Opinions-Which specialty has the most variety?

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Deecee2DO

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Ok so I know that every specialty has their fair share of bread and butter repetition, but which specialty(s) do ya'll think someone seeking the most variety will be most satisfied. I was a chiropractor before medical school and boy is it repetitive/boring, so I want to try and get as far away from repetition as I can. Sidenote: not that interested in EM, although some say that has the most variety. Recently shadowed an allergist and that was cool, but maybe some insight from M3s, M4s or people that have rotated that can shed some light. Trying to expose myself to as many specialties as possible.

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So when you say variety...do you mean in patient presentations vs procedures vs operations, etc etc?

Depends on what you want.

For me, variety in what I am doing day in and day out mattered a great deal. Hence why OB/GYN was a great fit (for me). Clinic, OR, procedures, deliveries, feast or famine lifestyle. The field itself is specialized ...so the patient presentations aren't as vast as EM obviously.

OB/GYN is one of those funny fields where often people either love it or hate it. I do know at least a handful of students who loved their rotation/have fond memories but are happy they aren't pursuing that for their career. ...Or they could have been saying that to me since they know I'm all about it, haha.
 
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So when you say variety...do you mean in patient presentations vs procedures vs operations, etc etc?

Depends on what you want.

For me, variety in what I am doing day in and day out mattered a great deal. Hence why OB/GYN was a great fit (for me). Clinic, OR, procedures, deliveries, feast or famine lifestyle. The field itself is specialized ...so the patient presentations aren't as vast as EM obviously.

OB/GYN is one of those funny fields where often people either love it or hate it. I do know at least a handful of students who loved their rotation/have fond memories but are happy they aren't pursuing that for their career. ...Or they could have been saying that to me since they know I'm all about it, haha.
I would say patient presentations. Never had any exposure to OB, but obviously variety in both aspects would be optimal. It will be interesting to see if I like it 3rd year, but I agree usually the consensus is either hate or love OB. Thanks for the insight
 
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I would say patient presentations. Never had any exposure to OB, but obviously variety in both aspects would be optimal. It will be interesting to see if I like it 3rd year, but I agree usually the consensus is either hate or love OB. Thanks for the insight

FYI, I had no idea I wanted to pursue it til 3rd year during my month on it.

For patient presentations, it's all about the pathology...typically you will see some outrageous shenanigans in EM (as you mentioned). EM does give you lots of procedures as well.

FM also has tons of variety, especially in low SES/underserved areas. Some of the stuff I've seen on my FM outpatient rotations in Detroit still wows me. No matter the area, in FM you might have a pediatric patient well-child visit, then next have a diabetic elderly patient whose sugars aren't well-controlled, to an obstetric patient, to someone to just sprained their ankle, to someone with a URI, etc etc. But obvi procedures aren't that plentiful in FM.
 
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Family med.
Kind of like EM in the outpatient setting in that you never know what is going to walk through the door.
Some FM doctors are still practicing full spectrum where they deliver babies and do inpatient in addition to outpatient clinic. Everyday is truly different.

I remember one day early in residency I went from pronouncing a patient dead and comforting the family, to delivering a baby and then doing the newborn exam.

Although I’m not going to be practicing that full spectrum I’ll be at a place where I’ll see different stuff every day in all age ranges, including procedure days.
 
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Family med.
Kind of like EM in the outpatient setting in that you never know what is going to walk through the door.
Some FM doctors are still practicing full spectrum where they deliver babies and do inpatient in addition to outpatient clinic. Everyday is truly different.

I remember one day early in residency I went from pronouncing a patient dead and comforting the family, to delivering a baby and then doing the newborn exam.

Although I’m not going to be practicing that full spectrum I’ll be at a place where I’ll see different stuff every day in all age ranges, including procedure days.
FM sounds like there is a lot of variety but with loans over my head from chiro school I am a little worried about the salary of FM which I don't know if should be a concern or not since I know it is not all about the money. Are you familiar with some of the ways FM docs are increasing their income through aesthetic procedures/botox etc where I can maybe make more and still have that variety? Im finishing up M1 so my gross knowledge of residency/specialties is limited lol
 
Really? Can you elaborate? I was actually interested in Gas until i heard others say it was quite repetitive for the most part. Whats been your experience with it

You need to have a broad fund of knowledge of medicine. Otherwise you’re just a crna pushing gas. You get to do all types of surgeries from ENT, hearts, GI surgeries, etc. Throw in the fact that you can do procedures although repetitive adds some spice to it
 
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I'm surprised nobody has mentioned IM at all. I'm only a 2nd year so I don't know for sure, but it seems like you would see a wide range of pathology there too.

