Any other MS3's undecided on specialty?

[qrscomplex41]

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Seems like every other MS3 I know has already decided on a specialty so they're all set for planning aways/VSAS, drafting a personal statement, and obtaining LORs. Me, on the other hand, I'm screwed. My interests fluctuate on almost a DAILY basis...EM, radiology, ortho, neurology, PM&R, anesthesiology, you name it. 😱

Any other MS3's currently in the same boat?

For MS4's/residents/attendings who were in a similar position half way through third year, how did you make your final decision?

 

[HomeSkool]

I didn't even think about my eventual specialty until December/January of my MS-3 year, and my first anesthesia rotation was the following April.

You're all over the map right now. Focus first on whether you want to be in a surgical or non-surgical specialty. Then narrow it down.

 

[Redpancreas]

Seems like every other MS3 I know has already decided on a specialty so they're all set for planning aways/VSAS, drafting a personal statement, and obtaining LORs. Me, on the other hand, I'm screwed. My interests fluctuate on almost a DAILY basis...EM, radiology, ortho, neurology, PM&R, anesthesiology, you name it. 😱

Any other MS3's currently in the same boat?

For MS4's/residents/attendings who were in a similar position half way through third year, how did you make your final decision?

I’m just saying this in case no one else does but I feel people make such an unneeded fuss about ERAS/LORs. Ignore all of it, the only stressful part after third year ends is CK(unless you have aways/SLOES). I wrote my ERAS in 2-3 days (never kept a journal or anything like that). As for LOR writers, there are so many willing to write you a phenomenal letter even last minute if you just ask and I ended up asking someone a week before ERAS was due (as insurance) and I’ve gotten a good amount of praise about my PS, activities section (being well-written) as well as that particular letter being very strong. Completely agree with the poster above me. There’s still time to choose. Just make sure your schedule is lined up to allow you to pursue what you may be tentatively interested in. For Ortho for example, I think aways are important and for EM rotations where you get SLOEs are important.

 

[Oso]

MS4 here. 1 year ago I felt like everyone but me knew what they wanted to do or had at least narrowed it down a lot. It stressed me out as I was still pretty undecided (though I knew I hated surgery with the fiery passion of a thousand suns).

Looking back though, I think it was because these people tend to be more vocal about it, so it can seem like a lot of people have it figured out. Also, quite a few people who said they were SET on a specialty in Dec/Jan/Feb/March .... ended up going into a different field (sometimes really different, ex. urology -> neurology 😕, EM -> psych 😱, medicine -> ob/gyn , derm -> medicine , neurosurg -> anesthesia 😎 ). So in reality, a lot of people didn't decide until after 3rd year had officially ended. Quite a few people used the summer of 4th year to do an elective and/or sub-I to help them make their final decision.

All this being said, obviously for certain specialties it helps to know sooner rather than later (ex. needing to schedule aways for fields like EM, ortho, etc). I also agree with @HomeSkool in that you're kinda all over the place and I do think there are a few things you could think about to help you narrow it down a bit:
- do you want to do surgery or not (ortho)? Even if you like it, could you be happy without it?
- how much patient interaction do you want (radiology)?
- do you like acute or non-acute medicine (EM and anesthesia vs PMR)?
- do you like procedures (EM and anesthesia vs PMR and neurology)?

P.S: I ended up choosing peds because kids are awesome, no one wears ties, and I can dress up for Halloween. Also, I loved how resilient most kids are, I enjoyed talking to patients' parents/families, and there are a lot of subspecialties/career paths I can choose after residency. Also, FYI, I didn't do my peds rotation until April.

 

[TypeADissection]

It's ok to not know right now. This was many of my classmates many many moons ago and in the end, it worked out for everyone. We are all going to get woken up for something at 2AM, what would you like that to be? Or not be? In which case, something more shift-work would be more palatable in the long run. Are you married? Want to start a family? All of these things factor in and should be carefully considered. You've sacrificed so much and spent a lot of time and money to not be happy in your choice at the end of the day. Don't forget to have fun along the way. Cheers.

