How did you pick the specialty that you did?

[DevinBookerMD]

I've been accepted to medical school and while I am super excited for the opportunity, I'm getting a little stressed out too. I don't know what I want to do. I just haven't had enough exposure. There are a few things that I have an interest in simply from researching and why this specialty threads on Reddit but honestly I'm open to anything. Did you just ask to shadow every specialty during 1st year? Did you just wait till rotations? I want to figure this out sooner rather than later so I can start building an app with research etc but not sure where to start and the amount of specialties is kind of daunting. Any advice?

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[teenyfish]

Don't even worry about this right now. Seriously. Learn how you learn best in your first block or so, it's going to be an adjustment so don't add more stress by trying to figure out what specialty you want to be in. There will be an onslaught of emails for different clubs and specialty interest groups - go to all of those if you'd like and listen to physicians in that field to see if it interests you. I'm an M1, and have shadowed maybe 3-4 specialties since coming to school, and I've learned a lot about my preferences but I wouldn't put it before schoolwork. If you're really worried about research, maybe start thinking about the uber competitive specialities (ortho, plastics, derm, ENT, uro, etc) and if you'd be interested in one of those. If there's even a chance, try to find some research opportunities in that field. Upperclassmen (M4s in particular) were generally split on how they decided. Some knew right away (the minority), while others found out during clinicals, through mentorship, research, etc.

 

[CyrilFiggis]

Don’t worry about it. There is plenty of time. If you decide on a specialty that needs more research, take a gap year between 3 & 4.

 

[ace_inhibitor111]

Shadow at least 3-4 specialties that aren’t in your core rotation and pick a competitive one to do research in. There definitely isn’t as much time as others are saying to decide on a specialty. That needs to be decided mid-third year in order to prepare for AIs and always.

 

[DevinBookerMD]

is it easy to shadow? who would I send an email to, the department chair?

 

[OnePunchBiopsy]

I started shadowing non-core specialties my M1 year (urology, pathology, ENT, ortho). Not often though, maybe 1-2 days a month. This was just to see if I liked anything I wouldn’t be exposed to in 3rd year.

Still couldn’t decide, so just went into 3rd year blind. Fell in love with surgery. Here I am today.

Study hard for Step 1 to set yourself up for success. Use shadowing more to cross things off the list. 3rd year clinical rotations were when most of my friends decided.

Your school may have someone dedicated to setting up school-affiliated shadowing experiences. If not, reach out until you get replies.

 

[Chelsea FC]

Also shadowing is much cooler once u are in medical school because they will allow you to do more and you have more knowledge of whats going on.

 

[Mad Jack]

You'll sort it out in third year. You learn very quickly what you don't like, which is key.

The best way to find the specialty that works for you is to eliminate everything you hate. After that, ask yourself if there is something you truly love. Failing that, pick the one thing you don't hate that is the best balance of something you can enjoy, something that pays well, and something you think you'll be good at.

 

[Matthew9Thirtyfive]

is it easy to shadow? who would I send an email to, the department chair?

Shadowing is very easy as a med student. Many schools have a program set up that you can go through, or you can literally just ask a prof if they know anyone. I just emailed a couple residents and was in that same week. Since you’re already a student there you don’t have to jump through tons of hoops.

 

[deleted859689]

Only worry about it before matriculating if you want to go into a competitive specialty and are going to a DO school.

 

[DevinBookerMD]

I guess the reason for this post is the specialty I'm most excited about is urology and I know how competitive it is. Just as I want exposure in that field early because of it's competitiveness, I would like in other fields as well to be sure I'm picking the right field. I guess I'm just worried about falling behind.

I started shadowing non-core specialties my M1 year (urology, pathology, ENT, ortho). Not often though, maybe 1-2 days a month. This was just to see if I liked anything I wouldn’t be exposed to in 3rd year.

Still couldn’t decide, so just went into 3rd year blind. Fell in love with surgery. Here I am today.