Correct me if I'm wrong, but I have heard IM is a good area to go into if you like investigational/Dx side of things.
 
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I'm surprised nobody has mentioned IM at all. I'm only a 2nd year so I don't know for sure, but it seems like you would see a wide range of pathology there too.

Correct me if I'm wrong, but I have heard IM is a good area to go into if you like investigational/Dx side of things.
So IM has been at the top of my list so far for this exact reason, but wanted to see others opinions on other fields so I don't become narrow minded in my pursuits. Whats your experience with variety in GI?
 
Personally, I got super bored with IM. Third year requirements for my school were two inpatient rotations and one outpatient rotation. So much of the same thing...CHF, Diabetes, Pneumonia. To each their own though. IM takes a special mind often. Not very heavy procedurally to my knowledge...mostly just lines. So much note writing.
 
Personally, I got super bored with IM. Third year requirements for my school were two inpatient rotations and one outpatient rotation. So much of the same thing...CHF, Diabetes, Pneumonia. To each their own though. IM takes a special mind often. Not very heavy procedurally to my knowledge...mostly just lines. So much note writing.
Yeah down side i heard for FM and IM are the notes. I heard its horrible, but I've come to the realization you can't have everything you want in a specialty there are gonna be pros and cons my priority is variety so if writing more notes is what I need to do to be in a specialty with more variety then it is what it is lol I know at the end of the day if I have to wake up every morning and practice like I did when I was a chiropractor same thing literally everyday (back pain/neck pain adjust rinse/repeat) I will be extremely miserable, but that was my past life lol. I want to make sure I don't make that same mistake
 
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So IM has been at the top of my list so far for this exact reason, but wanted to see others opinions on other fields so I don't become narrow minded in my pursuits. Whats your experience with variety in GI?

I haven't been on rotations yet I know nothing about how the GI doc life is. Probz pretty crappy *slaps knee* *begins self-loathing*
 
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I can definitely see the appeal of being an obgyn. As long as you can tolerate the lifestyle you should keep this high on your list. Also if you gun hard enough shoot for IR, or go the DR -> IR route
 
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FM sounds like there is a lot of variety but with loans over my head from chiro school I am a little worried about the salary of FM which I don't know if should be a concern or not since I know it is not all about the money. Are you familiar with some of the ways FM docs are increasing their income through aesthetic procedures/botox etc where I can maybe make more and still have that variety? Im finishing up M1 so my gross knowledge of residency/specialties is limited lol

Sure, money isn't the ONLY concern but it sure is A concern and anyone who claims you shouldn't look out for your own financial interest is either a fool or trying to pull one over you. You are completely reasonable to be worried about such a thing.

I will just say, for the record, average FM pay for 2018 was $220,000. If you do more work, are willing to practice in rural-suburban settings, in only goes up from there. Go check out the FM forum on SDN to see the 1-2 thousand posts about income there.

PS: regarding OB care as an FM: it is still very possible. However, the people who still do it as an FM either are out in the boonies or MOST of their practice consists of it. I am rotating in a rural site, and all of the FMs stopped doing deliveries just because the OB team was catching most of them and they didn't feel comfortable with only performing 10-20 a year.
 
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Deecee2DO you're only a first year! You haven't even freaked out about boards yet. This thread would've been more appropriate to make two years from now!
 
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Deecee2DO you're only a first year! You haven't even freaked out about boards yet. This thread would've been more appropriate to make two years from now!
Lol i know but I figured if I like something competitive id better find out sooner than later no? I also know I love variety so Im interested to hear others perspectives who are ahead of me
 
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Not sure if looking around the “most variety” will be a beneficial search as every field is going to have it owns bread and butter and it’s own zebras.

