****Official Specialty Thread****

Med School Insiders
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i'll be an M1 next year, and i have a few ideas of what i would like to go into, but i think the best thing to do is keep an open mind, tru classes, clinicals, and shadowing etc. i think something will jump out at me. right now though, i am considering EM, Surg, or ID as probably my top ideas
 
Even though it's good to keep an open mind, that isn't to say that one shouldn't be involved in things during the first 2 years that'll make the application stand out. Waiting for 3rd year and later to start thinking about specialties just makes things more difficult and rushed. Rather, I believe clinical years is the time to finalize your decision. As has been echoed numerous times previously, I think it's best to have a short list of fields you're interested in and work towards the most competitive one out of those.

I think the first decision everyone faces is medicine vs. surgery. That being said, I feel myself more aligned in the latter umbrella category, with the exception of rad onc.
 
Is it true that med students should have a specialty planned by the end of M1 so that they can have a related research topic in mind for that summer?
 
JBOB said:
Is it true that med students should have a specialty planned by the end of M1 so that they can have a related research topic in mind for that summer?
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did you read my post?
 
I'm mostly interested in Infectious Disease, but also considering EM and FM.
 
Anesthesia.

Though my avatar and sig might give it away....
 
Rad Onc, but not for all of the typical reasons o f "good money and good hours". I shadowed quite a few Rad Onc's over a six month time frame and found it to be very rewarding. I like the time you spend with patients and they technical aspect as well. The physics aspect is challenging, the residency is competitive, and the wins in practice are incredibly rewarding. I am interested in academic medicine to improve procedures and cancer screening methods. I don't want to be forced to have a quota of patients or dollar to meet which many private practices are guilty of having.

Otherwise maybe General Surgery followed by a Surgical Oncology residency. I've had too many family members who have died of cancer and I am passionate about making a difference in some aspect of Oncology. Also I have an incredible degree of dexterity which lends itself well to both specialties, even more so in the latter.
 
My short list:

Peds neurology, critical care, neonatology, oncology, anesthesia. Maybe EM. Running theme is that I think I will like working with really sick patients, based on my prior experiences. We'll see! 🙂 I also think I will enjoy procedures, but not enough to go into a surgical subspecialty. I also enjoy a fair amount of thinking and intellectual challenge to come up with a diagnosis or plan, and I think these satisfy that pretty well. But you never know!!
 
Vascular Surgery, Neurosurgery, ENT. At the moment I am really interested in complicated surgeries.

I am also interested in medicine though. I would be interested in Cardiology, ID, Critical Care.

I think Im very open, almost all the fields in medicine seem to have an interesting side to them. I think I lean more towards surgery but I guess we will see if that sticks once im in the OR.
 
Currently extremely interested in pediatric infectious disease. Maybe adult infectious disease. Also interested in adolescent health, allergy and immunology, and neonatology.
 
HSUReddie said:
Currently extremely interested in pediatric infectious disease. Maybe adult infectious disease. Also interested in adolescent health, allergy and immunology, and neonatology.
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immunology is really fascinating. Unfortunately I think pediatric immunologists probably end up seeing a lot of terminal cases. This does not necessarily make it bad, because I think treating and helping people with terminal illness is just as fulfilling as treating people who can become better.
 
Urology.

* Relatively lifestyle friendly (for a surgical sub-specialty)
* Awesome diversity of patients and particular areas of study
* Abundant research opportunities
* Pretty chill people
* Pretty good pay
 
Emergency Medicine--specifically pediatric emergency medicine.

If not that--Gas or Path.

I dunno--I could care less for pay--the most important thing for me is lifestyle. Once I start Med School, I'll see which would be kind to family living.
 
Radiology, oncology, or radonc (although I HATE research). ENT/Optho are probably the only types of surgery I'd want to go into but I don't think surgery is right for me.
 
EM because I just think it's really cool. I like the idea of being there for people in a moment of crisis, being able to be a jack of all trades, and the fast pace.

Also really like GI though. Particularly interested in IBD research/treatment.
 
Something surgical or procedural are what Im leaning towards now:

ENT, Urology, Gen Surg > Fellowship, Interventional Card/Rad

Ive rounded with medical services before, and it can get painful! I think I would trade lifestyle for the chance to utilize observable medical intervention. But only to a degree! So no 100hr weeks for me as an attending.
 
