Did you honestly answer this question?

[echod]

When you were doing your third year core clerkships, did you honestly tell other people that you were interested in Rad Onc when they asked what specialty you were interested in? Or did you give a more generic answer like I'm not absolutely sure, but I'd like to learn more about cancer?

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[runnerdoc7]

When you were doing your third year core clerkships, did you honestly tell other people that you were interested in Rad Onc when they asked what specialty you were interested in? Or did you give a more generic answer like I'm not absolutely sure, but I'd like to learn more about cancer?

I would just tell the truth. If you know what you want to do and are able to articulate a good reason as to why, nobody will hold it against you. Most of them don't know what rad onc really is anyway so they are just like "oh, thats cool, you must like physics" and thats the end of it. I think people are more likely to help you see and experience things that are relevant to your future if you are upfront with them. I had lots of experiences in gyn onc, surg onc and med onc that I may not have had if I had been more vague about my plans.

That said, I can see where in certain situations it may behoove you to be more vague. I had one attending who mocked the rad onc lifestyle incessantly once he found out thats what I wanted to do. Typically around 2 pm if we were rounding or in the OR he would look at me and say "its about time for you to hit the golf course isn't it?" or something of that nature. So yeah, it can be a case by case thing.

 

[Gfunk6]

Dittto, I also told the truth.

I got one of three reactions.

1. Rad Onc? What the hell is that? Is it a two year fellowship after internship? They were confusing Rad Onc with nuclear med.

2. Strong work gfunk! If I had to do it over again I would do derm, plastics or rad onc. Benign work hours and good $$$.

3. Oh wow you're doing Rad Onc. I guess you really need to be paid a lot of money to push a button all day. Me: Actually we have therapists who do that. Them: <angry glare>

 

[CptCrunch]

I just told the truth. Most people had no idea what rad onc is, and others would just respond with "sweet lifestyle."

 

[Sheldor]

I've been telling the truth and generally get one of a few responses, similar to Gfunk's:

1) Oh cool, radiology oncology.

2) Ah ya, they have a great lifestyle and make bank.

3) **Blank stare**

Honestly it has been a good thing, especially on Onc related rotations (Gyn onc, surg onc, heme onc) as I end up getting to see the patients I'm more interested in. Plus, I just can't bring myself to lie.

 

[nod]

i can understand why you might hesitate to tell people. people like it when you seem interested in what they do. i typically hedged a bit and said something like "i am trying to keep an open mind and learn about all the specialties as i rotate through. thus far i have liked rad onc, but who knows what might appeal to me as med school continues."

 

[thaddeus]

I actually got positive evals a couple of times during third year to the effect of "worked hard in specialty X even though he is not planning on going into it", so I don't think honesty can hurt......

 

[Scatter]

Dittto, I also told the truth.

I got one of three reactions.

1. Rad Onc? What the hell is that? Is it a two year fellowship after internship? They were confusing Rad Onc with nuclear med.

2. Strong work gfunk! If I had to do it over again I would do derm, plastics or rad onc. Benign work hours and good $$$.

3. Oh wow you're doing Rad Onc. I guess you really need to be paid a lot of money to push a button all day. Me: Actually we have therapists who do that. Them: <angry glare>

Love the new avatar and the classic signature to go with it! Yeaaahhh .... that'd be great ... Takes a sip of coffee.

Re: the question, I answered honestly that I was very confused and couldn't decide -- I liked HemeOnc and wanted to do peds (hemeonc), but I also liked neuro (and the idea of treating brain tumors), and was thinking neurology (neuroonc, but had to do neurology first, to which the surgeons from MS3 year would reply a resounding NO, DON'T DO IT) ... then I had the luck of meeting someone famous (brain tumor guy) in an informal setting, who listened attentively to my indecisive-Libra dilemma, and said to check out RadOnc (brain tumors, peds, and everything else galore). So, I did ... and the rest is history.

 

[Carotenoid]

Once I was sure about rad onc, I told the truth. Twas good practice for interviews to answer this question and "why rad onc?" - and gave me a chance to "convince" myself I wanted to do it, and even come up with a research project for the future. But then I am not good at schmoozing, so for me answering honestly was the best strategy. Another rad onc applicant from my school told everyone he/she was going into their specialty (personally heard this during family medicine and peds).