Instead I’d say focus on which general group of cases/presentations/procedures (the bread and butter) you are most interested in or fulfilled by treating/learning about and pick that way.

Picking a field based on a couple outlying interesting aspects is likely a good way for burn out and not feeling fulfilled in the future.

Ex: I actually enjoyed my OB/GYN rotation and briefly considered it as I enjoyed OB but just could not stand the routine GYN aspect of it.

IM is certainly an option. If it’s patient variety you enjoy then to some degree if you do a lot of inpatient medicine you will be involved to varying degrees in a wide variety of cases/medical issues.....however likely not really “hands-on” doing much. Some enjoy that and others don’t.

I personally enjoyed a mix of inpatient, some outpatient and good but of procedural volume and ultimately wanted to be a so called expert in a particular field. Ended up in a Cardiology sub-specialty. Really enjoy the bread and butter of cardiology and in this field have a terrific variety of advanced procedures and am the final expert opinion on a number of very specific issues.
 
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Not sure if looking around the “most variety” will be a beneficial search as every field is going to have it owns bread and butter and it’s own zebras.

Instead I’d say focus on which general group of cases/presentations/procedures (the bread and butter) you are most interested in or fulfilled by treating/learning about and pick that way.

Picking a field based on a couple outlying interesting aspects is likely a good way for burn out and not feeling fulfilled in the future.

Ex: I actually enjoyed my OB/GYN rotation and briefly considered it as I enjoyed OB but just could not stand the routine GYN aspect of it.

IM is certainly an option. If it’s patient variety you enjoy then to some degree if you do a lot of inpatient medicine you will be involved to varying degrees in a wide variety of cases/medical issues.....however likely not really “hands-on” doing much. Some enjoy that and others don’t.

I personally enjoyed a mix of inpatient, some outpatient and good but of procedural volume and ultimately wanted to be a so called expert in a particular field. Ended up in a Cardiology sub-specialty. Really enjoy the bread and butter of cardiology and in this field have a terrific variety of advanced procedures and am the final expert opinion on a number of very specific issues.
Interesting perspective thanks for the insight. Did you find yourself really liking cards before or during IM?
 
FYI, I had no idea I wanted to pursue it til 3rd year during my month on it.

For patient presentations, it's all about the pathology...typically you will see some outrageous shenanigans in EM (as you mentioned). EM does give you lots of procedures as well.

FM also has tons of variety, especially in low SES/underserved areas. Some of the stuff I've seen on my FM outpatient rotations in Detroit still wows me. No matter the area, in FM you might have a pediatric patient well-child visit, then next have a diabetic elderly patient whose sugars aren't well-controlled, to an obstetric patient, to someone to just sprained their ankle, to someone with a URI, etc etc. But obvi procedures aren't that plentiful in FM.
what did you see in detroit?

Agree on FM, especially if you're doing true full spectrum or close to it. EM is also close up in a busy community setting with less specialist back up, same with rural FM.

Ultimately, true variety is seen if you do adults and kids and also do lots of procedures.
 
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Despite popular belief, anything procedural based is essentially repetition of the same handful of things. GI, IR, pain, interventional cards, and even ENT/Uro/gen surg bread and butter. You are essentially doing the same handful of procedures week in and week out. To students shadowing or spending a day here and there it probably seems like variety because you are seeing it for the first time as a student. The docs do the same handful of procedures every single day and most of them likely go similarly unless there is a complication in which case variety isn't your friend.

Variety is going to come when you're dealing with a large undifferentiated patient population. In the hospital these will always be your EM, IM, trauma teams. The consultants (GI, cards, colorectal surg, ENT, Uro, etc) generally are consulted for the same handful of reasons and they perform the same handful of procedures. Through your career as a consultant new standards of care will come along, new procedures, new ways to do procedures, etc will come along and you'll adapt but for the most part that's then what you will do.

