Need help to choose career

[SiVisAmariAma91]

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Okay, so im a junior in highschool and need help deciding the pros and cons of being an anesthesiologist or neonatologist. I narrowed it down to the two there was alot more.. The only other problem i have is im in the military and they have anesthesiologist and i can use that as my mos, and they do not have neonatologist. They both are about the same amount of college years about 14 years.

 

[oldbearprofessor]

Although we welcome questions about pediatrics from high school students on the pediatrics forum, this question covers multiple fields and is best on hSDN. Multiple pediatricians/trainees view posts and respond on hSDN.

As you will be told, although there is no harm in thinking about specific careers at this point, a decision between medical specialties isn't a meaningful decision to make at this point regardless of your military plans.

 

[Sed8&Intub8]

Yup, you should make that decision when you are in med school.

 

[the duck]

Yup, you should make that decision when you are in med school.

👍👍👍

 

[EMS5]

Agreed, I was gung-ho emergency medicine when I first decided on med school. Now, I've opened up to the different specialties and am just letting time and experience take me where it may.

Be that as it may, nothing wrong with wondering 🙂

 

[chrslbrt]

Personally, I would rather be an anesthesiologist.

For one, its a well know field and I can find the info easily. Neonatology... not so much. No saying there isn't info out there, I'm sure there's plenty. Its just that I can find in 5 seconds on google how many years it takes to be a anesthesiologist, which in fact is 12 years(4 undergrad, 4 med school, 4 residency), not 14. But this is probably irrelevant to you because I'm sure you researched.

Secondly, and probably more importantly, I've seen babies, family members, die in that neonatal ward. I've heard of tons of stories of people with still births, premature infants, etc. Could you take all that? I mean death for people in general, doesn't depress me, but seeing infants, who have never experienced 'life' would kill me. Also, the hours and call schedule. Rough. Anything that involves child birth is gonna kill you in calls: OB/GYN/Neonatal, etc.

Just my 2 cents...

Edit: How are you a high school junior, but you're in the military? That doesn't make any sense.

And on second note, like everyone else said above, find out in med school. You do rounds Junior year and some Senior year. Also, you have electives Senior year, to follow up on added interest. So don't stress about it now.

 

[Terpskins99]

Okay, so im a junior in highschool and need help deciding the pros and cons of being an anesthesiologist or neonatologist. I narrowed it down to the two there was alot more.. The only other problem i have is im in the military and they have anesthesiologist and i can use that as my mos, and they do not have neonatologist. They both are about the same amount of college years about 14 years.

"Anethesiologist" is a military MOS? Did you mean anesthetist or anesthesiology assistant? Anesthesiologists and neonatologists are both physicians (which I thought was grouped together). Anyhow, there are neonatologists in the military (I did research with an Army neonatologist at USUHS) so I don't see why this would be a problem. In any case, if either of these specialties appeal to you, your first focus should be getting into medical school.

I also suggest you take a little more time to read up on the various specialties in medicine. These two fields are very different from one another. Tell us what you know about the two fields and why they appeal to you.

My very basic opinion about the two specialties.

Neonatologist: requires much more diagnosing and overall patient management. Assumes primary supervising physician role (you're the captain of the ship). Moderate amount of procedures. Higher malpractice. Regularly work overnight shifts. Obviously, a uniform patient population (they're all babies!).

Anesthesiologist: almost exclusively a procedure oriented specialty (intubation, line placement, epidural/pain management, anesthesia induction/recovery), very limited diagnostics. Usually works in an ancillary capacity for a surgeon. Very flexible work hours. Superior pay in civilian sector.

 

[Terpskins99]

For one, its a well know field and I can find the info easily. Neonatology... not so much. No saying there isn't info out there, I'm sure there's plenty. Its just that I can find in 5 seconds on google how many years it takes to be a anesthesiologist, which in fact is 12 years(4 undergrad, 4 med school, 4 residency), not 14. But this is probably irrelevant to you because I'm sure you researched.

Just my 2 cents...

Edit: How are you a high school junior, but you're in the military? That doesn't make any sense.

Neonatology: 4 years college, 4 years medical school, 3 years pediatrics residency, 3 years neonatology fellowship.

http://www.neonatology.org/career/default.html

(Incidentally, my father is a neonatologist. Pay is considerably more than the average pediatric subspecialist, however it is a pretty demanding job.)

You only have to be 17 years old to enlist, but I think you have to have received either a high school diploma or GED by the time you enter basic training.