Study hard for Step 1 to set yourself up for success. Use shadowing more to cross things off the list. 3rd year clinical rotations were when most of my friends decided.

Your school may have someone dedicated to setting up school-affiliated shadowing experiences. If not, reach out until you get replies.

I like this plan, I think that's what i'll do. Thanks!

 

[AnatomyGrey12]

is it easy to shadow? who would I send an email to, the department chair?

Program coordinators are a great resource. They will point you in the right direction.

 

[CyrilFiggis]

I guess the reason for this post is the specialty I'm most excited about is urology and I know how competitive it is. Just as I want exposure in that field early because of it's competitiveness, I would like in other fields as well to be sure I'm picking the right field. I guess I'm just worried about falling behind.

I like this plan, I think that's what i'll do. Thanks!

One of my best friends didn’t realize they wanted to do urology until 3 months in to 3rd year during an elective. Just matched into their top program. Don’t worry about it. PDs know most students have no idea what they want to do before they start clinical training.

 

[DevinBookerMD]

One of my best friends didn’t realize they wanted to do urology until 3 months in to 3rd year during an elective. Just matched into their top program. Don’t worry about it. PDs know most students have no idea what they want to do before they start clinical training.

I guess it's just the fact that as a premed you were always worried about something. No that I'm in my brain is subconsciously looking for the next great big worry ha ha. Thanks for the bit of perspective, I'll take a Xanax now.

 

[DokterMom]

One of my best friends didn’t realize they wanted to do urology until 3 months in to 3rd year during an elective. Just matched into their top program. Don’t worry about it. PDs know most students have no idea what they want to do before they start clinical training.

This is especially true for fields like urology and ENT that are 'under-represented on TV'.

To protect your best shot at something uber-competitive, figure out how you learn best and do well in pre-clinicals so you learn the material well enough to rock STEP 1. (Strong pre-clinical performance is the most reliable predictor of high STEP 1 scores.) Shadow as you can and squeeze in general research in the early years. You can do more specialized in years 3 and 4 after you have a better idea of what you want to do.

Unless your life experience gives you a good reason to have a strong interest in a highly-competitive field (ex. severe acne leading to interest in derm) it can often look better to start with more general research, then specialize after STEP 1 when you know a particular specialty is attainable. Imagine trying to explain why you did three years of dermatology research before applying to "your true love" family medicine...

 

[slowthai]

To protect your best shot at something uber-competitive, figure out how you learn best and do well in pre-clinicals so you learn the material well enough to rock STEP 1. (Strong pre-clinical performance is the most reliable predictor of high STEP 1 scores.)

It's easy to fall into the trap of believing that the only way to crush step is by crushing classes. It's just not true.
People get so hung up on not honoring everything or even being average and feeling like they can't do extremely well on step. We see the correlation because good test takers are good test takers, and intelligent people are intelligent people.

Just make sure that you master the boards material, above all. If you can destroy school exams on top of that, fair play. Otherwise, it's much better to put one's time and effort into what actually matters: step 1. And then work on your research and connects as you find time.

Unless your life experience gives you a good reason to have a strong interest in a highly-competitive field (ex. severe acne leading to interest in derm) it can often look better to start with more general research, then specialize after STEP 1 when you know a particular specialty is attainable. Imagine trying to explain why you did three years of dermatology research before applying to "your true love" family medicine...

Honestly, if you're unsure, just shadow as much as you can to rule out everything you don't like and do as much research as you can on the fields. Once you've narrowed it down, just pick one and publish like crazy. That way, if you end up choosing it, you'll already be set. If your step score ends up not agreeing or you end up choosing something else entirely, it doesn't matter. Research is research. Programs know students "change their minds" for step-related (or otherwise) reasons all the time. I doubt anyone would actually even bring it up in an interview. The most they'd do is ask you about your research to make sure that you can explain it coherently.