It really depends on your definition of variety, the size of the organ system, patient population you are interested in. In general critical care, EM, general IM, trauma surgery (ortho/gen surg), FM, high risk OBGYN will have a significantly larger decision burden than GI doing scopes all day
 
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Dermatology. Mix of easy common bread and butter stuff with complicated med/derm cases, surgeries, cosmetic procedures (which has a good mix of different things too) and you can do hospital consults for more serious stuff
 
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Dermatology. Mix of easy common bread and butter stuff with complicated med/derm cases, surgeries, cosmetic procedures (which has a good mix of different things too) and you can do hospital consults for more serious stuff
lol ive always been slightly intrigued by derm. im getting mixed reviews though some people saying good amount of variety others saying all acne/repetition. Are you in derm or going into derm?
 
Despite popular belief, anything procedural based is essentially repetition of the same handful of things. GI, IR, pain, interventional cards, and even ENT/Uro/gen surg bread and butter. You are essentially doing the same handful of procedures week in and week out. To students shadowing or spending a day here and there it probably seems like variety because you are seeing it for the first time as a student. The docs do the same handful of procedures every single day and most of them likely go similarly unless there is a complication in which case variety isn't your friend.

Variety is going to come when you're dealing with a large undifferentiated patient population. In the hospital these will always be your EM, IM, trauma teams. The consultants (GI, cards, colorectal surg, ENT, Uro, etc) generally are consulted for the same handful of reasons and they perform the same handful of procedures. Through your career as a consultant new standards of care will come along, new procedures, new ways to do procedures, etc will come along and you'll adapt but for the most part that's then what you will do.

It really depends on your definition of variety, the size of the organ system, patient population you are interested in. In general critical care, EM, general IM, trauma surgery (ortho/gen surg), FM, high risk OBGYN will have a significantly larger decision burden than GI doing scopes all day
Variety is also a matter of perspective. To the neurosurgeon the pathology and approaches are different where as to an outsider they are all just brain tumors , decompressions , and spine procedures. Even the variety in presentation plus anatomy counts for something.

On the other hand to the specialist all of fm just looks like the management of diabetes and hypertension.
 
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Despite popular belief, anything procedural based is essentially repetition of the same handful of things. GI, IR, pain, interventional cards, and even ENT/Uro/gen surg bread and butter. You are essentially doing the same handful of procedures week in and week out. To students shadowing or spending a day here and there it probably seems like variety because you are seeing it for the first time as a student. The docs do the same handful of procedures every single day and most of them likely go similarly unless there is a complication in which case variety isn't your friend

In general I agree. Partly why I didn’t do interventional. The structural/valve aspect is the most interesting part of interventional now in my opinion.

A big reason I enjoyed EP. Variey of procedures and even “routine” things now like a plain pacemaker are getting interesting and complicated with the advent of His bundle pacing and new techniques (varying types of vascular access, leadless pacers, etc...). From device implants (Pacers, ICDs, CRTs), to extractions, EP studies and ablations it’s actually become somewhat difficult due to the variety and complexity now to be really good at every specific procedure. But for me I like the mental challenge and each case almost like a puzzle with usually some unique aspect. Plus still a somewhat young field that is evolving tech wise very quickly.

IR was also interesting to me in that they seems to have a wide variety of “things” they could do.
 
Interesting perspective thanks for the insight. Did you find yourself really liking cards before or during IM?

Starting getting interested in Cards before and it was cemented during IM residency.

Initially when I started med school and during the first couple years I was thinking I’d do EM. Had a retired Cardiologist in med school who taught one of our clinical courses who I really looked up to and was a great teacher. So that probably biased me a little towards Cardio then. In 3rd year did some EM time and quickly realized I didn’t enjoy the day to day ED work.
 
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lol ive always been slightly intrigued by derm. im getting mixed reviews though some people saying good amount of variety others saying all acne/repetition. Are you in derm or going into derm?
I am a resident and yes you see a lot of repetition like with any specialty but because we also do a lot of procedures it breaks things up. Full bodies, acne, psoriasis gets broken up with lasers, botox, fillers and excisions.
 
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Infectious diseases is very diverse and requires a lot of thinking. Especially if you not only do clinical work but also some epidemiology, international work, etc
 
The specialty with the most variety is FM in underserved (particularly rural) areas.

The specialty with the least variety is FM in cushy suburban clinics.
 
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FYI, I had no idea I wanted to pursue it til 3rd year during my month on it.