Pediatric gastroenterology, pediatrics (general), family medicine.*












*Said interest in the fields listed above is subject to change
 
Neurosurgery. Love the brain and love surgery. End of story.

Subject to change depending on Step 1, family life, rotations, sleep needs. :laugh:
 
Trauma Surgery

Why? Because my two top choices used to be general surgery and emergency medicine. I figured I could combine the two and get trauma surg. I like the idea of general surgery because they get a lot of interesting and diverse cases. On any given day they could get something as minute as some drunk stepping on broken glass, to something like a massive car crash that left someone with mangled limbs. Emergency medicine because it seems exciting and diverse.
 
LaughingMan said:
Emergency Medicine--specifically pediatric emergency medicine.

If not that--Gas or Path.

I dunno--I could care less for pay--the most important thing for me is lifestyle. Once I start Med School, I'll see which would be kind to family living.
Click to expand...

Peds ER is really cool. It'll be Peds then a fellowship in ER for you..., great lifestyle too I think as with a lot of ER. Kids are so different from adults it's incredible
 
If I stick with the Med School route (still on the fence), and obviously with the recognition that most people change their minds multiple times while in med school, I would be more inclined to look at psychiatry or PM&R. Psych because I love psychology as a discipline, and PM&R because I'm an aspiring power lifter and thus love anything having to do with movement patterns and neuromuscular stuff and rehab. From what I hear, both are pretty laid back specialties too, which suits me very well because I'm not a hugely competitive or high strung person.

IM has also crossed my mind as well. I haven't considered surgery because I can't imagine trusting myself with cutting up people.
 
Neurology, Psychiatry and PM&R are on my list right now. They all seem so interesting and I really don't care about competitiveness. I really think there are going to be some crazy advances in neuro in the next 50 years with the brain mapping projects and such that are going on now.

Who knows though? Keeping an open mind during med school next year and hope to get a better idea.
 
ID, and I'm actually (pleasantly) surprised by the number of other respondents interested in infectious disease!

Mom works in TB control at the public health level, so that's what got me interested in ID initially, though I'd prefer to interact with patients face-to-face and deal with disease at the biomedical level, which explains why I'm going the MD route. I also like the global health aspect of ID, as well as the problem-solving--the ID doc I shadowed seemed to spend a lot of her time trying to figure out what was ailing patients that other specialists had passed along to ID (because they had no idea what was going on with their patient).

(Happy Belated World TB Day, btw)
 
As of now I'm looking for a relatively versatile specialty. I tend to appreciate variety more than anything else. So far that has me looking at general surgery and FM. I think FM in a rural area might be perfect as you tend to act as surgeon OB-GYN and family doctor in such areas - get a little bit of everything 🙂
 
I'm thinking orthopedic surgery, neurosurgery, or pediatric surgery. I love the OR and being able to drastically change a persons life within a few days. I'm very good with my hands, can think quick on my feet, and tend to be a good problem solver. I did toy with the idea of cardiology tho. However, I'm 95% sure I'll take the surgical route.
 
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I've loved the Emergency Room since I was a child, but I also connect with concrete, hands-on healing. Thus, I'm thinking Trauma / Critical Care or Emergency Medicine alongside Psychiatry (heal the mind and body).
 
This will obviously change once I start doing rotations but currently neurology, anesthesiology or orthopedic surgery.
 
Something with peds has been slowly growing as my choice. But FM has been my long running desire. 🙂

Since working in the ED I have thought on and off that I could see myself in EM too.

I really could see myself in almost every field though, so I'll be keeping an open mind the next 3 years.
 
I haven't done much narrowing down so far. Curiously, the specialties I have interest in aren't particularly competitive or well paying.

Neurology, psychiatry, pediatrics, IM. Maybe EM?

I don't think I know enough about what they do in order to make a clear choice just yet.
 
image187 said:
Peds ER is really cool. It'll be Peds then a fellowship in ER for you..., great lifestyle too I think as with a lot of ER. Kids are so different from adults it's incredible
Click to expand...

You can do either peds or EM first.
 
def1 said:
immunology is really fascinating. Unfortunately I think pediatric immunologists probably end up seeing a lot of terminal cases. This does not necessarily make it bad, because I think treating and helping people with terminal illness is just as fulfilling as treating people who can become better.
Click to expand...

That is definitely true... which is I suppose why I lean more to infectious disease. The immune system is fascinating, and kids are awesome, but I'm not sure how I feel about having a lot of terminal cases. I feel like that would really wear on me.