 

[TypeADissection]

I always knew that I was going to be a surgeon, it just came down to which kind. As an MS-3 I loved the catheter-based wire work that IR and IC was doing but knew that I just couldn't make it through a DR or IM residency (I'm just not built that way). I then came across Vascular Surgery and that was that. It has all the open surgery that I could ever want: both big whomps and fine watchmaking stuff. It also has all the catheter-based stuff that I like: both big whomps (endo fens) and "simpler" stuff (fistulagrams and angios). The big thing is that I always enjoyed cardiac and vascular physiology, that stuff always just made sense to me when I was going through that block as an MS-1. So find that stuff that academically intrigues you and makes sense and then go from there. Don't forget to have fun along the way. Cheers.

 

[CherryRedDracul]

"I didn't choose the radiology life; the radiology life chose me."

I thought I was going to do ortho, but then after a radiology elective, I realized one of my favorite things to do was being a diagnostician. I still wanted to work with my hands, but radiology (not just IR) does have its share of several procedures.

Truth be told, some people aren't quite sure what they want to do even as residents. Many former surgical residents switch into radiology, and I know a few who switched into surgery from radiology. The latter just blows my mind though.

 

[Roxas]

"I didn't choose the radiology life; the radiology life chose me."

I thought I was going to do ortho, but then after a radiology elective, I realized one of my favorite things to do was being a diagnostician. I still wanted to work with my hands, but radiology (not just IR) does have its share of several procedures.

Truth be told, some people aren't quite sure what they want to do even as residents. Many former surgical residents switch into radiology, and I know a few who switched into surgery from radiology. The latter just blows my mind though.

I didn't choose the family medicine life, the family medicine life chose me. Because I didn't match.

True story.

 

[Epilepsy365]

I didn't choose the family medicine life, the family medicine life chose me. Because I didn't match.

True story.

There’s nothing wrong with being a Derek Fisher in the NBA.

 

[medschoolmentors]

Seriously don't stress about it, you'll figure it out along the way. I shadowed various specialties in M1/M2 years... but in M3 year, I ended up loving something that I thought I'd hate, and ended up hating rotations in specialties I had shadowed (shadowing just doesn't give you enough regular daily exposure to really figure things out).

I think the key is to keep your options open -- do your best on Step 1, jump on research opportunities, and you'll have options for pretty much whatever specialty you decide on.

 

[DevinBookerMD]

Also, since I'm here, can I get some opinions on which school I should attend? I've got these options:

Accepted at: BU, Einstein, UCI, Stony Brook
WL: USC

Conventional advice here is to take the cheapest option which would be UCI. I don't have financial aid from anyone just yet so not definitive but UCI is IS tuition and I can live at home (really want to move out bc I lived at home during undergrad too but that's a lot of money). Is BU or Einstein that much better than UCI to warrant the cost? Stony Brook has a 3 year program that I applied to where I get a guaranteed residency spot in the specialty I pick (which was Urology) if I get accepted to this program. Cool parts are that I finish 1 year early and I "match" already. Bad part is I don't know for certain if that's what I want to do. Thoughts?

 

[watermelon master]

Is BU or Einstein that much better than UCI to warrant the cost? Stony Brook has a 3 year program that I applied to where I get a guaranteed residency spot in the specialty I pick (which was Urology) if I get accepted to this program. Cool parts are that I finish 1 year early and I "match" already. Bad part is I don't know for certain if that's what I want to do. Thoughts?

Absolutely not. Especially if you're a California resident and you presumably would like to practice medicine in California. If you value the distance from home/new life experiences that it would bring, then BU or Einstein would still be excellent choices where you can be successful, but you have to decide at what cost? UCI will not hurt your chances of matching into any speciality at all.

As far as doing Stony Brook's urology program with guaranteed match? That's weird, I've never heard of a program that locks you into a speciality even before you start medical school. I'm not saying I don't believe you - it's just that it is probably rare for a reason. People change their minds all the time and if you aren't 100% sure about doing urology then don't do it...

