Choosing medical specialty.

[CrystallineMind]

Hello. I've been long time lurker here on SDN, this is my first post though. I'm 4th year medical student (from a 6 year program) and for about a year I'm very confused what i want to do later on. So I figured out maybe someone will have some useful tips or information for me.

So here's some things about me. I'm very much an introvert, often considered "weird" by many people. Not really socially active and having specialty with little to no patient interaction would be really nice for me. I'm interested in philosophy technology, pathology, radiology, mathematics, physics.

Ok so here's a tough part: I'm not a hardworker at all. I spend very little time learning, I don't do anything "optional". My results are ok. Not excellent, not bad, just ok. I'm a Mensa member and couple of high range IQ test showed I have extremely high IQ (190 range) and that's probably the only reason I'm doing ok. Perhaps it's also one of the reasons i often feel alienated and sort of "different" from others.

What i want from my specialty? Little to no patient interaction, good (but not necessarily superb) income, not many working hours.
What i don't need/want in my specialty? Prestige, patient interaction, surgery/procedure - based work.

Obviously I consider Pathology (i consider it the most), Radiology and Psychiatry. I don't consider psychiatry to have much "patient interaction", as, to me, having a conversation with psychiatric patient is, most of the time, more interesting and comfortable than with "mentally healthy" person.
What would you consider best for me? Or perhaps something other that those specialties?

So that's basically it. For people wanting to bash me for being lazy or for those wanting to tell me how medicine is a calling - please don't waste your and my time. I'm very happy for you and I really wish you all the best, but I'm a different person than you and just please respect that.

Thanks in advance for all the help and for everyone's time.
CrystallineMind

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[raiderette]

I can't see how psychiatry is in the MUX, unless you want to stick with med management. I imagine path and rads shadowing would help. How do you actually do with patient interaction? Maybe gas, though you will have limited patient and heavy medical team interaction.

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[CrystallineMind]

Patient interaction is something I tolerate without huge problems. I'm actually very empathic when it comes to pain and suffering of others. Very often I'm first to help. But, talking to patients is to me sometimes awkward, sometimes boring. But like I said it's tolerable without any real problems.

 

[Redpancreas]

I don't consider psychiatry to have much "patient interaction", as, to me, having a conversation with psychiatric patient is, most of the time, more interesting and comfortable than with "mentally healthy" person.

This is Gold.

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In terms of specialty, do you want to be challenged in medicine and continually improve/expand your knowledge base or are you looking for a job that just pays the bills and pursue the interests you've mentioned outside medicine? That should be something you ask yourself. A lot of pathologists I see love their job, continually are looking to expand their knowledge-base, are the first to volunteer to give lectures, and there's plenty of neurodiversity (PC term) in the field. I think you should consider IM --> Hospitalist because training is short, hours are decent, and you get decent time off. The cons are mainly that it's the dumping ground of the hospital. Yes, it's direct patient interaction but not in an outpatient manner. In fact most hospitalists I've watched spend more time at computers than seeing patients when I shadow them 24/7. In terms of radiology I can't help you. In terms of psychiatry, it's interesting and you may like that as well. Not really sure abouts Rads.

 

[Slack3r]

Little to no patient interaction...

Obviously I consider Pathology (i consider it the most), Radiology and Psychiatry.

Uhhh...

 

[CrystallineMind]

In terms of specialty, do you want to be challenged in medicine and continually improve/expand your knowledge base or are you looking for a job that just pays the bills and pursue the interests you've mentioned outside medicine? That should be something you ask yourself.

This is a very good question. So far the only field in medicine that i consider truly fascinating is Pathology, and so far it's the only specialty that I think i can get really good at. With Radiology I don't feel this type of connection. It's also helpful that I like working with microscope and I'm pretty good at pattern recognition.
Ending up mediocre at my job would be frustrating and embarassing.

A lot of pathologists I see love their job, continually are looking to expand their knowledge-base, are the first to volunteer to give lectures, and there's plenty of neurodiversity (PC term) in the field.

I see it too and I really hope i'd be one of them. As i said, having a job that's just "meh" would make me pretty sad and frustrated.

I really don't know about IM honestly. Some subspecialties of it i find interesting (mainly Endocrinology), but pure IM is not really that fascinating. I'm type of person that prefers to know a lot about a little than a little about a lot. Plus like you've said - there is a lot of patient interaction.

Thank you for your post!

 

[bashwell]

Hello. I've been long time lurker here on SDN, this is my first post though. I'm 4th year medical student (from a 6 year program) and for about a year I'm very confused what i want to do later on. So I figured out maybe someone will have some useful tips or information for me.

