I've always wanted to become a cardiologist, but as of late, a lot of factors have been discouraging me. First of all, the New Health Care Plan is very anti-cardio, and there are many people going for fellowships in that region. Nephrology has always been an interest of mine, but I don't know how much job potential there is, and if it's easy to get a job. I don't want to have to compete with 12 other people for a selective job in a city where I don't want to live. Is there NEED for more people in that field?
Is Nephrology in demand?
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From your previous posts, you aren't even in college yet. Assuming you go into IM, you are around a DECADE away from deciding on a specialty. Focus on getting into college and come back here when you are in medical school.
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hah and i was CERTAIN i'd be a neurologist and that was as a relatively knowledgeable premed. no way to really know till you get more of a taste and even then it can be hard. and don't even worry about the "New Health Care Plan" no way to know what specialties are getting hit and to what extent. nothing you can do at this stage will prepare you for anything to come, other than picking up some bench work techniques since you might not have time for that later.
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This poor kid just wants to know about nephrology, and everyone's telling him he's too young to ask. 
OP: I don't know much about nephrology, but I do know that it's not a very popular IM fellowship, probably because it's a low paying field. Renal physiology is complex and elegant, but the surgical side is far more popular, mainly for lifestyle and reimbursement reasons. So if you want to follow the crowd, consider urology. They are in heavy demand.
OP: I don't know much about nephrology, but I do know that it's not a very popular IM fellowship, probably because it's a low paying field. Renal physiology is complex and elegant, but the surgical side is far more popular, mainly for lifestyle and reimbursement reasons. So if you want to follow the crowd, consider urology. They are in heavy demand.
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1. Salary compensation is difficult to predict in the future since laws can always change with every new presidential administration. Focus on why you are interested in the specialty itself and ignore the compensation/job demand.
2. Newly minted fellow-certified nephrologists pretty much always join pre-existing group practices as their first job (same deal with just about every other IM subspecialty).
3. My observation, there is no shortage of people with kidney problems and I don't see it slowing down anytime soon. There are plenty of patients to go around. Trust me. 😉
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Why is it so important for you to know the answer to this question about 12 years before you have to make such a decision?
My point exactly.
OP: Just as you were set on cardiology a few years back, things changed. One can safely assume there will be changes regarding nephrology (or any other field) a decade from now. FYI: Derm and radiology were some of the most undesired specialties when my parents did residency. Quite different from now, right?
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Keep in mind, people on both sides have valid points. People who say you are jumping the gun are right in the sense that, assuming you're ~ 18 or so YO, it's WAY too soon to consider what KIND of doctor you want to be when many people would say you're too young to know you want to be a Physician to begin with. Those who say an honest question deserves an honest answer are also right in the sense that it's hard to argue the benefits of NOT answering your questions b/c they're premature.
Nephrology is in the middle-to-lower part of competitiveness of IM specialties. There is demand, but the dialysis fees have been declining (as have fees for other Physicians), so you need to keep that in mind. It wouldn't be surprised me if the Government further restricts dialysis eligibility to save more money. I don't have the hard data, but my sense is that newly trained Nephrology graduates are able to find employment without too much difficulty. My estimate of starting salaries would be in the $160-200K/annum range.
Just a thought here, but I would doubt that lifestyle or compensation will change dramatically due to changes in health care relative to other specialties. During our renal block, clinical nephrologists told us that as of now, they are the single highest acceptors of Medicaid patients so most of them "don't really have a huge concern about the government and healthcare." Thought this was interesting.