 

[deleted4401]

I told everyone I was going to be a rapper.
What kind of a question is this?
Simul

 

[Gfunk6]

I told everyone I was going to be a rapper.
What kind of a question is this?
Simul

Hate it or love it, the underdog's on top
And I'm gonna shine homie till my heart stop
Go ahead and envy me
M.D.P.H.D.
And I ain't goin nowhere so you can get to know me

 

[Neuronix]

I told everyone I was going to be a rapper.
What kind of a question is this?
Simul

I think it's a legit question. Where I went to med school many attendings looked down on students not going into certain specialties. Our internal medicine and peds rotations were miserable, and while the med school was run by the internal medicine department, the number of graduates pursuing careers in internal medicine dropped every year. Our surgery rotation was once particularly miserable, but when the number of students pursuing general surgery got down to 0, they fixed up the rotation a bit. I think there was a sentiment among faculty that the students are getting money-hungry or lazy. Obviously, there's a lot of writing about academics and primary care in the personal statements, but the tune changes by fourth year. This is of course despite the fact that the school raises tuition several percent every year and abuses the residents. But that's okay, obviously.

Many students could obviously feel this out. They would say they were going into the rotation they were on, say they weren't sure, or say internal medicine. Obviously, they would justify it by saying "well I'm not 100% sure" or "I'm thinking about internal medicine". Everyone knows they need honors to get into specialties like rad onc, so they would maximize their chances of doing so despite it being quasi-ethical.

But come fourth year, out comes the elective slacking and "I'm doing derm" becomes a valid career choice. Even worse to me are the "I'm considering rad onc or derm" crowd. Then the discussion: which makes more money for a better lifestyle, rad onc or derm? Really people???

Anyway, don't shoot the messenger. I told people I wasn't sure, but that I was probably going into radiology.

 

[deleted4401]

A question on lying about what specialty you intend on going into strikes me as completely superficial and disingenuous. I can understand asking about scores or lifestyle or salary, but lying about what you want to do to get some sort of an edge in the process confirms everyone's suspicion of the type of people that are applying into the field, true or not.

I don't get it. So you please some random attending? You have to realize at some point if anyone actually knew people plotted and discussed what specialties they should pretend to be interested in, they would stop wanting to guide medical students.

When I told my rural medicine preceptor that I wanted to be a specialist, he let me spend time on their clinics so I could see what it was like in "real life" rather then at the ivory tower. It was helpful, not detrimental.

 

[echod]

Or did you give a more generic answer like I'm not absolutely sure, but I'd like to learn more about cancer?

Maybe you mis-read my original post. I asked whether one said rad onc vs. a more generic response like "I'm not sure."

 

[Neuronix]

Maybe you mis-read my original post. I asked whether one said rad onc vs. a more generic response like "I'm not sure."

Perhaps I mis-read the intent of your question. The advice I gave in my earlier post is the general advice that goes by word of mouth from senior med student to junior med student where I went to med school. Perhaps it isn't like this everywhere.

 

[BigRedBeta]

As an outsider (current peds resident), I honestly think you're much better off being truthful. I've supervised a lot of 3rd year med students in the past couple years, and I know that not everyone is going into peds (hell, I DON'T want everyone to go into peds). But if I know what you actually want to do, I can at least attempt to tailor the time you have under my supervision towards your career goals. For RadOnc, perhaps that's not particularly easy, but I know that the the peds clerkship director at the med school I'm at would put someone who was interested in RadOnc on the peds inpatient heme/onc service for a portion of their clerkship. But they'd have to know that in advance. At least from my perspective, radiation oncologists are still going to take care of children on occasion, so there's still significant learning opportunities on a peds clerkship.

If you're going to worry about being less than genuine in the way you present yourself during clerkships, you'd be better served by faking your interest on the things that you're less than enthusiastic about. There's little worse than the 3rd year med student who has decided on a highly competitive specialty that feels the clerkship experiences are beneath them.

 

[Neuronix]

If you're going to worry about being less than genuine in the way you present yourself during clerkships, you'd be better served by faking your interest on the things that you're less than enthusiastic about.

100% agreed. What I'm typing about is just part of looking enthusiastic (real or not). i.e. I don't know what specialty I want to do, but this seems pretty interesting. Teach me more! Let me do more!

 

[BigRedBeta]

100% agreed. What I'm typing about is just part of looking enthusiastic (real or not). i.e. I don't know what specialty I want to do, but this seems pretty interesting. Teach me more! Let me do more!

I'd still advocate being honest about specialty choice, however what you've said, especially what I've bolded, is exactly right. For the third year student, there is not a single patient encounter that doesn't offer some sort of learning opportunity.