So here's some things about me. I'm very much an introvert, often considered "weird" by many people. Not really socially active and having specialty with little to no patient interaction would be really nice for me. I'm interested in philosophy technology, pathology, radiology, mathematics, physics.

Ok so here's a tough part: I'm not a hardworker at all. I spend very little time learning, I don't do anything "optional". My results are ok. Not excellent, not bad, just ok. I'm a Mensa member and couple of high range IQ test showed I have extremely high IQ (190 range) and that's probably the only reason I'm doing ok. Perhaps it's also one of the reasons i often feel alienated and sort of "different" from others.

What i want from my specialty? Little to no patient interaction, good (but not necessarily superb) income, not many working hours.
What i don't need/want in my specialty? Prestige, patient interaction, surgery/procedure - based work.

Obviously I consider Pathology (i consider it the most), Radiology and Psychiatry. I don't consider psychiatry to have much "patient interaction", as, to me, having a conversation with psychiatric patient is, most of the time, more interesting and comfortable than with "mentally healthy" person.
What would you consider best for me? Or perhaps something other that those specialties?

So that's basically it. For people wanting to bash me for being lazy or for those wanting to tell me how medicine is a calling - please don't waste your and my time. I'm very happy for you and I really wish you all the best, but I'm a different person than you and just please respect that.

Thanks in advance for all the help and for everyone's time.
CrystallineMind

If it's between path, rads, and psych, then pathology. Sure, the job market isn't great, probably one of the worst in all of medicine in fact, but if you don't care as much about income, and if you're geographically flexible, then you'll eventually be able to find a job somewhere. You can also "chill" more in path than in rads or psych ("chill" is extremely relative as all of medicine is not exactly what I'd call "chill" but I'm saying "chill" relative to other specialties).

In rads the pace in PP can be pretty fast and intense. Definitely not for someone who isn't a "hardworker". Not to mention rads do have to take call more frequently than path. Less likely to have nights and weekends off in rads than in path (though rads is still good lifestyle-wise).

Psych, just no, definitely not for you, given what you've said.

 

[raiderette]

Path market isn't great, but it doesn't sound as if you are dying to be in a bustling city. Be flexible with geography, be open to different hours in the beginning and prosper. One of the people that I shadowed was the happiest doctor I know.

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[Redpancreas]

This is a very good question. So far the only field in medicine that i consider truly fascinating is Pathology, and so far it's the only specialty that I think i can get really good at. With Radiology I don't feel this type of connection. It's also helpful that I like working with microscope and I'm pretty good at pattern recognition.
Ending up mediocre at my job would be frustrating and embarassing.




I see it too and I really hope i'd be one of them. As i said, having a job that's just "meh" would make me pretty sad and frustrated.

I really don't know about IM honestly. Some subspecialties of it i find interesting (mainly Endocrinology), but pure IM is not really that fascinating. I'm type of person that prefers to know a lot about a little than a little about a lot. Plus like you've said - there is a lot of patient interaction.

Thank you for your post!

OK, I like your answer! Do Pathology and shadow Radiology to be sure I guess. My guess is you'd love Pathology and the environment there. The ones I see are super passionate and love teaching and really digging deep into things. Give IM a chance (I'm biased). As a hospitalist, you can have some free time and you could work to be an exceptional hospitalist and be the best of both worlds and know a lot about a lot 😛 like Dustin from OnlineMedEd. That being said, if you don't like it, you don't like it.

Out of curiosity, Endocrine? Negative feedback loops, huh...

 

[Redpancreas]

If it's between path, rads, and psych, then pathology. Sure, the job market isn't great, probably one of the worst in all of medicine in fact, but if you don't care as much about income, and if you're geographically flexible, then you'll eventually be able to find a job somewhere. You can also "chill" more in path than in rads or psych ("chill" is extremely relative as all of medicine is not exactly what I'd call "chill" but I'm saying "chill" relative to other specialties).

In rads the pace in PP can be pretty fast and intense. Definitely not for someone who isn't a "hardworker". Not to mention rads do have to take call more frequently than path. Less likely to have nights and weekends off in rads than in path (though rads is still good lifestyle-wise).

Psych, just no, definitely not for you, given what you've said.

Just hearsay from someone I know who applied to be a psych resident. He/She went into it thinking it would be a + to have a (manageable) mental illness and to say that motivation stemmed from there and that they felt they were incredibly empathetic given their struggles. Not saying you have any illness, mental or not OP. Just mentioning that I think based on the people I see applying to psych and the psychiatrists I've seen, they're some of the more plain, even-tempered people compared to other specialties even within medicine. Off course, any budding psychiatrist-applicants, feel free to contradict me.

