i feel like a lost soul

[pyoj]

so now that third year is half way done, i'm struggling a bit trying to figure out a specialty to match. I was just curious if everyone else is in the same boat. Or, are you MSIII's gung-ho and know fo-sho what you want to be doing for the rest of your life.

here are my commentaries (board scores and grades taken asside):

OB/GYN-loved it but too many hours and too much liability
Surgery-loved the OR but hated some personalities and hated the lifestyle
psych-interesting pt's, but i feel like i may go crazy after a while.
IM-felt like the smartest guy in the world, but there were too many sick people that ended up dying anyway.
Peds-i hate kids (at least for 10 hours during the day)
FP-loved the pt interaction and being the first line of treatment, most compatible with my active lifestyle, but, i feel like there's no respect professionally and financially

as i read my own commentaries i feel like i'll end up in FP and maybe a fellowship in the future

To all you MSIII's, what are your thoughts?
To all you MSIV's, have you made your decisions? are you happy with your decisions?
To everyone else, are u happy financially, professionally, personally?

happy new year all!
~j

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[edmadison]

You say you loved OB/GYN - maybe you should look into it more. The hours are very doable if you get in a group practice. If you are in a group of 10, you have weeknight call once every two weeks and one weeked every three months or so. Other than that its 4 days a week 9-5 except for an early morning or two for surgery.

It's important to remember that once you are an attending how hard you work is up to you. Workaholics are going to work hard whether they are neurosurgeons or psychiatrists.

To help hone your choice, you need to think about what you like about a job. Do you like doing things (procedures). Do you like relationships or do you like to get in and out and help a person. Do you like being an expert (specialist) or do you like knowing a "little" about a lot. Finally, you have to decide how important money is to you. If you choose some specialties you will make less money (although in 10 years, who knows).

 

[kcrd]

Have you thought about surgical subspecialties like Uro or Ophtho? The lifestyle for those fields is supposedly better than gen surg or ob/gyn.

 

[DOtobe]

I feel the same way - I'm still not quite sure what I want to do yet. My thoughts so far are either FP, Peds, or IM (I am considering doing an endocrine fellowship as well). I loved my FP rotation, IM was okay (although it seemed like a lot of COPD and CHF every day with the preceptor I was with), haven't had peds yet, and I'm doing an elective in endocrine to see if I could do it as a career. The idea of an additional few years of training is kind of steering me away from endocrine, but I might love the elective and decide that that is what I want to do. I hate feeling so indecisive! As for my other rotations I have done so far, I thought psych would be really interesting, but I don't think it would be for me. I actually really like my surgery rotation (I'm in it now) but I don't think I could be a surgeon because of the lifestyle and the personalities of some of the surgeons I have met. I'm hoping by the end of my third year I'll have some great epiphany and know exactly what I want to do. Until then, I have three possible fields, all of which I think would make me happy. I'm kind of moving away from peds, because I want to have at least some patients I can carry on an intelligent conversation with.

Sorry for rambling...I know exactly how you feel, pyoj.

 

[Dr.Wolkower]

remember that medicine is a profession and you will be doing it everyday-if you like what your doing it makes life a lot better.
Your real day begins when you go home to your fasmily your loved ones and your pets.

At work you should enjoy what you do so pick wisely