How to explore less common specialties?

[tulsajoe94]

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If this thread is not in the right place, feel free to move/delete. I'm not a med student (may be a reapplicant here in a few months, boo), but figured the pre-med forum might not have enough experience to answer.

Q: If you are interested in multiple less common specialties, how do you test them out?

For example, the SDN speciality matcher suggests these for me:
PM&R
Med Genetics
Rad Onc
Med Onc
Rhuem
Derm

But all the school curricula I'm looking at seem like they would only afford exploration in med onc through a IM subinternship. So how do people choose? It just seems like there is no exposure for many of these fields.

 

[NotaCop]

Once you get your feet under you with studying start shadowing a bunch during first year. One kid I know would go every Friday, which is a bit excessive, but even if you only shadow once a month by the end of first year you’ve seen 10 of these subspecialties, or a few of them but in more depth. You can get names form upperclassmen who know the docs willing to take students on, or approach your lecturers after class to ask about coming in with them.

Apart from that, get involved with research early. If it’s clinical you’ll get experience that way, but even if it’s basic science you’ll start to run into physicians in the field at conferences while you’re presenting your work and that can be a great time to pick their brains about the field

Moral of the story: be proactive, and start early

 

[TelemarketingEnigma]

Shadowing! Shadowing is SO much easier to do once you get into med school (at least at my school), so you can often just reach out to people in those departments and they'll happily let you follow them. It won't get you as much exposure as a full rotation in clinical years but it can at least give you a taste of what it looks like

 

[Tigerhawk77]

If this thread is not in the right place, feel free to move/delete. I'm not a med student (may be a reapplicant here in a few months, boo), but figured the pre-med forum might not have enough experience to answer.

Q: If you are interested in multiple less common specialties, how do you test them out?

For example, the SDN speciality matcher suggests these for me:
PM&R
Med Genetics
Rad Onc
Med Onc
Rhuem
Derm

But all the school curricula I'm looking at seem like they would only afford exploration in med onc through a IM subinternship. So how do people choose? It just seems like there is no exposure for many of these fields.

Besides Med Onc, that list screams “I don’t do bad hours.” Before anyone gets offended, I’m one of those specialties.

 

[tulsajoe94]

Once you get your feet under you with studying start shadowing a bunch during first year. One kid I know would go every Friday, which is a bit excessive, but even if you only shadow once a month by the end of first year you’ve seen 10 of these subspecialties, or a few of them but in more depth. You can get names form upperclassmen who know the docs willing to take students on, or approach your lecturers after class to ask about coming in with them.

Apart from that, get involved with research early. If it’s clinical you’ll get experience that way, but even if it’s basic science you’ll start to run into physicians in the field at conferences while you’re presenting your work and that can be a great time to pick their brains about the field

Moral of the story: be proactive, and start early

Did you find shadowing opportunities easier to come across as a medical student? I've had trouble getting responses from rad onc people in my city as a pre-med (emailed and called all of them to no avail. going in person seems...aggressive?). Had better luck with med gen and derm and had a good amount of volunteer experience alongside med onc.

 

[tulsajoe94]

Besides Med Onc, that list screams “I don’t do bad hours.” Before anyone gets offended, I’m one of those specialties.

Fair enough! That is a priority of mine, though I only ranked it a 6/10 when doing the little test. I think I was mostly selecting for fields where I could know patients long-term and could support their families. Probably looking at peds for a lot of these. I suppose many of the "bad hour" specialties may be responding to more acute cases where they wouldn't get to know the patient over a period of years, which is something I highly value.

 

[mrbreakfast]

As everyone here stated, shadowing is your best bet. I shadowed multiple days each in PM&R and rad onc.

Did you find shadowing opportunities easier to come across as a medical student?

Assuming these specialties are represented at your program, I'd say there's a 97%+ chance the physicians will let you shadow. Once you're affiliated with a program, all doors open.

Also worth noting that rad onc and derm are both highly competitive and thus will have a lot of students interested, which will give you exposure. My school had a derm club for preclinicals, for example.

 

[Tigerhawk77]

Fair enough! That is a priority of mine, though I only ranked it a 6/10 when doing the little test. I think I was mostly selecting for fields where I could know patients long-term and could support their families. Probably looking at peds for a lot of these. I suppose many of the "bad hour" specialties may be responding to more acute cases where they wouldn't get to know the patient over a period of years, which is something I highly value.

Good point! I’m impressed that you both took it lightly and showed me I might be over simplifying it.

Speaking as a guy who has good hours and low acuity, I hope you one day join the club.

 

[tulsajoe94]

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[atomi]

Also worth noting that rad onc and derm are both highly competitive and thus will have a lot of students interested, which will give you exposure. My school had a derm club for preclinicals, for example.

Rad onc is quickly becoming the next pathology. Application numbers way down and likely to get much worse. Wouldn’t put it near derm in the competitiveness level. There is a reason for this. Tread carefully if you are thinking about it.

Med onc, on the other hand, has an incredibly bright future and is a great field.

 

[PhillyMed777]

As a future derm who has been thru the process one thing I will warn you is that as soon as your step foot on derm ground everything you do will be scrutinized. Every move. Just be aware of that prior to shadowing

 

[mrbreakfast]

Rad onc is quickly becoming the next pathology. Application numbers way down and likely to get much worse. Wouldn’t put it near derm in the competitiveness level. There is a reason for this. Tread carefully if you are thinking about it.