 

[LittleFoot]

Hello. I've been long time lurker here on SDN, this is my first post though. I'm 4th year medical student (from a 6 year program) and for about a year I'm very confused what i want to do later on. So I figured out maybe someone will have some useful tips or information for me.

So here's some things about me. I'm very much an introvert, often considered "weird" by many people. Not really socially active and having specialty with little to no patient interaction would be really nice for me. I'm interested in philosophy technology, pathology, radiology, mathematics, physics.

Ok so here's a tough part: I'm not a hardworker at all. I spend very little time learning, I don't do anything "optional". My results are ok. Not excellent, not bad, just ok. I'm a Mensa member and couple of high range IQ test showed I have extremely high IQ (190 range) and that's probably the only reason I'm doing ok. Perhaps it's also one of the reasons i often feel alienated and sort of "different" from others.

What i want from my specialty? Little to no patient interaction, good (but not necessarily superb) income, not many working hours.
What i don't need/want in my specialty? Prestige, patient interaction, surgery/procedure - based work.

Obviously I consider Pathology (i consider it the most), Radiology and Psychiatry. I don't consider psychiatry to have much "patient interaction", as, to me, having a conversation with psychiatric patient is, most of the time, more interesting and comfortable than with "mentally healthy" person.
What would you consider best for me? Or perhaps something other that those specialties?

So that's basically it. For people wanting to bash me for being lazy or for those wanting to tell me how medicine is a calling - please don't waste your and my time. I'm very happy for you and I really wish you all the best, but I'm a different person than you and just please respect that.

Thanks in advance for all the help and for everyone's time.
CrystallineMind

You sound like me. I'm applying to radiology

 

[LittleFoot]

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[sloop]

OP, not sure what you mean by not wanting patient interaction. I applied/matched in psychiatry. I would say that not all psychiatrists are super outgoing people and that the field can be a good fit for certain introverted people who have clear boundaries and are good at listening and observing behavior. However, if you truly don't like patient interaction (as in, interacting with people as people, talking to them, understanding them), it's a terrible choice. I think you need to more clearly define what you mean by disliking "patient interaction" to determine whether you could be happy in psychiatry.

Just mentioning that I think based on the people I see applying to psych and the psychiatrists I've seen, they're some of the more plain, even-tempered people compared to other specialties even within medicine. Off course, any budding psychiatrist-applicants, feel free to contradict me.

I don't think they're plain (rather, many are somewhat eccentric), but I do think psychiatrists tend to be even-tempered. I think it's a field that deals with a lot of emotional distress and people don't tend to be happy doing that unless they're good at simultaneously being empathetic while also compartmentalizing those emotions. In other words, you need to be good at empathizing that what the person is going through really sucks and that their maladaptive patterns may be understandable in that light, but at the same time keep yourself from getting wrapped up in the emotions and look at the situation objectively. In general, I think this type of compartmentalization is a sign of a well-adjusted person, which is why a disproportionate number of the most well-adjusted people in medicine gravitate to psychiatry.

On the other hand, a disproportionate number of people with significant mental health issues of their own also gravitate to psychiatry. Some of these people are stable and can be great psychiatrists, but I have also met some weird, labile people in psychiatry.

 

[Domperidone]

Lol you remind me of a couple of people I went to med school with.
They were brilliant but strange too.

What do you enjoy doing?
If you are an introvert and know that you enjoy being an introvert above all else, *dislike patient interaction [dang it, what a typo], then pathology would be recommended. It also does have better hours. The interaction is more colleague to colleague. And you already have a grasp on that yourself. You're not wrong, you also know yourself best.

It's an obvious answer, but choose what you feel your personality is suited to and what you like best. You'll probably be happier and more successful as a result (depending on what you determine success to be - could be job satisfaction). If you want to be adept or good at something, it helps a lot if you love it and feel challenged by it to do better everyday. As path is not particularly competitive, it's even less of a wrong choice. The more difficult questions out there are the "I want neurosurgery, what should i do as back up?" types or, or "ortho" etc.

More importantly, have you done any rotations or shadowing in your considered fields of interest yet?
If not, you will want to do that first. At least you know where to begin right now, but you'll need to do electives to confirm that it is the correct path you're heading towards. Not to mention, you'll need the LORs for applying to residency/vocational training later.

 

[eseemesiete]

I seem to be going through something similar, please let me know how that worked out for you