Hardest Field

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jcfly21 said:
Hi,
Im just curious what you guys think the hardest fields in medicine are?

Derm, Ortho, ENT, Optho, and Rad in no particular order
 
pratik7 said:
Derm, Ortho, ENT, Optho, and Rad in no particular order

no cardiothoracic surgery or neurosurgery?
 
jcfly21 said:
Hi,
Im just curious what you guys think the hardest fields in medicine are?

what the heck does that mean??

optho has the hardest finger movments, ortho has the hardest muscle tasks, neuro might have the hardest knowledge background, EM has difficult patients.
 
yep, and in ped's you have to deal with some crazy @ss parents.....i think its all in the eyes of the beholder......along with their brains and hands to boot
 
pratik7 said:
Derm, Ortho, ENT, Optho, and Rad in no particular order

these might be some of the hardest to match in to, but not exactly the hardest to practice in for the rest of your life.
 
There is no "hardest field in medicine."

I hope the above poster wrote down the hardest specialties to match in. I don't think Derm should be on a list that doesn't include Neurosurgery...or Neurology for that matter.

Besides, every field of medicine is challenging, and different people will struggle or excel in different areas--its all about how passionate about a field you are, and how you process or learn the material. Some like to think (IM) some like to do (Surgery) and some like a combo (ENT). Pick what you're passionate about, not what you think will be the most challenging. Trust me, when you get to med school, you will be challenged either way.

Good luck.
 
I think the primary care fields are hard when you consider time put in for $. Surgical fields are physically hard, as well as mentally.
 
pratik7 said:
Derm, Ortho, ENT, Optho, and Rad in no particular order

These are the hardest fields to get a residency in, right? Otherwise, I don't think anyone would consider Derm a hard medical speciality (in terms of the raw intellect it takes other than getting a residency in it).
 
For me, the hardest would be optho, anesthesia, radiology, pathology, and probably internal medicine.

eyes squick me out. anesthesia, radiology, and pathology don't have as much patient interaction as i want, and there's a lot of internists out there that just bug the hell out of me (yes, you're very smart. i'm very impressed with your penis size. now shut up and treat your patient instead of just talking about it). yes, i know that's not all internists, but there's enough out there to convince me that it's not the field for me.

is that what you were looking for?
 
This is a GREAT topic.. and very interesting to hear different people's takes on it..
I think any field could be considered the hardest.. but of course depends on the practitioner.

I personally think that endocrinology or possibly neurology would be the most difficult... there are nuances to both studies that we don't understand, don't have any knowledge of, etc.. and so in a lot of ways, would be treating in the dark.

However, I think you could also argue that general practice would be the most difficult.. because you have to know everything about everything in order to practice it well.
 
ortho, those bones are HARD 😀
 
i guess it really depends on what u like... ie. me and derm dont mix!

Peads is tough b/c i cant stand annoying bratty kids :scared:
 
chitown82 said:
These are the hardest fields to get a residency in, right? Otherwise, I don't think anyone would consider Derm a hard medical speciality (in terms of the raw intellect it takes other than getting a residency in it).

Then again, what field is so hard that practitioners have to be paid one of the highest hourly wages to attract applicants? So hard that the docs can only bring themselves to work 40-45 hours a week? I pity the poor bastages in derm. 🙄
 
If hard means "brain power needed to practice" and not just difficulty to get in to the residency program : radiology or nephrology.
 
It is pretty common knowledge that pediatric cardiac surgery is the most difficult field in all of medicine. Most people that get through med school can do most of the other specialties if they really wanted to (i.e. you can teach most anybody to be a dermatologist, general surgeon, orthopod, family practicioner, EM doc, etc, etc). This is not true for pediatric heart surgery. Even cardiothoracic surgeons themselves who do adult cases will tell you that even though they liked the subspecialty of pediatric cardiac surgery, they could not go into it because they just weren't "good enough" to get acceptable results. This field makes all the rest of medicine look like just a day at the office. The only other subspecialty that is comparable is neurovascular neurosurgery.
 
i understand that cardiology takes a lot of training, time commitment and expertise.
 
Anything where you have to treat priapism.
 
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