 

[DevinBookerMD]

Absolutely not. Especially if you're a California resident and you presumably would like to practice medicine in California. If you value the distance from home/new life experiences that it would bring, then BU or Einstein would still be excellent choices where you can be successful, but you have to decide at what cost? UCI will not hurt your chances of matching into any speciality at all.

As far as doing Stony Brook's urology program with guaranteed match? That's weird, I've never heard of a program that locks you into a speciality even before you start medical school. I'm not saying I don't believe you - it's just that it is probably rare for a reason. People change their minds all the time and if you aren't 100% sure about doing urology then don't do it...

That's the thing, you nailed it on the head. I want to move out and experience new things, just not if it costs me an extra $150k lol. Yea I'm not 100% locked into urology yet but if i got in it would definitely be enticing. I'm working to shadow a urologist at the moment to get more exposure. In the end though, i'm not sure if the bebenfits (guaranteed match and early out) outweighs the potential cons if I end up liking something else more. Only worrying part is that UCI has sent out like 1 uro match in the few match lists I've seen where einstein, stony brook, and BU have sent out quite a lot and to good programs. ultimately, i'm leaning towards UCI at the moment but pending financial aid and other opportunities. thanks for the response!

 

[DevinBookerMD]

FYI this is the 3 year program description:

 

[NotaCop]

Make a lot of dick jokes, draw a lot of dicks everywhere, it was really a no brainer for me.

urology obvs

 

[DevinBookerMD]

Make a lot of dick jokes, draw a lot of dicks everywhere, it was really a no brainer for me.

urology obvs

i'm sold

 

[Roxas]

Make a lot of dick jokes, draw a lot of dicks everywhere, it was really a no brainer for me.

urology obvs

They really are the genitalia that lends itself to better humor.

I'm glad you found your calling.

 

[Matthew9Thirtyfive]

That's weird, I've never heard of a program that locks you into a speciality even before you start medical school.

A few schools do this, though I’ve only seen it with a primary care specialty.

 

[fldoctorgirl]

not sure if the bebenfits (guaranteed match and early out) outweighs the potential cons if I end up liking something else more.

How does this work? Like, when do you have to declare what specialty you want your guaranteed residency in, and can you change your mind along the way? Also, they mention having to meet certain academic requirements: what are those?

 

[DevinBookerMD]

How does this work? Like, when do you have to declare what specialty you want your guaranteed residency in, and can you change your mind along the way? Also, they mention having to meet certain academic requirements: what are those?

you pick your residency rn and if selected for an interview you meet with the PD of that department. i already submitted my app for urology so now I wait and see. they say changing specialties is difficult but not impossible.

 

[fldoctorgirl]

you pick your residency rn and if selected for an interview you meet with the PD of that department. i already submitted my app for urology so now I wait and see. they say changing specialties is difficult but not impossible.

Hm, interesting. I probably wouldn't advise going into this unless you were super passionate about 1 specific field, but from your posts it seems like you haven't even shadowed urology yet? Either way, $150k is a lot of money and if you're the kind of student who can get accepted into a program like this, you can probably match uro on your own.

 

[DevinBookerMD]

Hm, interesting. I probably wouldn't advise going into this unless you were super passionate about 1 specific field, but from your posts it seems like you haven't even shadowed urology yet? Either way, $150k is a lot of money and if you're the kind of student who can get accepted into a program like this, you can probably match uro on your own.

yea i've seen a couple nephrectomies but nothing too serious, just interested from personal research. i don't think i would do it just because i want to keep my options open but sort of applied just to see where it goes, i just like having options. more so considering my other 3 schools though, stony brook just had a weird wild card that was intriguing.

 

[slowthai]

A few schools do this, though I’ve only seen it with a primary care specialty.

I've seen it with ortho. They've got a 3+5 setup at Penn State.