Hello to everyone!
So I graduated recently and got a position in internal medicine in Germany. So far, so good.
But I am just utterly confused about what to do with my life and career. I hope a discussion here could help.
Throughout med school I have been fascinated with many specialties, starting from ob/gyn, internal medicine (mostly endocrinology and nephrology), anesthesiology, abdominal surgery, genetics, radiology. I even did two projects for a science medicine in genetics. Each time we rotated I was in love with a different specialty but then moving on, I was interested in something else, you get the point. However, I was also trying to see the cons to each one of them, so I could choose wisely, or at least I hoped I could.
So I decided to go for internal medicine as I didn't know what to choose, and it seemed like a good idea at the time. Also in med school we did mostly internal medicine and surgery rotations. But now having the position I am asking myself is this really what I want to do with my life longterm. Long shifts, night shifts, weekends working and so much paperwork. So you end up utterly exhausted.
As a person I am outgoing, friendly, I like having time for my interests and I would like to have time for my family and kids one day. I also love traveling, did two internships abroad during my time in med school, gaining useful international medical experience. I know such internships would be hard to find during my residency, but I would like to have this opportunity.
I am searching for a specialty which would give me a relatively good work-life balance. With internal medicine I will have to do 5-6 years residency just to get the general one, and then 3 more years for something more profound. So I am 26 now, will be at least 35 when I will be able to start my own practice. And I am not even sure if I want to have a practice with regular patients coming in to check them and prescribe medications. I also don't like the idea of committing to only one specialty for the rest of my life. But I would like to have the freedom of working both in a practice or in a hospital, that is why I gave up on surgery for example, even though I like it as well. Does all this sound crazy?
I am more and more thinking about radiology at this point.
All in all, I am deeply confused. I just want to find something that suites me so I could be able to give my best to my patients and colleagues. Any advice?
So I graduated recently and got a position in internal medicine in Germany. So far, so good.
But I am just utterly confused about what to do with my life and career. I hope a discussion here could help.
Throughout med school I have been fascinated with many specialties, starting from ob/gyn, internal medicine (mostly endocrinology and nephrology), anesthesiology, abdominal surgery, genetics, radiology. I even did two projects for a science medicine in genetics. Each time we rotated I was in love with a different specialty but then moving on, I was interested in something else, you get the point. However, I was also trying to see the cons to each one of them, so I could choose wisely, or at least I hoped I could.
So I decided to go for internal medicine as I didn't know what to choose, and it seemed like a good idea at the time. Also in med school we did mostly internal medicine and surgery rotations. But now having the position I am asking myself is this really what I want to do with my life longterm. Long shifts, night shifts, weekends working and so much paperwork. So you end up utterly exhausted.
As a person I am outgoing, friendly, I like having time for my interests and I would like to have time for my family and kids one day. I also love traveling, did two internships abroad during my time in med school, gaining useful international medical experience. I know such internships would be hard to find during my residency, but I would like to have this opportunity.
I am searching for a specialty which would give me a relatively good work-life balance. With internal medicine I will have to do 5-6 years residency just to get the general one, and then 3 more years for something more profound. So I am 26 now, will be at least 35 when I will be able to start my own practice. And I am not even sure if I want to have a practice with regular patients coming in to check them and prescribe medications. I also don't like the idea of committing to only one specialty for the rest of my life. But I would like to have the freedom of working both in a practice or in a hospital, that is why I gave up on surgery for example, even though I like it as well. Does all this sound crazy?
I am more and more thinking about radiology at this point.
All in all, I am deeply confused. I just want to find something that suites me so I could be able to give my best to my patients and colleagues. Any advice?
