annasofttofu
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I’m an MS1, and I didn’t realize how medical specialty selection worked before only a few months ago. I didn’t realize how competitive some of them were and how you need to start doing research in that specialty specifically and applying to programs in that specialty really, really early.
I know people advise to start early with the most competitive specialty that you’re interested in so that you can change afterwards, but I’m interested in 3 really different and very competitive specialties so I feel like I can’t do that. This must be a very common situation for medical students though, so I figure someone out there has to know what could help.
Here’s a bit about me, in case it helps discussion and because I might not have considered every specialty:
- I’m an extremely family oriented person. I know I want a family, and I know they’ll be important to me. My parents are extremely important to me as well. I’m really close to them, I currently spend a lot of time with them, and I want to spend a lot of time with my future kids. In fact, the main reason I became interested in ortho was because my mother became physically disabled after working a manual labor job, and an orthopedic surgeon helped us out so much. As a result, I’m pretty scared of specialties without good work/life balance.
- I want a specialty with a lot of possibilities for math/technology/engineering research. I want to do research in developing new technologies or devices and ways to do things so that I don’t feel stagnant, and I was a software engineer for 5 years before going to medical school so I want to help out in my own special way. I’m also a 3D printing hobbyist and I also majored in math, so non-software engineering really interests me too. I think I’d like a career in academic medicine in my future.
- I love anatomy, and I don’t like molecular bio or biochem. Anatomy was literally my favorite class in my whole life, and I did really well in it naturally. Molecular bio and biochem have always been an uphill climb my entire life, and I never liked it. I think I’m leaning towards surgical specialties as a result, especially cause I also like the instant gratification and fixing things for real instead of just maintenance or dealing with unfixable problems by treating only the symptoms.
- I want patient interaction and a mix of clinic and procedures. I’m not that big a fan of just talking and not fixing the problem directly, but I also love talking to patients about who they are, what their goals are, and I love educating them.
- I’m a very visual person, and I love the idea of walking a patient through their own imaging or a feed from a scope.
- I’m a person of only average dexterity. I was never a musician, and I never sewed or crocheted or anything like that. I like the ortho gross surgeries for this reason.
Now a bit about my current thoughts on each specialty:
- Ortho: I love biomechanics, the anatomy, and how ortho combines math/physics and medicine. I have a personal connection because ortho helped out my mom so much, and I feel like I want to restore people’s qualities of life just like that. But I’m scared of the poor work/life balance in academic ortho, and I don’t vibe with ortho at my school very much. I’m an Asian woman who is extremely out of shape, unathletic, and doesn’t know any sports teams. When I spend time with ortho people at my school, I question my ability to fit in socially and feel socially on the periphery. I also don’t like how fast ortho clinic feels, because I want to have a decent amount of clinic and spend time with patients, not just operate all the time and blaze through clinic to fill up my OR days.
- ENT: I had an extraordinary shadowing experience where the attending walked patients through feeds of scopes down their nose to diagnose deviated septums, and where she walked me through a sleep apnea genioglossus stimulation surgery. The attendings I’ve met in ENT have been so nice and energetic, and I always feel such positive energy when around ENT people at my school. I also love the anatomy, especially the face because I was a hobbyist portrait painter. The potential for research and technology is massive and the variety is wonderful. But I’m not terribly passionate about ears, noses, or throats, I’m not terribly dexterous, and I’m a bit averse to unpleasant smells.
- Ophtho: Checks off all my boxes perfectly, where the potential for math, research, and engineering is huge, and I can work in academic medicine and still have time for a great family life. It’s also really visual and has a great mix of clinic and procedures. But I don’t feel that passionate about the eye, and I don’t want to forget all my anatomy and medicine. I’m also not sure if I’m dexterous enough for the microsurgery in ophtho.
I’m having a really hard time deciding, especially because ENT and ophtho are currently not accepting shadows at my school.
