Choosing specialty

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med9999

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Hi Everyone,
I am a first year resident. I chose internal medicine not knowing my exact path, just knowing that I did not have passion for surgery or the other residencies. Now as a PGY-1, Ive realized I do not want to be PCP or hospitalist. Also, the specialties I know I do not have interest in are cards, pulm/cc, GI, nephro, rheum, and infectious disease. So out of the ones left: heme/onc, endo, allerg/imm, I have been having a very hard time deciding. I feel like heme/onc may give me more sense of fulfillment than others, but im not quite sure. I know im just a first year and it takes time to be realize but coming from a small IM program as a DO I want to make sure I have the research and making connections early on.

To be quite honest I feel like I am open to any specialty that will allow me to have a good lifestyle, as well as sense of fulfillment and that I am impacting my patient's lives. I have been hearing from a lot of people that endocrine is a "dying off specialty", or heme/onc is "depressing", and allergy/imm "boring", I hear alot of these stigmas when I try to get advice. I feel like I haven't been able to get good advice in choosing my specialty. I would really appreciate if anyone has input or can help,! Thanks so much!

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Did you do a rotation in any of these specialities? Try seeing both the outpatient and inpatient side of the specialities you are thinking about and see what works for you.
 
Did you do a rotation in any of these specialities? Try seeing both the outpatient and inpatient side of the specialities you are thinking about and see what works for you.
So unfortunately, I have not yet. I was scheduled to have an elective this coming month but with COVID it seems like our electives are going to be put on hold for the time being. I just want to make sure I am being proactive because I mentioned Im at a disadvantage with my community program and not having in house fellowships in the specialties I am considering.
 
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It's interesting that you say you have no interest in ID and rheum but are considering endo. All three are similar in that they focus on a subset of patients / diseases, are mostly outpatient, and have limited procedures. What is it about ID and rheum that you're not intersted in them?
 
With heme/onc (or I guess maybe AI due to limited spots?) probably being the most competitive among the specialties you've identified, I would start to look for research mentors in that field. I don't imagine research would be a major sticking point for endo.
 
Nobody can answer this question for you. You have to look at the objective data (length of training, salary, inpatient vs outpatient based practice, stress level, work hour predictability, procedures vs no procedures, etc etc). Mix that with what interests you in whatever balance suits your goals.

The 3 fields you listed are so vastly different. I think what you feel is natural for most residents at some point but as you study, learn, etc you will find what is more / less interesting to you.

Like mentioned allergy / endo are easy to land fellowships. Heme/onc will likely require some effort.
 
Hi Everyone,
I am a first year resident. I chose internal medicine not knowing my exact path, just knowing that I did not have passion for surgery or the other residencies. Now as a PGY-1, Ive realized I do not want to be PCP or hospitalist. Also, the specialties I know I do not have interest in are cards, pulm/cc, GI, nephro, rheum, and infectious disease. So out of the ones left: heme/onc, endo, allerg/imm, I have been having a very hard time deciding. I feel like heme/onc may give me more sense of fulfillment than others, but im not quite sure. I know im just a first year and it takes time to be realize but coming from a small IM program as a DO I want to make sure I have the research and making connections early on.

To be quite honest I feel like I am open to any specialty that will allow me to have a good lifestyle, as well as sense of fulfillment and that I am impacting my patient's lives. I have been hearing from a lot of people that endocrine is a "dying off specialty", or heme/onc is "depressing", and allergy/imm "boring", I hear alot of these stigmas when I try to get advice. I feel like I haven't been able to get good advice in choosing my specialty. I would really appreciate if anyone has input or can help,! Thanks so much!

sleep

thank me later
 
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