help choosing a specialty

[darkraven]

I'm entering 1st year, so I've got a lot of time to figure things out, but I was hoping for a coupe ideas for what specialties others might think i could be interested in. I know i'll get more time to see specialties better in 3rd year, but i'm also slightly afraid of ending up liking a competitive specialty and then regretting not making myself competitive enough for it earlier on ie. research or something.

So just to fill you in on what I like and dislike: I'm really interested in diagnosing/problem solving, i'm fairly ambivalent to patient contact, and i want to make sure I can have a life outside medicine. I've done some of those specialty tests online but i'm not sure they're helping a lot. I've looked into radiology, I think i like the lifestyle and the diagnosing, but i'm a little afraid of getting bored with looking/doing the same thing over and over again. ie. i shadowed a rads doing MR for a day and eventually got a little bored seeing a bunch of knees over and over again with deteriorating medial meniscus'. I've always loved math, physics and physiology stuff (where its more about applying concepts than 'memorizing'). I've thought about IM too but i don't think i'ld like the lifestyle as much and I'm not sure i want to spend too much time in a clinic. Some surgery's (optho, ENT, ortho) are interesting, although, do you get bored doing the same procedure over and over again? and how much diagnosing is there, if any in surgery specialties? I've shadowed a fair amount of different surgeons but its generally been for 1 day, so i'm not sure i have a proper view of what its like.

So based on what I like, what types of specialties do you think i'ld like/should investigate further?

I'ld say my priorities for a specialty are:

1. high degree of Diagnosing/problems solving
2. time outside of medicine
3. not getting bored with repetitive tasks
4. procedures (not fully sure how much i like procedures yet)

---

Members don't see this ad.

 

[nogolfinsnow]

I'm not going to give you any career ideas, I think this is a very individualized process and you will stumble across something you want to do at some point. As well, you can still make yourself a competitive applicant in almost any field without knowing what you want to go in to. Get good grades, do well on step I, do well on your 3rd year rotations, maybe have some research. I know a lot of people would say getting some sort of research experience is a good idea, especially if you lean towards one of the more competitive residencies. Early on in your first year look for people doing research that looks interesting to you (in any field) and try to set something up for the summer after M1. Some schools have programs that will even give you a stipend for doing a summer research so you can pay rent with something other than loan money. If at a later date you decide you want to go into a totally unrelated field than what your research was you can try to do a research elective during 4th year and try to do something more specific to your desired field.

 

[njbmd]

I'm entering 1st year, so I've got a lot of time to figure things out, but I was hoping for a coupe ideas for what specialties others might think i could be interested in. I know i'll get more time to see specialties better in 3rd year, but i'm also slightly afraid of ending up liking a competitive specialty and then regretting not making myself competitive enough for it earlier on ie. research or something.

So just to fill you in on what I like and dislike: I'm really interested in diagnosing/problem solving, i'm fairly ambivalent to patient contact, and i want to make sure I can have a life outside medicine. I've done some of those specialty tests online but i'm not sure they're helping a lot. I've looked into radiology, I think i like the lifestyle and the diagnosing, but i'm a little afraid of getting bored with looking/doing the same thing over and over again. ie. i shadowed a rads doing MR for a day and eventually got a little bored seeing a bunch of knees over and over again with deteriorating medial meniscus'. I've always loved math, physics and physiology stuff (where its more about applying concepts than 'memorizing'). I've thought about IM too but i don't think i'ld like the lifestyle as much and I'm not sure i want to spend too much time in a clinic. Some surgery's (optho, ENT, ortho) are interesting, although, do you get bored doing the same procedure over and over again? and how much diagnosing is there, if any in surgery specialties? I've shadowed a fair amount of different surgeons but its generally been for 1 day, so i'm not sure i have a proper view of what its like.

So based on what I like, what types of specialties do you think i'ld like/should investigate further?

I'ld say my priorities for a specialty are:

1. high degree of Diagnosing/problems solving
2. time outside of medicine
3. not getting bored with repetitive tasks
4. procedures (not fully sure how much i like procedures yet)

Right now, your interests don't mean very much. When you have completed a couple of rotations third year (after your USMLE Step I scores and pre-clinical grades are done), you can revisit this but at this point, your interests are doing your best in your pre-clinical work.

You haven't actually participated in any "diagnosing" or clinical "problem-solving" at this point in your career. Chill out and work on the things that are close at hand. You don't have enough experience to even attempt to choose a specialty.

 

[darkraven]

thanks for the advice.

Just to clarify, I live in canada, so we don't have step 1's and residency programs don't look at any preclinical grades. Basically the only things we can do to make ourselves more competitive is research and electives in that field of interest.

If you can give me a few specialties that you'ld think i'ld be interested in it would be nice, so i have time to shadow for myself, and maybe set up some research for next summer (some research places want you to apply as early as fall/winter) so it would be nice to have a slightly more narrowed idea of what I like.

 

[AgentJaguar]

Dude...you got Urology written all over you.

 

[derm83]

Orthopaedics:

1. Lotsa procedures (ie operations).
2. Trauma surgeries are never the same (ie you don't get bored).
3. Multiple approaches for the same operation( ie varaiety)
4. A speciality of life quality ( ie no life-threatening conditions >> much less ER calls for attendings).
5. Prestigious.
6 High salaries.

 

[copacetic]

So based on what I like, what types of specialties do you think i'ld like/should investigate further?

I'ld say my priorities for a specialty are:

1. high degree of Diagnosing/problems solving
2. time outside of medicine
3. not getting bored with repetitive tasks
4. procedures (not fully sure how much i like procedures yet)

Cardiology or GI. both satisfy 1,3, and 4. 2 can be tailored depending on the subspecialty.

 

[coastal]

Orthopaedics:

1. Lotsa procedures (ie operations).
2. Trauma surgeries are never the same (ie you don't get bored).
3. Multiple approaches for the same operation( ie varaiety)
4. A speciality of life quality ( ie no life-threatening conditions >> much less ER calls for attendings).
5. Prestigious.
6 High salaries.

Not compatible with significant time outside of medicine (at least vis a vis other specialties), which I believe was in the requirements.