How can I decide? (I posted something similar on r/medicalschool and got advice about what I can do regardless of specialty, like excel on Step 2 or take a research year. but I want to know how I can choose between the 3 specialties.)
I know people advise to start early with the most competitive specialty that you’re interested in so that you can change afterwards, but I’m interested in 3 really different and very competitive specialties so I feel like I can’t do that. This must be a very common situation for medical students though, so I figure someone out there has to know what could help.
Here’s a bit about me, in case it helps discussion and because I might not have considered every specialty:
- I’m an extremely family oriented person. I know I want a family, and I know they’ll be important to me. My parents are extremely important to me as well. I’m really close to them, I currently spend a lot of time with them, and I want to spend a lot of time with my future kids. In fact, the main reason I became interested in ortho was because my mother became physically disabled after working a manual labor job, and an orthopedic surgeon helped us out so much. As a result, I’m pretty scared of specialties without good work/life balance.
- I want a specialty with a lot of possibilities for math/technology/engineering research. I want to do research in developing new technologies or devices and ways to do things so that I don’t feel stagnant, and I was a software engineer for 5 years before going to medical school so I want to help out in my own special way. I’m also a 3D printing hobbyist and I also majored in math, so non-software engineering really interests me too. I think I’d like a career in academic medicine in my future.
- I love anatomy, and I don’t like molecular bio or biochem. Anatomy was literally my favorite class in my whole life, and I did really well in it naturally. Molecular bio and biochem have always been an uphill climb my entire life, and I never liked it. I think I’m leaning towards surgical specialties as a result, especially cause I also like the instant gratification and fixing things for real instead of just maintenance or dealing with unfixable problems by treating only the symptoms.
- I want patient interaction and a mix of clinic and procedures. I’m not that big a fan of just talking and not fixing the problem directly, but I also love talking to patients about who they are, what their goals are, and I love educating them.
- I’m a very visual person, and I love the idea of walking a patient through their own imaging or a feed from a scope.
- I’m a person of only average dexterity. I was never a musician, and I never sewed or crocheted or anything like that. I like the ortho gross surgeries for this reason.
Now a bit about my current thoughts on each specialty:
- Ortho: I love biomechanics, the anatomy, and how ortho combines math/physics and medicine. I have a personal connection because ortho helped out my mom so much, and I feel like I want to restore people’s qualities of life just like that. But I’m scared of the poor work/life balance in academic ortho, and I don’t vibe with ortho at my school very much. I’m an Asian woman who is extremely out of shape, unathletic, and doesn’t know any sports teams. When I spend time with ortho people at my school, I question my ability to fit in socially and feel socially on the periphery. I also don’t like how fast ortho clinic feels, because I want to have a decent amount of clinic and spend time with patients, not just operate all the time and blaze through clinic to fill up my OR days.
- ENT: I had an extraordinary shadowing experience where the attending walked patients through feeds of scopes down their nose to diagnose deviated septums, and where she walked me through a sleep apnea genioglossus stimulation surgery. The attendings I’ve met in ENT have been so nice and energetic, and I always feel such positive energy when around ENT people at my school. I also love the anatomy, especially the face because I was a hobbyist portrait painter. The potential for research and technology is massive and the variety is wonderful. But I’m not terribly passionate about ears, noses, or throats, I’m not terribly dexterous, and I’m a bit averse to unpleasant smells.
- Ophtho: Checks off all my boxes perfectly, where the potential for math, research, and engineering is huge, and I can work in academic medicine and still have time for a great family life. It’s also really visual and has a great mix of clinic and procedures. But I don’t feel that passionate about the eye, and I don’t want to forget all my anatomy and medicine. I’m also not sure if I’m dexterous enough for the microsurgery in ophtho.
I’m having a really hard time deciding, especially because ENT and ophtho are currently not accepting shadows at my school.
How can I decide? (I posted something similar on r/medicalschool and got advice about what I can do regardless of specialty, like excel on Step 2 or take a research year. but I want to know how I can choose between the 3 specialties.)