Help!

[Medstudentquest]

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I need some help with deciding on a specialty. I just cannot decide what specialty I want to pursue. I have eliminated a ton of things I"m not interested in, but I still have the same list of specialties I like but can't decide on. Some are competitive, some are not. How do I decide?

Should I let competitiveness of certain specialties deter me from trying to pursue them? Looking at my school's match list, I noticed some people matched at great spots (by that I mean either really competitive or Ivy league) and they weren't that competitive themselves, while certain people who were quite competitive (AOA, top of class, etc.) matched at lower institutions or less competitive programs. Ironically enough, some people who were AOA matched in same specialty at same place as non AOA people. I can't make sense of these statistics. Please help me with suggestions on how to decide!!!

 

[orientedtoself]

you need to decide what you want to do every day for the next 30 or so years of your life. think to yourself, "do i want to do this every day?" what are you choosing between?

I need some help with deciding on a specialty. I just cannot decide what specialty I want to pursue. I have eliminated a ton of things I"m not interested in, but I still have the same list of specialties I like but can't decide on. Some are competitive, some are not. How do I decide?

Should I let competitiveness of certain specialties deter me from trying to pursue them? Looking at my school's match list, I noticed some people matched at great spots (by that I mean either really competitive or Ivy league) and they weren't that competitive themselves, while certain people who were quite competitive (AOA, top of class, etc.) matched at lower institutions or less competitive programs. Ironically enough, some people who were AOA matched in same specialty at same place as non AOA people. I can't make sense of these statistics. Please help me with suggestions on how to decide!!!

 

[DrMom]

moving to allo

 

[kdburton]

I need some help with deciding on a specialty. I just cannot decide what specialty I want to pursue. I have eliminated a ton of things I"m not interested in, but I still have the same list of specialties I like but can't decide on. Some are competitive, some are not. How do I decide?

Should I let competitiveness of certain specialties deter me from trying to pursue them? Looking at my school's match list, I noticed some people matched at great spots (by that I mean either really competitive or Ivy league) and they weren't that competitive themselves, while certain people who were quite competitive (AOA, top of class, etc.) matched at lower institutions or less competitive programs. Ironically enough, some people who were AOA matched in same specialty at same place as non AOA people. I can't make sense of these statistics. Please help me with suggestions on how to decide!!!

This may sound lame, but there are different personality tests that you can take and whatnot that will then correlate your answers to those of "average" answers in different specialties. I think AAMC has a Careers In Medicine thing on their website that you can register for and take a bunch of tests. There are also plenty of books out there that help you evaluate what components of a career are important to you and then guide you towards different specialties that offer those components. I've never actually done/read these things, but I've heard some people say they help. Another thing you can do is to shadow or meet with doctors in the list of specialties that you're interested in. Ask them about all the facets that interest/disinterest you; you'll need to keep in mind that their experiences may be different from others in their field however. Just based on your post its hard for anyone to "help you choose a specialty."

In terms of competitiveness... There are plenty of instances where top-of-the-class, AOA, 100,000 publications, etc students end up going into internal/family medicine in an no-name program because thats the specialty they're interested in and because they applied at a program that was "back home." I also know people who weren't necessarily the top student or AOA that got into great programs in competitive specialties. Of course having good boards scores and making AOA are going to make you more competitive, but its not a requirement per se. I've heard that you can increase your chances of getting into certain residency programs by doing [away] rotations in that specialty and impressing the sh1t out of everyone. For instance, the director of ortho at my school said that some of the best residents he's had were those that had sub-par board scores (~180!) for ortho, etc and that it was essentially their performance during their rotation and interview that ultimately impressed him.