It's no derm, but in terms of step scores, research reqs, applicants/position, etc, it's still quite competitive, much closer to the surgical subspecialties than to other fields. Any high-tech field that offers the possibility of a cushy, lucrative lifestyle is going to garner attention among med students. We have multiple people going rad onc in my class.

...though, I agree with you 100% about its trajectory as a field. OP, look into what interests you, but also keep a specialty's future prospects in mind. Doesn't matter how cool rad onc is if you can't find a job when you finish residency.

(also, side note: as I said, I shadowed a few days in rad onc. It was the most boring specialty I experienced in med school, hands down)


Overall, I'd join the internal med club (which every school has) and go to their events. They'll definitely bring in rheum and med onc speakers.

 

[tulsajoe94]

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[ciestar]

I did a two week elective in heme/onc as a third year and I have classmates who did a third year elective in rheum. As an MS4, you can mostly do electives in legit whatever you want.

Yes, early on shadowing is the easiest way to figure it out. I imagine most schools do it like my school does and coordinates shadowing through their interest groups and send out emails with ways to arrange shadowing.

 

[mrbreakfast]

A little late to the respond here, but this would only apply to medical school shadowing, right? I shadowed a dermatologist in undergrad for about 5 hours a week for 3 months and really enjoyed spending time in his office and learning from him! He's now moved to an office in one of the cities I have an interview in. If I get in, should I shadow derm again? Maybe a different practitioner? Or should I try to build that relationship more? A bit confused about who I need to impress once I get to medical school :/

Your original question was about exploring specialties, which is what I'd suggest you focus on as a preclinical student.

Dermatology is incredibly competitive, and if you think you want to do derm, there are a number of hoops to jump through, including securing strong letters from multiple dermatologists as a med student (not a pre-med), research, and of course scoring in the top 10-15% of med students on Step 1.

Gunning for a competitive specialty takes some soul-searching to honestly determine whether you think you are well above the average of your med school peers, and if you can walk a tough path. As someone who aimed for a similarly-competitive specialty for the first two years of med school, I can tell you it isn't a fun journey.

If you're the kind of person who can match derm, it'll become evident from your school performance. Until that happens, I'd fully recommend keeping an open mind. Like me, you may find something you like even better.


Also, to address your original question further, I saw plenty of oncology on several rotations (IM, surgery, neuro, rad onc). if you're legitimately interested, that should be your first shadow, because it answers one of the essential questions of specialty selection: if you're capable of telling patients, or their loved ones, they will die soon.

 

[tulsajoe94]

Your original question was about exploring specialties, which is what I'd suggest you focus on as a preclinical student.

Dermatology is incredibly competitive, and if you think you want to do derm, there are a number of hoops to jump through, including securing strong letters from multiple dermatologists as a med student (not a pre-med), research, and of course scoring in the top 10-15% of med students on Step 1.

Gunning for a competitive specialty takes some soul-searching to honestly determine whether you think you are well above the average of your med school peers, and if you can walk a tough path. As someone who aimed for a similarly-competitive specialty for the first two years of med school, I can tell you it isn't a fun journey.

If you're the kind of person who can match derm, it'll become evident from your school performance. Until that happens, I'd fully recommend keeping an open mind. Like me, you may find something you like even better.


Also, to address your original question further, I saw plenty of oncology on several rotations (IM, surgery, neuro, rad onc). if you're legitimately interested, that should be your first shadow, because it answers one of the essential questions of specialty selection: if you're capable of telling patients, or their loved ones, they will die soon.

Thanks for that, very in depth. I think you're absolutely right on getting oncology in there early as it is what I am most interested in right now.

 

[PhillyMed777]

A little late to the respond here, but this would only apply to medical school shadowing, right? I shadowed a dermatologist in undergrad for about 5 hours a week for 3 months and really enjoyed spending time in his office and learning from him! He's now moved to an office in one of the cities I have an interview in. If I get in, should I shadow derm again? Maybe a different practitioner? Or should I try to build that relationship more? A bit confused about who I need to impress once I get to medical school :/

I cant tell exactly from your post but it seems like you are describing a private practice or employed clinical derm. I'm referring to academic dermatology, and they dont care about letters from private derms unless there is a formal affiliation. Letters from program directors, chairman, and famous derms are given most weight.

 

[AnatomyGrey12]

As a future derm who has been thru the process one thing I will warn you is that as soon as your step foot on derm ground everything you do will be scrutinized. Every move. Just be aware of that prior to shadowing

This can go for pretty much any competitive specialty honestly. They are always looking for reasons to cull their applicant pool.

A little late to the respond here, but this would only apply to medical school shadowing, right? I shadowed a dermatologist in undergrad for about 5 hours a week for 3 months and really enjoyed spending time in his office and learning from him! He's now moved to an office in one of the cities I have an interview in. If I get in, should I shadow derm again? Maybe a different practitioner? Or should I try to build that relationship more? A bit confused about who I need to impress once I get to medical school :/

He's talking about residency programs. Once you are in medical school you shadow in the departments associated with your school, not random private practice docs.