 

[Newyawk]

What i always found odd was when M1s knew what they wanted to do without having had much previous exposure to it. Even with the previous exposure there's still much more to see. Most people I know who really love medicine arent stuck to one field. I personally can't stand hearing "I want derm/ortho/plastics" from an MS1.

 

[Reveler]

I agree that the better questions are: outpatient vs. hospital? Surgical vs. non-surgical? Procedural or not? Do you like OR but don't like surgery? Is weekend call a deal breaker? Is 9-5 your thing, etc. After you answer a few of these questions you may narrow it down enough to have a solid short-list.

As for me, I changed my mind a few times during M3 and set up aways to get LORs in my top 2 specialties. Ultimately I decided on anesthesia at the end of M3 and already had a VSAS away locked in by that time. I have a few friends that applied to two specialties this past season and only really decided on one vs. the other during the interview process.

Not a big deal if you don't know by now, but hopefully over the next few months you can start narrowing things down a bit.

 

[Oso]

What i always found odd was when M1s knew what they wanted to do without having had much previous exposure to it. Even with the previous exposure there's still much more to see. Most people I know who really love medicine arent stuck to one field. I personally can't stand hearing "I want derm/ortho/plastics" from an MS1.

Yeah. Though there are a few people in my class who knew from the very beginning that they wanted to do neurosurg, ortho, plastics, derm, and EM ... and now they are interviewing for those fields. I don't get it ... but good for them. Though this is obviously a very small group of people. The majority of my peers who came in thinking a specific specialty ended up changing their minds.

 

[arcus]

P.S: I ended up choosing peds because kids are awesome, no one wears ties, and I can dress up for Halloween.

Loved your story. Very energizing

Dont you want to wear cool ties ala Norman Rockwell with a stethescope on a girl’s doll? Ive seen some really neat peds wear the funnest ties for their kids.

Any other MS3's currently in the same boat??

I know quite a few MD4 who didnt know their career until they matched. One guy applied to various fields and programs and ran the whole gamut. He went into one field because that is where he matched.

You do well to whittle it down as others have stated but you have got another 6 months till M3 is done for you. Lots can happen till then

 

[doyouhaveaflag]

1 year ago, much of my class was "decided" but many of them ended up switching before M4. I have three friends who are interviewing in two specialties (EM/DR, EM/IM, peds/psych) and who are ranking both specialties (and not contiguous rankings in one or the other). As with the guy mentioned by the above poster, they will find out on match day what they are doing.

 

[obgyny]

I decided near the end of my 3rd year. Changed my mind in a direction I never thought I would. So I had to last minute change my MS4 schedule to whatever was leftover. But everything turned out fine.

Two of my friends didn’t decide until 1 month before ERAS was due, and they got everything together in time.

You’re not alone and remember you haven’t done the other half of your MS3 rotations yet.


Sent from my iPhone using SDN mobile

 

[qrscomplex41]

I didn't even think about my eventual specialty until December/January of my MS-3 year, and my first anesthesia rotation was the following April.

You're all over the map right now. Focus first on whether you want to be in a surgical or non-surgical specialty. Then narrow it down.

Thanks for the reply! I knew deciding on a specialty would be super hard for me...I'll have to work on at least narrowing this list down ASAP.

 

[qrscomplex41]

I’m just saying this in case no one else does but I feel people make such an unneeded fuss about ERAS/LORs. Ignore all of it, the only stressful part after third year ends is CK(unless you have aways/SLOES). I wrote my ERAS in 2-3 days (never kept a journal or anything like that). As for LOR writers, there are so many willing to write you a phenomenal letter even last minute if you just ask and I ended up asking someone a week before ERAS was due (as insurance) and I’ve gotten a good amount of praise about my PS, activities section (being well-written) as well as that particular letter being very strong. Completely agree with the poster above me. There’s still time to choose. Just make sure your schedule is lined up to allow you to pursue what you may be tentatively interested in. For Ortho for example, I think aways are important and for EM rotations where you get SLOEs are important.

Thanks for your advice. My school has been stressing us out about VSAS/PS/LORs since third year began haha they want a draft of my personal statement next week...gonna be kinda hard to write that when I have no idea what I'm applying for 🙄

 

[HomeSkool]

Thanks for the reply! I knew deciding on a specialty would be super hard for me...I'll have to work on at least narrowing this list down ASAP.

