Reasons for doing medicine/choosing a specialty

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Hi. I'm not set on medicine, but I'm headed that way unless I see something else more preferable along the way. I'm a geek at heart, and when I talk about the things that excite me I'm often told that I sound like an internist.

Anyway, I'm aware that most people change their minds during med school when they actually get to experience the different areas of medicine, but just for the sake of argument what are some areas that I should avoid or might be interested in looking into?

I don't care about making a ton of money. $90,000-$120,000 a year and I'd be more than happily set. I don't need any more than that. I'm willing to work long and unexpected hours, although a more stable schedule is obviously preferable. 60 hour work weeks (after residency) are fine with me as long as I enjoy what I'm doing. I need something intellectually stimulating, so that might rule out stuff like ortho. I like interacting with patients, but I don't know when I'll hit a threshold with that (i.e. rounding). Maybe EM?

 

[Winged Scapula]

Maybe you should wait until you get to medical school to decide because it appears that you have a lot of stereotypes about medicine which are not necessarily true.

Orthopods are some of the smartest guys in the hospital and while you may not find the work intellectually stimulating, you're not really in a position to say, and I'd venture that most people don't understand that there are complexities to surgical decision making and patient management.

Interacting with patients is great but in EM you might not have a reasonable conversation with most of them - trauma, psych, peds, patients in pain...not necessarily good conversationalists. The nature of the work, even with alert and cooperative patients, means that you need to move on to the next one asap.

And if you're gonna characterize yourself as a geek, internal medicine is not for you, its neurology or pathology! (sorry, couldn't help but stereotype as well). Medicine is full of geeks in all specialties, even Orthopedics. I know some terribly geeky surgeons and some really cool and mellow internists, oncologists and radiologists.

As for money, things may change by the time you finish training, and the way things are going, if you are $500K in debt from medical school loan and deferment, you may want to make a little more than $100K/year. Nonetheless, there are all sorts of fields where you can make that kind of money and only work 60 hrs/week, even surgical ones.

Its way too early to be thinking about specialties, even if its fun. You might be suprised, like I and so many others were, about what you finding interesting and fun.

 

[DarthNeurology]

Maybe you should wait until you get to medical school to decide because it appears that you have a lot of stereotypes about medicine which are not necessarily true.

Orthopods are some of the smartest guys in the hospital and while you may not find the work intellectually stimulating, you're not really in a position to say, and I'd venture that most people don't understand that there are complexities to surgical decision making and patient management.

Interacting with patients is great but in EM you might not have a reasonable conversation with most of them - trauma, psych, peds, patients in pain...not necessarily good conversationalists. The nature of the work, even with alert and cooperative patients, means that you need to move on to the next one asap.

And if you're gonna characterize yourself as a geek, internal medicine is not for you, its neurology or pathology! (sorry, couldn't help but stereotype as well). Medicine is full of geeks in all specialties, even Orthopedics. I know some terribly geeky surgeons and some really cool and mellow internists, oncologists and radiologists.

As for money, things may change by the time you finish training, and the way things are going, if you are $500K in debt from medical school loan and deferment, you may want to make a little more than $100K/year. Nonetheless, there are all sorts of fields where you can make that kind of money and only work 60 hrs/week, even surgical ones.

Its way too early to be thinking about specialties, even if its fun. You might be suprised, like I and so many others were, about what you finding interesting and fun.

Every field in medicine has its own geeks too, i.e. you can geek out over anything including some surgeons who really geek out over the latest and greatest in surgical technology like that Da Vinci robot or some new laser or new synthetic vessel graft, wheeeee!

 

[Winged Scapula]

Every field in medicine has its own geeks too, i.e. you can geek out over anything including some surgeons who really geek out over the latest and greatest in surgical technology like that Da Vinci robot or some new laser or new synthetic vessel graft, wheeeee!

That was my point.

I've seen lots of geeky surgeons (especially those vascular guys ) and lots of geeks elsewhere in medicine.

 

[Blade28]

Every field in medicine has its own geeks too, i.e. you can geek out over anything including some surgeons who really geek out over the latest and greatest in surgical technology like that Da Vinci robot or some new laser or new synthetic vessel graft, wheeeee!

I got to play with the da Vinci robot at ACS in New Orleans last October, and let me tell you...I was in heaven.

 

[GassiusClay]

Hi. I'm not set on medicine, but I'm headed that way unless I see something else more preferable along the way. I'm a geek at heart, and when I talk about the things that excite me I'm often told that I sound like an internist.

Anyway, I'm aware that most people change their minds during med school when they actually get to experience the different areas of medicine, but just for the sake of argument what are some areas that I should avoid or might be interested in looking into?

I don't care about making a ton of money. $90,000-$120,000 a year and I'd be more than happily set. I don't need any more than that. I'm willing to work long and unexpected hours, although a more stable schedule is obviously preferable. 60 hour work weeks (after residency) are fine with me as long as I enjoy what I'm doing. I need something intellectually stimulating, so that might rule out stuff like ortho. I like interacting with patients, but I don't know when I'll hit a threshold with that (i.e. rounding). Maybe EM?

You need a scholarship. 120K per year means that you will probably end up spending 15% of your monthly income on your tuition debt. Sounds cool now? Avoid medicine because your optimism is blind. You need to work with residents, not attendings in some cush office in the suburbs, to get a real idea of how things work until you MIGHT be the successful one down the road.

 

[jdh71]

And if you're gonna characterize yourself as a geek, internal medicine is not for you, its neurology . . .

I've never understood . . . why anyone would spend twice as much time talking about what its ISN'T than what it is . . .

"Now, if this was tertiary syphilis, how it would it present? What labs would be order then? What would be our management . . ."

(shoot me if I ever end up on another month of it . . .)

 

[sirus_virus]

Hi. I'm not set on medicine, but I'm headed that way unless I see something else more preferable along the way. I'm a geek at heart, and when I talk about the things that excite me I'm often told that I sound like an internist.

Anyway, I'm aware that most people change their minds during med school when they actually get to experience the different areas of medicine, but just for the sake of argument what are some areas that I should avoid or might be interested in looking into?

I don't care about making a ton of money. $90,000-$120,000 a year and I'd be more than happily set. I don't need any more than that. I'm willing to work long and unexpected hours, although a more stable schedule is obviously preferable. 60 hour work weeks (after residency) are fine with me as long as I enjoy what I'm doing. I need something intellectually stimulating, so that might rule out stuff like ortho. I like interacting with patients, but I don't know when I'll hit a threshold with that (i.e. rounding). Maybe EM?

Chronic malignant premedosis.

 

[medicinesux]

I'm not set on medicine, but I'm headed that way unless I see something else more preferable along the way.

Before even applying to medical school...heck even sitting for the MCAT, you need to do your homework and know 101% that medicine is what you want to do for the rest of your life. If you are "not set" yet, then you need to do your homework and figure this out NOW. Otherwise, you will find yourself trapped and in a world of hurt down the road.

 

[medicinesux]

Furthermore, saying that will you be happy with 90-120K a year when you owe hundreds of thousands of dollars to those who just sold you the Brooklyn Bridge is being naive and ludicrous.

 

[Old_Mil]

Hi. I'm not set on medicine, but I'm headed that way unless I see something else more preferable along the way.

Medicine is a poor field to fall into by default. There are a great many things to do in life that we don't necessarily think about. Ask yourself, "do I have a biology mind or a physics mind?" If the latter, engineering - petroleum engineering, nuclear engineering, any energy related field of engineering would be a good path for the future I'd think.