How did you guys decide on your specialty?

[MonsterGod]

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I’m an incoming med student at KCU and I’m currently interested in ortho since I’ve worked in that field for the past couple of years. But I know that might change once I get exposed to other specialties like ENT, derm, etc.

I want to get involved in research during med school, especially since it’s important for competitive specialties. But the thing is a lot of advice says you should do research specific to the field you want to match into. How are we supposed to know what that is early on? What if I start doing ortho research and then decide I like ENT or derm more?

 

[Sidus1011]

Caveat I haven't undergone match yet, so this is contingent on that going well. I was between Psych and Neuro prior to entering school; I will be applying to Neuro later this year. I found shadowing in the first couple of years of med school to be highly underrated; a lot of people thought they were past the shadowing phase, but I found that shadowing in medical school is a bit different. People are much more receptive to showing you the good and bad of the specialty, and I felt more respected compared to shadowing in my pre-med years. I was able to get a sense of the daily life and what made the field special as I accrued more knowledge too. This allowed me to gain a deeper understanding of each field and establish early connections with individuals who will eventually become my letter writers. This coupled with my rotations just further solidified thoughts I had already had about what I enjoy about medicine and what I don't.

This is more important for highly competitive fields, as you need to figure out what you want early to get that field specific research you were talking about and to make connections to faculty who can later vouch for you.

 

[Dr. Anonymouss]

Step 1.) Do you like the OR or do you like clinic and rounding
step 2.) do you want to work a lot or a little
Step 3.) do you want a lot of money or is money not important to you
Step 4.) out of the few remaining specialties, which can you see yourself doing for 20-30 years

This is how I ended up at anesthesia

 

[hellosnd]

Do research that you are passionate about. If you can talk about it during your interviews, you will be okay.

I think a lot of people re-think their specialties after their board scores come out, granted this was back when step 1 was scored, so idk how it has been like with step 1 p/f.

You may love ortho/ent/derm etc but if you scored low, and you are coming from a DO program, you are going to have trouble matching into those specalities

 

[Ho0v-man]

I picked based on what I hated. Bc the stuff you hate about your specialty you’ll always hate. Meanwhile the stuff you love about your specialty will become mundane and routine/reflexive. So I picked something where the stuff I hated didn’t really grate on me too bad.

I hated surgery so that was easy. I hated how much administrative BS/insurance companies keeps you from practicing medicine in a clinic. I hated how much of IM is really just discharge planning. I hated that all the IM subspecialties I was interested in basically paid the same or slightly less than IM. I hated how little respect anesthesiologists get. But there was a lot I liked about all the above.

I ended up in rads bc the stuff I don’t like is pretty transient throughout my shift. Like I hate getting inundated with non-indicated imaging but it’s usually pretty straightforward when it shouldn’t have been ordered in the first place.

Edit: You also have to weigh your interests against what you’re actually capable of matching into. Most of the people who talk only about the most competitive specialties before med school realize by the end of M1 they aren’t willing to do all the crap it takes to match them.

 

[Konigstiger]

Money, lifestyle, ease of match; you can pick two at most. I valued lifestyle and ease of match most, so that is how I picked my specialty.

There is no good answer to your question about how to know which specialty you want before medical school even starts so you can jump right into relevant research, but it is true that a lot of people already know they're going to be aiming for a competitive specialty and have been training for it since high school or even before that. Some people were exposed to medicine at an early age, either through their parents or the Internet or some other means, and the rest of us just have to catch up.

 

[Roxas]

Step 1.) Do you like the OR or do you like clinic and rounding
step 2.) do you want to work a lot or a little
Step 3.) do you want a lot of money or is money not important to you
Step 4.) out of the few remaining specialties, which can you see yourself doing for 20-30 years

This is how I ended up at anesthesia

5) Did you get 1 month into medical school and realize you hate general medicine as a whole?

This is how I ended up in psychiatry.

 

[Dr. Anonymouss]

5) Did you get 1 month into medical school and realize you hate general medicine as a whole?

This is how I ended up in psychiatry.

