Has anyone actually gone into the specialty they thought they would when entering medical school?

[foregoingfun]

It seems to me that most medical students go into their studies with a general perception of what specialty they will go into. Does this belief usually change throughout the years? Would love to hear your stories.

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[ndafife]

This is all n = 1

I found a lot of the people I knew who wanted family med to stick with family med overall.

It was the more competitive surgical specialties - ortho, neurosurgery, cardiothoracic, etc... - that people bounced around more.

Then nobody wants derm until they get a 260 on Step 1

 

[ShadowGryffin]

On average, it seems that around 75% of people end up going into a different residency than they were considering when they matriculated:
Data and Analysis - AAMC

 

[NecrotizingFasciitis]

I'm only a first year, but so far this has happened:

Before medical school:
Allergy/Immunology, general surgery, or family med - definitely not OB/GYN

Post-first block of med school:
Rural/3rd world country family med (first block of med school puts you right in your place )

A few blocks deep:
Allergy/Immunology, General Surgery, Family Med, or Radiology

Winter break:
General surgery Allergy/Immunology, Family Med, or Radiology

Post-GI Block:
Allergy/Immunology, G.I., General Surgery, Family Med, or Radiology

Now (after our first neuro exam):
Neurology, Radiology, General Surgery, Family Med, Allergy/Immunology, or Internal Medicine (only because my interests keep increasing)

 

[sinombre]

I went into what I thought I would when I started med school (general surgery). I did have plenty of second thoughts, especially during ms3. But eventually I wound up figuring out that the best choice for me was what I thought it would be at the beginning.

 

[JohnnyKnoxville]

I wanted to do ophtho or ENT... And then I took Step 1 hahahaha

 

[oldman]

I was planning on ICU or ED - now I'm a colorectal surgeon. I did a personality test when I started and it listed my #1 ob/gyn and #2 colorectal surgery based on this test from university of virginia. I guess the test was right. I work with ob/gyn a fair amount especially gyn/onc.

 

[oldman]

do this search in google: university of virginia medical specialty personalty test

 

[Matthew9Thirtyfive]

As was already mentioned, around 75-80% of students go into something different. So about 1 in 4 or 5 end up where they thought they’d be.

 

[freedoctor17]

do this search in google: university of virginia medical specialty personalty test

Took that test and my top 2 were pediatrics the derm. Aerospace med and physical rehab were also in my top 5 which I've never even heard of/considered so it was cool to see. It's funny that peds was my number one since that's what I've been thinking about anyways.

 

[eteshoe]

Wanted to do hem/onc. Still planning on it.

 

[oldman]

Took that test and my top 2 were pediatrics the derm. Aerospace med and physical rehab were also in my top 5 which I've never even heard of/considered so it was cool to see. It's funny that peds was my number one since that's what I've been thinking about anyways.

PM&R includes doctors who are in charge of rehab centers. They will also work on units like stroke rehab.

Aerospace Med - can include working for NASA or military.

Anyway when I took the test - no way did I want to do ob/gyn or colorectal surgery and then when I rotated on those specialties I found that I really liked them.

 

[IgEdoc]

Entering med school - cardiothoracic surgery
Third year, post surgical clerkship - hated everything about surgery
Fourth year - definitely cardiology
PGY1, PGY2 - still cardiology
Early PGY3 - unexpected rotation led to Allergy/Immunology as final choice

 

[calivianya]

I was planning on ICU or ED - now I'm a colorectal surgeon. I did a personality test when I started and it listed my #1 ob/gyn and #2 colorectal surgery based on this test from university of virginia. I guess the test was right. I work with ob/gyn a fair amount especially gyn/onc.

I got a good laugh out of that. I'm going DO and it gave me thoracic surgery as my #1 and neurosurgery as my #2... not happening. At least it gave me EM, rads, and path for 3-5.

 

[Jasmine2022]

I've taken that quiz twice now, and the two lists were nearly opposite each other. Guess that's my clue to keep my options open

 

[DSM_302.0]

I've taken that quiz twice now, and the two lists were nearly opposite each other. Guess that's my clue to keep my options open

Can you link to the quiz plz?

 

[TypeADissection]

Went to med school to go into surgery. Ended up going into surgery. Someone posted above that those who wanted family medicine early on usually stayed with it (this was true within my own class), and many more by default after competitive grades and boards failed to materialize. Within my own close group of friends, most of them bounced around to something else. I think the key is to keep an open mind. Even though I knew I was never going to do peds or OBGYN, I still used those rotations to hone my physical exam and history taking skills. I also tried to improve my efficiency during that time with patient presentations to attendings and note writing. There's always something to learn, and although I'm definitely not the smartest med student to have ever graduated, I had enough sense to respect each specialty and learn something from them. Cheers.

 

[naway]

The quiz puts neuro at the top of my list, which used to be my go to answer to "What kind of doctor do you want to be?" I changed it to a general "I'll see what I like best when I get there," because I read some things about neuro that made me question whether I'd really like actually practicing it regardless of my intellectual interest in it. I got allergy/immunology for my second choice, which honestly does really sound like something I would love just based on subject matter alone. Guess we'll see! I'm going to a DO school, so I'm statistically likelier to wind up in primary care anyway.

 

[Jasmine2022]

Can you link to the quiz plz?

Medical Specialty Aptitude Test

I made an assumption that this is the one everyone is talking about. You can find others with a google search.