Considering anesthesiology more. What would my chances be? Am I making the decision for the right reasons?

[CuriousMDStudent]

Hello everyone!

M3 at a T15 medical school on his second rotation. I am still learning how to break the high pass/ honors threshold. However, I am getting a lot more interested in anesthesiology and I think it's my top choice right now. My first question is: If I were to get high passes and some honors during third year with a good STEP 2 score (240-250), can I match well in anesthesiology? I aim to match in NYC as that's where I'm from and where me and my partner want to end up, Cleveland because that's why my partner lives currently, and any big city. I've made connections with the anesthesia people at my medical school and talked to the program directors and they stated that as long as I get a good STEP 2 score and have a solid app, I should be set for anesthesia. What do you all think?

My second question is whether you all think I'm choosing the specialty for the right reasons/am a good fit? When I started medical school, I wanted to do ortho, but during my second year, I was intrigued by anesthesiology after a workshop. For me, anesthesia beat ortho in that I felt pharmacology and physiology were more interesting to me than MSK, the lifestyle is better as it's shiftwork and more vacation, the residency match is much less of a worry, I would still get to do procedures, but they're much less intense and stressful compared to that of ortho, and I felt I fit in with the anesthesiology people more than the ortho people.

One of the reasons I held back on anesthesia was I wanted to be in a specialty where I got to talk and get to know patients. But after being on FM and IM, I am realizing that I'm not that into it anymore. Yes, I am an extrovert, but I am realizing that I am so busy that I am aiming to get the pertinent info and move on so I can finish my day at a reasonable time. I'm noticing this too with interns, residents, and attendings as they do small talk but are trying to move on with patients ASAP as they're so busy. I saw it in ortho too while shadowing so I realized that is no longer as important to me and not something I really want. I also like that in anesthesia, note writing is minimal as I've realized how annoying it is to write notes.

Second reason was ego but I now realize that in anesthesia, you're really doing your own thing where you put the patient down, keep them stable, and wake them up. Surgeons might ask me to increase certain doses during the surgery. But overall, I'm in charge of the anesthesia/drug aspect of the procedure and the surgeon is in charge of the operating. We work hand in hand and generally don't interfere with each other.

Finally, I'm really considering pain medicine if I really do end up wanting autonomy. I aim to do some research projects in pain medicine in my spare time in my fourth year to get ready for the fellowship match. So that's a backup.

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[GoSpursGo]

Your basic question of competitiveness was answered convincingly in your other thread: If I got high passes for all of third year with some honors, and did well on STEP 2, what are my chances for residency? . You will almost certainly match anesthesia if that’s what you want.

Simple answer to second question is you should take an elective and try it out. We can wax poetic about the philosophical pros and cons of specialties all day long, but there is no substitute for direct exposure. But FWIW, I also wonder if you are talking yourself out of ortho because you are worried about how competitive it is. Which is reasonable, but just recognize that may be what you’re doing

 

[operaman]

I think that’s as good a reason to pick a field as any. Feeing like you fit in is definitely a big part of it. I sorta got along well on every rotation but ent were definitely my people. That said, I could be happy doing anesthesia too - I think it’s an awesome field with lots of options. Highest paid doc at my hospital is an anesthesia interventional pain guy, so plenty of potential for income that surpasses Ortho if you’re interested.

Spend some more time on the service and make sure your feel holds up over time. Then go for and enjoy a great career.

 

[mrbreakfast]

You have posted a number of threads on this same topic - agonizing over deciding between specialties in which you have not yet rotated - and been consistently given the same advice, which I will repeat here: do the rotation first, then decide.

You cannot "logic" your way into deciding on a specialty. You need to try it out first.

 

[CuriousMDStudent]

Okay thanks everyone. Yeah, I think I'll try a rotation out. I like to ask around and get as much information as possible but at this point I don't think there's much more I can get out of research/posting o nthreads about this. On paper, I think it's a good choice but I'll go try a rotatio nto see if it is meant for me. Have a nice day everyone!