Did you always want to go into peds?

[coffeesnob]

Did some of you have your heart set on pediatrics from day 1 of first year? Or, did you have an epiphany during M3?

What would you have done differently in preclinical years, if you knew you were going into peds? Join the interest group?

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[Pipers]

During third year. I didn't know I would love it as much as I did. If I even had an inkling, I probably wouldn't have scheduled it as my first rotation.

I was a free-wheeling interest group groupie. I joined a ton and played it all the sandboxes. No shame. But to be honest, it doesn't help with understanding the clinical practice of specialty. But it can help build connections for possible shadowing opportunities, mentors, research, etc.

 

[chemta2006]

Came to the realization at the end of third year. Then did sub-I's in both IM and Peds to finally put IM to rest. I think few people are born knowing what they want to do with the rest of their lives; those who do are either lucky or have extreme tunnel vision.

I would have worked more with children in the preclinical years (teaching, mentorship programs) to get experience if I'd known I would feel so passionate about healthcare/advocacy for children later on.

 

[RySerr21]

Did some of you have your heart set on pediatrics from day 1 of first year? Or, did you have an epiphany during M3?

What would you have done differently in preclinical years, if you knew you were going into peds? Join the interest group?

sure if you know you are interested, join the interest group! not so much bc it will make your application stand out, but because it is something that you are interested in, and thats what it's for. If you are set on peds, there are still many options after that, maybe you can start exploring specialties within peds by shadowing a half day every once in a while when you get a chance. None of this is necessary though, tahts why you have 3rd and 4th year (and residency)

If you are in to research, you can definitely get involved with a review paper or abstract of some kind in any of the fields of pediatrics, but absolutley not necessary.

There is really nothing that you NEED to do. I didnt have much related to peds because i didnt know until 3rd year, but it doesnt matter. As long as you do things that are interesting to you and you are passionate about, people will find it interesting and want to learn more about it (ie give you an interview). Just do your best in school and standardized exams (they do matter, especially if interested in competitive fellowship down the road) and be a cool person and youll be fine. Most interviewers didnt even ask me about thigns related to medicine that were on my app, they pretty much just focused what was on my 'interests and hobbies' section...no joke.

 

[J-Rad]

Not even on the radar screen coming into med school. Loved the rotation as M3. Nobody really cares about clubs and interest groups the first two years. Just try to enjoy and learn from all your rotations during clinical years.

 

[Stitch]

I thought I might want to do peds, but wasn't set on it. Wouldn't have done anything differently. Generally I kept an open mind and liked most of my third year rotations, so I learned a lot from each. At the end, I realized I just liked the patients and the people in peds more than any other.

 

[justdoit31]

I'm the odd one I guess- I said I wanted to become a doctor when I was 7 and Pediatrics when I was 11. I was 12 or 13 when I said Pediatric hem/onc and have been pretty focused on it since then and still see myself in that specialty even though I am open to a couple other things.

 

[Cookie Queen]

I had an idea second year, pretty sure after MS3 peds clerkship, and sealed the deal with my PICU Sub-I. I would recommend doing some shadowing during MS1 and MS2. I was really unsure, and at one point or another was seriously considering one of probably 7 or 8 specialties. Shadowing during MS1 and MS2 is probably more helpful than an interest group because you can see what the day-to-day life is like. I shadowed anesthesia, ED, plastic surgery, bariatric surgery, ENT, etc etc. A day or so in each field you're considering can go a long way.

 

[NTF]

I knew from day 1. Joined the interest group and did shadowing of pediatric subspecialties during M1/M2. Did pediatric research during summer between M1 & M2. During M3 I tried very hard to give adult medicine a fair shot, but each time I returned to the child side I was so happy it just reaffirmed that peds was for me.

 

[Perrotfish]

Not even a clue., I was initally thinking Ortho. It was a process of elimination thing during MS3 that left with either Peds or Psych, and then a tiebreaker Sub-I to push me into Peds.

 

[olemissbabydoc]

Did some of you have your heart set on pediatrics from day 1 of first year? Or, did you have an epiphany during M3?

What would you have done differently in preclinical years, if you knew you were going into peds? Join the interest group?

I knew I was going to do something with peds well before I knew I was going to med school (Back when I was a music therapist... haha). It was never a question, although I tried to keep an open mind during my early M3 rotations. I liked delivering babies, but that was the only other part of a rotation I could've seen myself doing.

As far as preparing for that - I was president of our pediatric interest group and very involved with our Children's Hospital. I doubt any of it was necessary for matching, but it can't hurt these days I suppose.