****Official Specialty Thread****

Started by Scrubsy
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Surprised more people haven't mentioned interventional radiology. Some of the procedures and outcomes are simply incredible--also the way this field has figured out ways to operate with such lower risk (e.g. neurointerventional radiologists taking on aneurysm clippings) is amazing.
 
neonatology because it is hospital based. Whatever specialty i go into will have to be hospital based because i am not at all interested in becoming involved in the business aspect of medicine. Fascinated by surgery (thanks greys anatomy) yet i can't imagine myself cutting people open. There's also pediatric critical care, er, IM...but for now totally sticking with neonatology 👍
 
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docjma said:
neonatology because it is hospital based. Whatever specialty i go into will have to be hospital based because i am not at all interested in becoming involved in the business aspect of medicine. Fascinated by surgery (thanks greys anatomy) yet i can't imagine myself cutting people open. There's also pediatric critical care, er, IM...but for now totally sticking with neonatology 👍
Click to expand...

Specialties that are often hospital based:
Rads
Rad/Onc
Most Surgery, especially neurosurg
Hospitalists (Peds and adult)
OB/Gyn
Pathology
Many more...

My point is you can do just about any specialty in a mostly hospital setting. Also, if you work in academic medicine, you are often salaried and don't need to worry about the business side of medicine aside from turning in your charts for coding and billing.

Also, you're "fascinated" by surgery because of Grey's Anatomy? 😀 Bahahaha. Are you also interested in medicine because of an episode of House? I'd recommend doing some shadowing with real physicians/surgeons prior to declaring your fascination with a field. 🙂
 
rueby25 said:
Specialties that are often hospital based:
Rads
Rad/Onc
Most Surgery, especially neurosurg
Hospitalists (Peds and adult)
OB/Gyn
Pathology
Many more...

My point is you can do just about any specialty in a mostly hospital setting. Also, if you work in academic medicine, you are often salaried and don't need to worry about the business side of medicine aside from turning in your charts for coding and billing.

Also, you're "fascinated" by surgery because of Grey's Anatomy? 😀 Bahahaha. Are you also interested in medicine because of an episode of House? I'd recommend doing some shadowing with real physicians/surgeons prior to declaring your fascination with a field. 🙂
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No I have shadowed different specialties. I think greys is cool but my father is a foreign plastic surgeon ( he doesnt want me to do surgery) And no I just didn't decide to pursue medicine because of a television show. You escalated things so quickly lol :/
 
docjma said:
No I have shadowed different specialties. I think greys is cool but my father is a foreign plastic surgeon ( he doesnt want me to do surgery) And no I just didn't decide to pursue medicine because of a television show. You escalated things so quickly lol :/
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P.S no need to be calling out pre meds for their take on things... if you really are a med student... you were once a pre med as well. 🙂
 
docjma said:
P.S no need to be calling out pre meds for their take on things... if you really are a med student... you were once a pre med as well. 🙂
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Premed is such a vague term. People who are about to apply to med school are "pre-med" just as a self-identified college freshmen is. I understand that the journey into medicine is different for everyone, but I was trying to save you strife, as people will give you a much harder time for saying things like the comment above about Grey's (you of all people should know real surgical residency/practice is nothing like that show). I wasn't trying to say you hadn't shadowed at all. Just pointing out that saying things like that male you come off as uninformed.

And yes, I really am a medical student. Who really already matched in a surgical subspecialty. 🙂
 
Scrubsy said:
What specialty are you thinking of going into and why?
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1)Orthopedic surgery- Because the stereotype would go well with me jk. I have had some joint problems before. My mom has rheumatoid arthritis, so since then the muscular and skeleton system got me interested. Yeah they have the highest paying salaries I would be lying if if that wasn't one of my choices and I like sports.

2) Radiation Oncology or Pediatric Oncology Cancer runs in my family. So I have seen it all. Several family members have passed away. RadOnc has good hours for my futre life (wife and kids). Pediatric oncology I would feel what the families are going through. my close cousin died at the age of 9 of leukemia in 2010. I love the effort the docs gave and nurses.