Ask yourself what you'd still be happy doing in 35 years. For example, I loved general surgery in month-long doses. 35 years of it would have killed me.

 

[doyouhaveaflag]

Thanks for your advice. My school has been stressing us out about VSAS/PS/LORs since third year began haha they want a draft of my personal statement next week...gonna be kinda hard to write that when I have no idea what I'm applying for 🙄

Umm, what??? That's crazy. I didn't write mine until September. Sure, next month it's a good time to start thinking about VSAS if you want to do aways, but the PS and LORs? Don't worry about it until fourth year!

 

[qrscomplex41]

MS4 here. 1 year ago I felt like everyone but me knew what they wanted to do or had at least narrowed it down a lot. It stressed me out as I was still pretty undecided (though I knew I hated surgery with the fiery passion of a thousand suns).

Looking back though, I think it was because these people tend to be more vocal about it, so it can seem like a lot of people have it figured out. Also, quite a few people who said they were SET on a specialty in Dec/Jan/Feb/March .... ended up going into a different field (sometimes really different, ex. urology -> neurology 😕, EM -> psych 😱, medicine -> ob/gyn , derm -> medicine , neurosurg -> anesthesia 😎 ). So in reality, a lot of people didn't decide until after 3rd year had officially ended. Quite a few people used the summer of 4th year to do an elective and/or sub-I to help them make their final decision.

All this being said, obviously for certain specialties it helps to know sooner rather than later (ex. needing to schedule aways for fields like EM, ortho, etc). I also agree with @HomeSkool in that you're kinda all over the place and I do think there are a few things you could think about to help you narrow it down a bit:
- do you want to do surgery or not (ortho)? Even if you like it, could you be happy without it?
- how much patient interaction do you want (radiology)?
- do you like acute or non-acute medicine (EM and anesthesia vs PMR)?
- do you like procedures (EM and anesthesia vs PMR and neurology)?

P.S: I ended up choosing peds because kids are awesome, no one wears ties, and I can dress up for Halloween. Also, I loved how resilient most kids are, I enjoyed talking to patients' parents/families, and there are a lot of subspecialties/career paths I can choose after residency. Also, FYI, I didn't do my peds rotation until April.

Thanks for the reassuring post! I honestly don't believe there's like this one right specialty for each person, and I think that's what makes this decision so f'ing difficult for me haha

I could definitely be happy in a non-surgical field, but I still enjoy surgical procedures and being in the OR. I enjoy patient interactions and generally prefer acute care vs. non-acute care. The thing is I like surgery and procedures in general, but I have no idea if I would be good at it because I've had limited opportunities to test those skills (my school's clinicals suck)

 

[qrscomplex41]

Umm, what??? That's crazy. I didn't write mine until September. Sure, next month it's a good time to start thinking about VSAS if you want to do aways, but the PS and LORs? Don't worry about it until fourth year!

haha yup dude

My school likes keeping the level of neurosis high

 

[qrscomplex41]

Ask yourself what you'd still be happy doing in 35 years. For example, I loved general surgery in month-long doses. 35 years of it would have killed me.

I would actually NEVER consider going into general surgery because I have zero interest in the involved anatomy/path but ortho is completely different to me...I like the biomechanics/anatomy and the types of procedures. Could I be happy doing something else in 35 years? Sure, but is that enough of a reason to completely rule it out?? I have no idea haha

 

[Perfect Hair Day]

I struggled with this through my third year. I'm very lucky that I'm in a 5-year dual-degree (MD/MBA) program though because it gave me some more time to make my decision.

I'm applying to EM, and my backup specialty is Private Equity.

 

[Perfect Hair Day]

Umm, what??? That's crazy. I didn't write mine until September. Sure, next month it's a good time to start thinking about VSAS if you want to do aways, but the PS and LORs? Don't worry about it until fourth year!

Troll your school and draft a personal statement that cites Josef Mengele, Jack Kevorkian, and Che Guevara as your career influences.