For patient presentations, it's all about the pathology...typically you will see some outrageous shenanigans in EM (as you mentioned). EM does give you lots of procedures as well.

FM also has tons of variety, especially in low SES/underserved areas. Some of the stuff I've seen on my FM outpatient rotations in Detroit still wows me. No matter the area, in FM you might have a pediatric patient well-child visit, then next have a diabetic elderly patient whose sugars aren't well-controlled, to an obstetric patient, to someone to just sprained their ankle, to someone with a URI, etc etc. But obvi procedures aren't that plentiful in FM.

Not always true, I end up doing plenty. I don’t use the OR, but I do a lot of procedural stuff.

I do circs, nexplanon placement and removal, IUD’s, endometrial biopsies, skin procedures of nearly every kind, casting and splinting, injections, etc etc.

When I’m doing inpatient, I place central lines, I’ll occasionally need to do RSI and fly someone out, I’ve done bladder taps on neonates, umbilical lines etc too.

For procedures in FM, it depends a lot on where you practice, and how well you were trained. Most docs that do them are in relatively rural or resource poor areas, and most had residencies with good procedural training.
 
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Not always true, I end up doing plenty. I don’t use the OR, but I do a lot of procedural stuff.

I do circs, nexplanon placement and removal, IUD’s, endometrial biopsies, skin procedures of nearly every kind, casting and splinting, injections, etc etc.

When I’m doing inpatient, I place central lines, I’ll occasionally need to do RSI and fly someone out, I’ve done bladder taps on neonates, umbilical lines etc too.

For procedures in FM, it depends a lot on where you practice, and how well you were trained. Most docs that do them are in relatively rural or resource poor areas, and most had residencies with good procedural training.

What setting do you practice? Rural? City? Sounds like a decent dose of procedures.
 
Peds surg and IR are my votes
 
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Well it appears thT the opinions are all over the place lol since it really comes down to personal preference which is understandable. I will see what 3rd yr brings. thanks for the input!
 
FM- you can do clinic, nursing homes, OB, ER, urgent care, hospitalist, etc.. literally have options for most scenarios if you don't want to live in a large metro area on the two coasts.
IM- No reason to do IM if you aren't going to specialize, you can save yourself the headache and do FM-- unless you want to be the hospitalist in a large metro area
ER- see everything from mild to wild, plus procedures.. You'll have to work your way up the totem pole to start getting more day shifts instead of nights. plus, the burnout rate is astronomical for a reason..


Im leaving out any specialities due to fewer options for variety.

FM in rural areas is where its at for variety. Pay? None of the physicians from my hometown in rural America are hurting for money. most are over 300K with MIPS and RVU bonuses. some even higher with DPC, medical director for nursing homes, and joining call groups for hospitalist duties. Plus, pre signing with an employer in 2nd year of residency=~50K for 2 years, plus 20-40K sign on bonus after residency, plus 20K per year for student loan repayment, plus other state and federal help for student loans.
 
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Just out of curiosity, did you complete DC school? How old are you? What made you switch?
 
FM- you can do clinic, nursing homes, OB, ER, urgent care, hospitalist, etc.. literally have options for most scenarios if you don't want to live in a large metro area on the two coasts.
IM- No reason to do IM if you aren't going to specialize, you can save yourself the headache and do FM-- unless you want to be the hospitalist in a large metro area
ER- see everything from mild to wild, plus procedures.. You'll have to work your way up the totem pole to start getting more day shifts instead of nights. plus, the burnout rate is astronomical for a reason..


Im leaving out any specialities due to fewer options for variety.

FM in rural areas is where its at for variety. Pay? None of the physicians from my hometown in rural America are hurting for money. most are over 300K with MIPS and RVU bonuses. some even higher with DPC, medical director for nursing homes, and joining call groups for hospitalist duties. Plus, pre signing with an employer in 2nd year of residency=~50K for 2 years, plus 20-40K sign on bonus after residency, plus 20K per year for student loan repayment, plus other state and federal help for student loans.