3) Anesthesiology If I end up being a choke and surgery is not as cool as I thought it would be I would like to still take care of patients in a surgery setting and make them feel good before surgery.

4) Neurosurgery I just started reading some threads about it and I found a great interest in it. I heard after residency you will have tons of people trying to get you to come to their practice so you can pick wich will fit your lifestyle.
 
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rueby25 said:
Premed is such a vague term. People who are about to apply to med school are "pre-med" just as a self-identified college freshmen is. I understand that the journey into medicine is different for everyone, but I was trying to save you strife, as people will give you a much harder time for saying things like the comment above about Grey's (you of all people should know real surgical residency/practice is nothing like that show). I wasn't trying to say you hadn't shadowed at all. Just pointing out that saying things like that male you come off as uninformed.

And yes, I really am a medical student. Who really already matched in a surgical subspecialty. 🙂
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whatever you say doctor, it's not like I was ever going to use that in my PS or in the interviews (if and when I get to that point), thanks for your input I guess.
 
The Buff OP said:
1)Orthopedic surgery- Because the stereotype would go well with me jk. I have had some joint problems before. My mom has rheumatoid arthritis, so since then the muscular and skeleton system got me interested. Yeah they have the highest paying salaries I would be lying if if that wasn't one of my choices and I like sports.

2) Radiation Oncology or Pediatric Oncology Cancer runs in my family. So I have seen it all. Several family members have passed away. RadOnc has good hours for my futre life (wife and kids). Pediatric oncology I would feel what the families are going through. my close cousin died at the age of 9 of leukemia in 2010. I love the effort the docs gave and nurses.

3) Anesthesiology If I end up being a choke and surgery is not as cool as I thought it would be I would like to still take care of patients in a surgery setting and make them feel good before surgery.
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Lol, what gave you that idea?

If you're doing it right, they shouldn't be feeling good. They should be feeling nothing at all.
 
TacklinFuel said:
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.
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Good stuff, brah.👍
 
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I would like to do child psychiatry, and with my interest in neurodevelopmental disorders, neurology is also a very viable option. I have no interest in any surgical specialty, and would prefer to stay with the mind/brain.
Everyone preaches about the open mind for applications and interviews, is that necessary when you want to do psychiatry or even neurology? They seem to be quite different from the rest (esp psych) so would it be bad to only express interest these two specialties?
 
WhittyPsyche said:
I would like to do child psychiatry, and with my interest in neurodevelopmental disorders, neurology is also a very viable option. I have no interest in any surgical specialty, and would prefer to stay with the mind/brain.
Everyone preaches about the open mind for applications and interviews, is that necessary when you want to do psychiatry or even neurology? They seem to be quite different from the rest (esp psych) so would it be bad to only express interest these two specialties?
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You can mention that you have an interest in it but then casually say..."but I have an open mind..." or something. Because they really do enforce the open mind thing.
 
Pulm/CCM and psych. I have a strong interest in the pathology of these areas as well as the social and healthcare reform issues that come with the territory. I'm definitely keeping a very open mind though, and will be shadowing a neurologist, FM doc, and state medical examiner before M1.
 
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EM

Shift work is appealing and the diversity of stuff that comes into an ED. I like to be have broad knowledge about a lot rather than in depth knowledge about something specific. That is obviously a super simplified explanation, but that is at the core of my interest.
 
Weird when there is a necro bump on a thread you don't remember writing in... Least I know I haven't flip-flopped 😀
 
WhittyPsyche said:
I would like to do child psychiatry, and with my interest in neurodevelopmental disorders, neurology is also a very viable option. I have no interest in any surgical specialty, and would prefer to stay with the mind/brain.
Everyone preaches about the open mind for applications and interviews, is that necessary when you want to do psychiatry or even neurology? They seem to be quite different from the rest (esp psych) so would it be bad to only express interest these two specialties?
Click to expand...

Honestly I think Adcoms would appreciate the fact that you're honest and that you're not just another premed who wants to do pediatric orthocardiooncological surgery. Just make sure you sound sincere about it. I always roll my eyes when I see preclinical folks talking about "helping the underserved" without having a grasp of how that affects your lifestyle and practice.

edit: though I should caveat that if you really do want to do the above, especially psychiatry (neuro a little less so), you're probably going to be well compensated since "underserved" is anywhere outside of a major city.
 
