Best Field to be the Future of medicine

[Ambogeo]

I'm a third year medical student interested medical technologies. I'm interested in the future of medicine. Which branch has the best future in medicine as in most "happening" and what we know the least about?

I'm really interested in medical devices and medical breakthroughs. I want to one day invent a medical device or be part of medical technology that changes the world.

Something like the currently planned head transplants or AI with chips in the human brain. Just a few examples.

What path can I take after medical school to achieve my goals?

---

Members don't see this ad.

 

[Ice2864]

Would that be a head transplant or... a body transplant?

 

[Hank Rearden]

We're mostly neurologists here, so we obviously think neurology is the most fascinating field with the most potential for new discoveries in the future. I would not hold my breath regarding the head transplants - most of us have seen paraneoplastic syndromes where the immune system starts attacking the brain. I can only imagine the scale of the immune response in the setting of an entire head transplant, and it's not like you can just go on dialysis if the organ starts to fail.

AI chips in the human brain are also a pipe dream at the moment because no one has figured out how to integrate neurons and electronics - similar problem with immune response, but it's even more complicated than that. These technologies may come in our lifetime, but I have a feeling it will be towards the end of our lifetime.

Perhaps after med school you could join Elon Musk's crew working on 'neural lace', whatever that is. I think Musk is going to find that throwing millions of dollars at the problem doesn't lead to quick solutions.

No, but in all honesty, these are interesting problems to potentially explore during your career. You could consider going into a field like neurology, then doing some kind of research fellowship post-residency and becoming an academic. If you want to be implanting these devices, neurosurgery would also be a great option. Keep in mind that neurosurgeons typically have to spend at least 50% of their time doing clinical work to keep their skills up, so you might have more time to develop research ideas in neurology.

 

[neglect]

I got into neurology to be part of the future. While I wasn't particularly interested in head transplants, I wasn't really fascinated by more mature fields like cards, renal, surgery.

I'm happy to say that the future is here. I work on amazing trials that might find a great medication and render things like Alzheimer's disease a medical curiosity.