Was going to make a long, well thought out post but this was pretty much exactly what I was going to say. Lots of sign-on bonuses and loan-forgiveness options for rural positions as companies are often desperate for docs. You can also set up a DPC or concierge practice and charge flat rates. Other thing I'd point out with IM is that if you're an IM hospitalist (non-specialist) you'll see plenty of variety and then transfer them/defer to other fields. There's a reason they get called highly paid secretaries by a lot of other docs...

Plus with FM if you really want to you can do locums in EDs, focus on OB, or work as a hospitalist in some places. LOTS of options with FM and relatively easy to be flexible.

You need to have a broad fund of knowledge of medicine. Otherwise you’re just a crna pushing gas. You get to do all types of surgeries from ENT, hearts, GI surgeries, etc. Throw in the fact that you can do procedures although repetitive adds some spice to it

True, but even with a strong breadth of knowledge you're still just pushing gas most of the time unless you go into something like pain (in which case you get to push liquids). Certainly an interesting field, but not one that jumps to mind when I think about variety.
 
Just out of curiosity, did you complete DC school? How old are you? What made you switch?

I asked this question because, as a Primary Care Provider who is also a DC and DO, you will be able to treat every type of medical condition that comes through your door as well as offer manipulative services. This in and of itself is a huge variety, especially if you turn some days into "performance / manipulation days" and have other days set aside for medical problems, or however it is you want to set that up. This is also something I'm thinking about / planning on doing.
 
Just out of curiosity, did you complete DC school? How old are you? What made you switch?
Im 29 I graduated chiro school in 2016 practiced a little over a year and then entered med school. I absolutely loathe chiropractic and heres why:
-limited scope of practice
-sham treatments
-PTs can accomplish the same thing and all Neuros/Orthos refer to PTs not chiros
-too subjective (I want objective clinical data/labs showing that I made a difference you don't get that with chiro you get "omg i feel so much better thank you!" but how do I know its in their head. I need to see labs/imaging etc to see that I actually made a difference on my patient which I can get in medicine because medicine has objective real research to back it up).
-I was forced to tell people they needed certain treatments that they didn't need (xrays, orthotics, more adjustments) just to make more money-I went home at the end of the day feeling like I was living a lie.
-I really don't like MSK either and chiro is all MSK.
-its easy (how hard is it to crack someones back I mean come on). there is literally zero challenge in chiropractic
-you do the same thing day in and day out (back pain neck pain back pain neck pain headache back pain neck pain) and it gets old

For these reasons I had to do something more challenging and with a large scope of practice that allowed me to actually see my objective clinical impact on patients and allowed me to practice real medicine. Some chiros claim that chiro school and med school are the same because they take similar courses there is even an article floating around out there comparing the educational courses between MD/DO and DC and it is a big fat lie! Chiro school doesn't touch the surface to the volume of information and depth of knowledge required in medical school. NO comparison. The only courses that have a fighting chance is chiro school anatomy which is much more difficult than med school anatomy and neuroanatomy which is the same as med school neuroanatomy. If you see any chiros on SDN saying they get equal training @ me and I will clear it up real quick lol. Chiros that call themselves physicians or chiropractic physicians are kidding themselves
 
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Im 29 I graduated chiro school in 2016 practiced a little over a year and then entered med school. I absolutely loathe chiropractic and heres why:
-limited scope of practice
-sham treatments
-PTs can accomplish the same thing and all Neuros/Orthos refer to PTs not chiros
-too subjective (I want objective clinical data/labs showing that I made a difference you don't get that with chiro you get "omg i feel so much better thank you!" but how do I know its in their head. I need to see labs/imaging etc to see that I actually made a difference on my patient which I can get in medicine because medicine has objective real research to back it up).
-I was forced to tell people they needed certain treatments that they didn't need (xrays, orthotics, more adjustments) just to make more money-I went home at the end of the day feeling like I was living a lie.
-I really don't like MSK either and chiro is all MSK.
-its easy (how hard is it to crack someones back I mean come on). there is literally zero challenge in chiropractic
-you do the same thing day in and day out (back pain neck pain back pain neck pain headache back pain neck pain) and it gets old

For these reasons I had to do something more challenging and with a large scope of practice that allowed me to actually see my objective clinical impact on patients and allowed me to practice real medicine. Some chiros claim that chiro school and med school are the same because they take similar courses there is even an article floating around out there comparing the educational courses between MD/DO and DC and it is a big fat lie! Chiro school doesn't touch the surface to the volume of information and depth of knowledge required in medical school. NO comparison. The only courses that have a fighting chance is chiro school anatomy which is much more difficult than med school anatomy and neuroanatomy which is the same as med school neuroanatomy. If you see any chiros on SDN saying they get equal training @ me and I will clear it up real quick lol. Chiros that call themselves physicians or chiropractic physicians are kidding themselves
What made you go through all 4 years of school, then? Did you not realize these things until you were practicing?