HolyCow0333 said:
ID, and I'm actually (pleasantly) surprised by the number of other respondents interested in infectious disease!

Mom works in TB control at the public health level, so that's what got me interested in ID initially, though I'd prefer to interact with patients face-to-face and deal with disease at the biomedical level, which explains why I'm going the MD route. I also like the global health aspect of ID, as well as the problem-solving--the ID doc I shadowed seemed to spend a lot of her time trying to figure out what was ailing patients that other specialists had passed along to ID (because they had no idea what was going on with their patient).

(Happy Belated World TB Day, btw)
Click to expand...

:woot: Yay, ID! Sounds like your mom has a pretty sweet job. I'm in an entire class on TB at the moment, and it's interesting stuff. I think I like the problem solving aspect, combined with the fact that you're not focusing on just one particular part of the body. When I shadowed peds ID rounds, you really get to see patients from all over the hospital.
 
HSUReddie said:
That is definitely true... which is I suppose why I lean more to infectious disease. The immune system is fascinating, and kids are awesome, but I'm not sure how I feel about having a lot of terminal cases. I feel like that would really wear on me.



:woot: Yay, ID! Sounds like your mom has a pretty sweet job. I'm in an entire class on TB at the moment, and it's interesting stuff. I think I like the problem solving aspect, combined with the fact that you're not focusing on just one particular part of the body. When I shadowed peds ID rounds, you really get to see patients from all over the hospital.
Click to expand...

Maybe I'm wrong but I feel like allergy/immunology would almost all be sneezy kids with hayfever. I don't really even know how much immunology would be present! Does anyone have experience with that?

I forgot about ID 😍 it sounds really cool for sure.
 
Today: EM
One week ago: Derm
One month ago: FM
One year ago: Ortho

What I will actually specialize in.....no clue!!!
 
sunflower18 said:
Maybe I'm wrong but I feel like allergy/immunology would almost all be sneezy kids with hayfever. I don't really even know how much immunology would be present! Does anyone have experience with that?

I forgot about ID 😍 it sounds really cool for sure.
Click to expand...

Allergies are a bit less severe I suppose...

But immunology wise, you would, I assume, deal with a lot of primary immunodeficiencies including severe combined immunodeficiencies (SCID). There's also stuff like chronic granulomatous disease - without treatment most kids will die within ten years. I saw a baby with this while I was shadowing in an ID clinic... 🙁
 
HSUReddie said:
Allergies are a bit less severe I suppose...

But immunology wise, you would, I assume, deal with a lot of primary immunodeficiencies including severe combined immunodeficiencies (SCID). There's also stuff like chronic granulomatous disease - without treatment most kids will die within ten years. I saw a baby with this while I was shadowing in an ID clinic... 🙁
Click to expand...

That's true 🙁 very sad indeed!!!
 
HolyCow0333 said:
ID, and I'm actually (pleasantly) surprised by the number of other respondents interested in infectious disease!
Click to expand...

+1

ID is probably leading for me right now, but I wonder how much of that is just prior exposure to a general topic (microbiology major, extensive Salmonella research) rather than a truly informed decision.

I'd be curious to hear why some of you who mentioned ID are interested in the field as well. For me, I am fascinated by the problem-solving involved in the diagnosis and I think I want to go into a field where I can cure patients rather than manage an ongoing condition. Also, I fully intend to do research throughout my entire career and would definitely like to get involved in research regarding ways to combat drug-resistant organisms.
 
I really want to work with my hands, so far I'm interested in gen surg with a trauma fellowship, ortho or interventional card. Who knows though......
 
Ost3oclast said:
I really want to work with my hands, so far I'm interested in gen surg with a trauma fellowship, ortho or interventional card. Who knows though......
Click to expand...

As opposed to working with your feet? :laugh:

Hopefully 3rd year gives enough exposure to see what we really (might) enjoy doing for the rest of our career!
 
Rural medicine (FM or gen surgery) primarily because where I live and the people I treat are high on the priority list. But who knows what will happen in four years, ortho and pm&r are both really cool so we'll see!
 
prado said:
As opposed to working with your feet? :laugh:

Hopefully 3rd year gives enough exposure to see what we really (might) enjoy doing for the rest of our career!
Click to expand...

Hahaha yes exactly. I knew a surgeon who only used his feet to operate....he wasn't very popular...
 
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