year old by then. There are family friendly specialties out there, enough to give you choices. People say anesthesia, but you can work very long hours in gas. You can also work straight outpatient too and have more manageable hours. Same is true for most specialties. Find something you like doing, because unless it is general surg or neurosurg, the odds are you can find a job somewhere that will give you time to see and raise your family. You might not get to live in your #1 location, but you should be able to find a job regardless of specialty (barring a few). I have friends in gas, derm, peds, and rads who all manage to see their families. Try looking on headhunting sites to get a feel for what kind of jobs are out there if you don't believe me. Gaswork.com is such a site.

 

[Dirt]

When I was working with Path residents, it seemed like every one of them was either pregnant, had birthed a kid or had fathered a kid.

 

[Pinner Doc]

I love EM. I took a chance -- every major decision is one, isn't it?-- and never looked back. However... it's a personal choice that every med student has to make for himself.

 

[vtucci]

I am an MS4 and am 32. I agree it is a personal choice but may be curtailed by the fact that you seem to have some physical limitations that could make standing in long surgeries painful.

I agree with the other posters-- what do you find interesting other than surgery?
- continuity of patient care? or patient care at all for that matter.
- procedures?
- complex physio?

Schedules in most fields are somewhat adaptable depending on how much $$$ you want to make.

The ROAD disciplines have traditionally nice lifestyles. Pathology can be pretty chill at some programs as well. Personally, I love EM but cringe when I hear people refer to it as a lifestyle specialty as I think it requires a certain kind of personality to enjoy the field.

A subspecialty of surgery like ENT might be an option if you really like surgery but want a schedule that is not so crazy.

Good luck!

 

[NonTradMed]

PM&R
Path
ER if you are that type of personality (high burnout rate for some people)
ROAD (obviously)

These are the ones that popped into my head. However, I think most specialities will allow for family life except for surgery if you look around. Many women have entered the medical fields and have made arrangements to balance home and work.

 

[FFwannabeMD]

You are a 4th year student now. Your wife is not crazy about you having a career in any type of surgery, so you have been looking into anesthsia, ER, and maybe OB/GYN.


You did manage to score well on your USMLE Step 1. You have some minor but noteable research experiences, as well as "real life" experience

What would you chose as a specialty and why????????????

Pookie,



I'm a little worried about you. Are you asking us to help pick out a specialty from your previous mentioned list, to add specialties to your list, or just hand you a notecard with a specialty written on it? As an M4, I'm assuming you have narrowed down the list to several that you really love (such as anesth, OB/Gyn, ER). If you're worried your wife is going to leave you or kill you in your sleep, hand her the list you've made up and let her pick. I think your wife may forget that if you pick a career that is more friendly to her schedule but makes you miserable, chances are you will make her miserable during those extra hours you're at home. Although I won't underestimate the likelihood that if you pick a schedule-intensive specialty, she can make your life hell too

But for the love of God, don't let people who know nothing about you except your board score and marital status pick your life's work.

 

[Orthodoc40]

What's wrong with family med?
What about psych?
It's great that your Step 1 score won't be prohibitive, so now choose what makes the most sense for your situation. It doesn't have to be super competitive.