I thought for a long time that I would do cardiology since I have done cardiac research for four years and loved it. However when I shadowed a cardiologist I realized that, although I was interested in what they were doing, I was bored with the pace of their day. Then I had the opportunity to shadow a few surgeons and loved the fast paced atmosphere and definitive interventions. Since then I've slowly started to think about combining my interests in the heart and in surgery, but either way I think I want to do some type of surgery at this point.
 
Some of my choices have changed, but I'm 100% on surgery now and I'm keeping my mind open for surgery subspecialties.

Favorite list of surgery specialties from particular order.
  1. Plastic and reconstructive surgery.
  2. Orthopedic surgery.
  3. Cardiothoracic surgery.
  4. Neurosurgery.
  5. Transplant surgery.
 
When asked during interviews, I responded with surgery. I based this off of my shadowing experiences and some non-fiction books that I read by current or retired surgeons that piqued my interest. Now, though, I'm thinking something more "behind the scenes" might suit me better. Something like pathology or radiology seem like they would fit that bill. Regardless, I'll go into M1 next fall with an open-mind.
 
IM. I feel like I could do something more competitive but IM is nice in that I could work in a hospital or an office, see patients throughout their lives, know a little bit of everything; I've heard it called the thinker's speciality, which is nice but from an obviously biased source.
 
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Emergency Medicine. I've worked as an ED scribe over this past year and fell in love with EM. I highly enjoy the pace, variety of cases, and shift-work nature of the job. I really like the fact that it's conducive to family life as well. I have a ton more reasons but these are the Cliff Notes.
 
Until I take the step 1: anaesthology, emergency med, radiology (ehhh), opthamology, dermatology, any type of surgery, orthopedics all day.

if I bomb the step 1: psychiatry with a focus on ADHD patients bc I actually understand ADHD and have lived with it.
 
Also, I'd rather actually be able to do something intricate like surgery and have a role that isn't easily replaceable CRNs (whatever those nurses are called). I also actually want to be able to interact with patients and not be stuck doing "beep boop robotic computer work" all day cuz that's not my thing so i'm not too sure about radiology. Still gonna give it a look though.
 
I think a more realistic question or at least one with more probable answers is what specialities are you NOT considering.

I am not considering EM, FM, obgyn, or psych.

But who knows.
 
From what I've shadowed? Difficult to say but I'm attracted to cerebral and academic specialties, academics in general. Psych, Neurology, Oncology in no particular order. I can see myself becoming a proceduralist but I think I'll save that judgement for third yr rotations. I've shadowed surgeons and sat through some long surgeries but I dont think ive experienced the full force of surgery's demands.

Yah not OB/GYN, screw that, those docs seem miserable and there's lots of screaming.
 
FM or OB/GYN. If I do OB/GYN I'll probably want to do MFM. Right now my interests are in women's health, especially reproductive health, and I don't really see that changing too much. I've been told by lots of people that OB/GYN is very surgery heavy which is something I don't think I'll like, hence FM or MFM but we'll see what happens I guess.

Sent from my Nexus 7 using Tapatalk
 
wouldn't being a gyno kind of ruin sex for you (assuming that's even possible lmao)? you'd be able to pick out and understand every flaw and everything wrong with vaginas. it'd be awesome, but you'd know so much it'd be crazy.
 
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Godspeedyou said:
Prenatal neurosurgery
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fig5a.jpg

Prenatal spinal surgery. A big development apparently, and quite cool.

mrh125 said:
wouldn't being a gyno kind of ruin sex for you (assuming that's even possible lmao)? you'd be able to pick out and understand every flaw and everything wrong with vaginas. it'd be awesome, but you'd know so much it'd be crazy.
Click to expand...
:eyebrow:
 
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J Senpai said:
fig5a.jpg

Prenatal spinal surgery. A big development apparently, and quite cool.


:eyebrow:
Click to expand...

think about being able to recognize and identify every smell or every sign that vaginas have infections and something wrong with them? for real, that'd be freaky as hell and make for some potentially bad nights.
 
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