Honestly, the first two years of medical school I enjoyed learning about everything. It wasn't until 3rd year where I started to question my decision of pursuing medicine. Learning the medicine is one thing, which I truly enjoyed, but actually doing the job on a daily basis is different. I realized there is a lot of BS involved in each specialty and that's what drove me away more than anything. The endless paperwork/notes, rounding, hurdles you have to jump through to treat patients. It's all just exhausting. I found anesthesiology mitigates 99% of the things I couldn't tolerate during 3rd year clinicals.

 

[Dr. Pineal Gland]

i would get started on research now since you seem to have big aspirations. I enjoyed being in the OR as an MS3 but my app for surgery was not gonna stand a chance.
I would focus now on learning as much as you can, the summer between MS1 and MS2 is the best time for soul searching. You might fall in love with something as an MS3 too.

 

[Dr. Robb Bassett]

Hey, first off—welcome to med school. Just being this thoughtful before day one puts you in a stronger position than most. The reality is, the majority of students won’t even begin thinking strategically about research and specialty alignment until late M2 or even into clerkships.

What you’re asking is spot-on though—how do you navigate early research when your specialty interests might shift? It’s a real tension, especially when it comes to competitive fields like ortho, ENT, or derm.

Here’s a practical way to think about it. Early research isn’t just about showing interest in a specific field; it’s about building habits that signal curiosity, work ethic, and the ability to contribute to academic conversations. If your specialty preference changes later, the fact that you engaged in research still tells an important story.

I’ve mentored students who started in ortho projects and later matched into ENT, derm, or even rads—what made the difference wasn’t the exact research topic; it was how they framed their intellectual growth and pivot in interviews. That kind of story plays well when it’s honest and intentional.

That said, there are two key factors I would prioritize even more than specialty match: mentorship quality and skills exposure. Ask yourself this:

What kind of mentorship experience will push me to grow the most, even if I eventually shift fields? And what kind of work will teach me how to ask better questions and make clearer decisions under uncertainty?

If you can find a project where the mentorship is strong, the work challenges you, and the environment energizes you, then it’s worth doing—regardless of whether you end up in that exact specialty.

You don’t need to know your final answer yet. You just need to stay engaged with questions like the one you asked here. Let that be your edge while others are chasing boxes to check.

If it’s helpful, I’ve worked in multiple academic and high-pressure clinical environments, and I’m always happy to share what I’ve seen work for students navigating this space. You’re asking smart questions—keep going.

 

[AlbinoHawk DO]

I’m an incoming med student at KCU and I’m currently interested in ortho since I’ve worked in that field for the past couple of years. But I know that might change once I get exposed to other specialties like ENT, derm, etc.

I want to get involved in research during med school, especially since it’s important for competitive specialties. But the thing is a lot of advice says you should do research specific to the field you want to match into. How are we supposed to know what that is early on? What if I start doing ortho research and then decide I like ENT or derm more?

The thing is you won't be exposed to things like ENT and derm unless you actively search for them. Sure, you'll get the general preclinical curriculum covering those things, but 1) they are not present during your 3rd year rotations unless you seek them out, 2) books and practice can be very different. The first step will be for you to decide if you want a surgical or non-surgical lifestyle.

Then, you'll have to realistically reflect on your performance in medical school. Everyone enters thinking they can be at the top of the class, but most people are in the middle or bottom. If you're on the middle or bottom, you can't bank on getting lucky to score a 280 on your step, so you're better off entering your 3rd year knowing that ENT, derm and ortho are off the table even if you like it. Believe me, I've met a lot of people who make the mistake of hyper-fixating that they want those specialties despite not being competitive and this leads to heartache and people who end up doing multiple prelim surgery years never actually matching. Some are even crazy enough to do an entire other residency and applying again

If you do manage to be on the top of your class, you have to decide quickly which one you want as you'll only have 1 to 3 electives. Your application goes live at the beginning of 4th year, so you'll have to have made mentors by then and gotten recommendation letters.

Nobody cares what your research is during your first 2 years since you'll likely switch, but by 3rd year, they'll expect more commitment into the field of choice. If you're lacking on research at that point, considering a research year is not out of the question. Unfortunately, it's becoming more common.

Good luck