I admire you-- I honestly don't think I could go through 4 years of professional school, finally finish, and then hop in for another 4. How are you planning on handling your debt (sorry if that's too personal, you don't have to answer)?
 
What made you go through all 4 years of school, then? Did you not realize these things until you were practicing?

I admire you-- I honestly don't think I could go through 4 years of professional school, finally finish, and then hop in for another 4. How are you planning on handling your debt (sorry if that's too personal, you don't have to answer)?
I wanted to finish what I started. Not finishing could have been potentially lethal to my med school application. I thought it would get better in practice and it just got worse. Debt is always a slight issue for anyone which is why I probably won't be doing FM or primary care as all of the chiros I know that became MDs or DOs told me to specialize if I decided to pursue medicine. I am, however, not completely ruling it out though. If I am going to be honest I have also been fortunate enough where my family has helped me out financially for a lot of my school up until med school so that helps for sure
 
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I wanted to finish what I started. Not finishing could have been potentially lethal to my med school application. I thought it would get better in practice and it just got worse. Debt is always a slight issue for anyone which is why I probably won't be doing FM or primary care as all of the chiros I know that became MDs or DOs told me to specialize if I decided to pursue medicine. I am, however, not completely ruling it out though. If I am going to be honest I have also been fortunate enough where my family has helped me out financially for a lot of my school up until med school so that helps for sure
Thank you for sharing! I have a family friend who made the switch from pre-med to pre-DC this year, so I will share your comments with her :)
 
Thank you for sharing! I have a family friend who made the switch from pre-med to pre-DC this year, so I will share your comments with her :)
I'll be blunt here but tell her to switch back or go to PT school! I can't stress enough how pursuing chiro is a horrible decision for anyone financially is a terrible investment avg salary is like 55K per year and school is like 180K. Not that its all about salary but there are plenty of other reasons that i mentioned. If she likes MSK do PT or go DO/MD and do PMR, Ortho, FM (Sports Med)
 
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In my opinion, at the end of the day, it’s not about variety, it’s about what bread and butter you can tolerate the most.

Don’t pick GI if you don’t like PEG tubes and colonoscopies.

Don’t pick neuro if you don’t like strokes.

Don’t pick peds if you don’t like well child visits.

Etc etc
 
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In my opinion, at the end of the day, it’s not about variety, it’s about what bread and butter you can tolerate the most.

Don’t pick GI if you don’t like PEG tubes and colonoscopies.

Don’t pick neuro if you don’t like strokes.

Don’t pick peds if you don’t like well child visits.

Etc etc
I am hearing a lot of this and it honestly seems like some of the best advice I have heard yet
 
IM- No reason to do IM if you aren't going to specialize, you can save yourself the headache and do FM-- unless you want to be the hospitalist in a large metro area

Or if you want to do medicine academics, or have no interest in peds, OB/GYN. Even in my Mid-size city of ~700k, most hospitalists are IM.
 
Or if you want to do medicine academics, or have no interest in peds, OB/GYN. Even in my Mid-size city of ~700k, most hospitalists are IM.
I would consider 700K people a large metro area.. Im referring to places with <100K people for FM to do hospitalist work. I hate OB and that's the beauty of FM, pretty much build your own niche clientele of what you like.
 
I would consider 700K people a large metro area.. Im referring to places with <100K people for FM to do hospitalist work. I hate OB and that's the beauty of FM, pretty much build your own niche clientele of what you like.

I guess I never saw the difference between outpatient FM and IM in clerkship. 99% of fm docs and IM docs practice the same exact way.
 
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