Should I go to med school with an interest in ONLY one field?

[LearnedHand]

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Hello,

Though I already have a BA, I guess that you could consider me a pre-med student. Med students, can you answer the following question for me?

I considered, at first, to try and enter a PhD program in clinical psychology. But then, I did a lot of thinking and would rather be a psychiatrist.

Thing is, I have almost *no* interest in practicing other areas of medicine - surgery, pediatrics, ENT, etc. Would it be nuts of me to go to med school knowing this? Is going with a single goal in mind - psychiatry - risky?

Thanks!

 

[Law2Doc]

Hello,

Though I already have a BA, I guess that you could consider me a pre-med student. Med students, can you answer the following question for me?

I considered, at first, to try and enter a PhD program in clinical psychology. But then, I did a lot of thinking and would rather be a psychiatrist.

Thing is, I have almost *no* interest in practicing other areas of medicine - surgery, pediatrics, ENT, etc. Would it be nuts of me to go to med school knowing this? Is going with a single goal in mind - psychiatry - risky?

Thanks!

Go into medical school with an open mind. It's foolish to rule out things before you have seen them first hand. Something like 90% of all med students will change their mind at least once before ultimately choosing a residency, and a few even will start over with a new residency after that. You haven't seen much yet, and there's a good chance that you will find you like something you didn't think you would, or perhaps will hate psych once you see what it really involves. A lot of it is personality driven, and you may find that you mesh better with the types of people who go into XYZ field than psych as well. But psychiatry isn't the most competitive of fields so if you are gung ho about it, and do decently, you should be able to get it. But you may not ultimately want it when the time is right.

 

[Pembleton]

It would not be nuts of you to do so. Many people only have one field in mind. It's good to set a goal and be single-minded in your accomplishment of it. It lends focus to your studies, in my opinion.

In my experience, the people in my class who came in thinking of only specialty are doing better in class because they know all that it takes to do really well in school to get in their desired specialty.

However, you should make yourself open to a possible change of focus if another field does catch your attention.

 

[Law2Doc]

In my experience, the people in my class who came in thinking of only specialty are doing better in class because they know all that it takes to do really well in school to get in their desired specialty.

I'm seeing a pretty big split -- those who had something in mind and are doing well, and those who had something in mind and are horribly frustrated by how poorly they are doing and full of angst that they likely cannot be what they wanted to. But come third and fourth year, they may see they didn't like it anyhow. It's fine to have leanings, but keep an open mind, and decide later.

 

[Pembleton]

I'm seeing a pretty big split -- those who had something in mind and are doing well, and those who had something in mind and are horribly frustrated by how poorly they are doing and full of angst that they likely cannot be what they wanted to. But come third and fourth year, they may see they didn't like it anyhow. It's fine to have leanings, but keep an open mind, and decide later.

I see something of the same thing.

I also see the converse. I know one guy doing well but he has no focus yet and I wonder how much better he'd be doing if he went full-steam ahead. (And no that guy isn't me 🙂)

 

[Bitsy3221]

Go to medical school! I started medical school fully intent on doing general surgery (even wrote it in my personal statement, so no--you don't need to do the hoo-haa about wanted to do primary care to gain admission) and now, here I am, applying for general surgery.

There was a small group of classmates who started medical school to do psych and they, too, are still gung-ho about doing psych four years later.

 

[hyperbaric]

Hello,

Though I already have a BA, I guess that you could consider me a pre-med student. Med students, can you answer the following question for me?

I considered, at first, to try and enter a PhD program in clinical psychology. But then, I did a lot of thinking and would rather be a psychiatrist.

Thing is, I have almost *no* interest in practicing other areas of medicine - surgery, pediatrics, ENT, etc. Would it be nuts of me to go to med school knowing this? Is going with a single goal in mind - psychiatry - risky?

Thanks!

This is very similiar to my path to med school. I abandoned the pyschiatry quest pretty quickly as I gained exposure to others areas of medicine.

Go for it!

 

[Pinkertinkle]

Psychiatry is so easy to get into that its not that risky.

 

[Doctor Bagel]

Psychiatry is so easy to get into that its not that risky.

That's sort of my thoughts. I started med school with a primary interest in psych and initially decided to attend medical school after deciding it was a better option than clinical psychology. Now I think I might also be interested in some other things (IM maybe -- surgery, etc., is a no way).

I would caution against starting med school if you felt like you could only be happy in something like derm or ortho just because you might not be able to match in those fields.

 

[lord_jeebus]

That's what I've been doing -- I came to medical school so that I could practice a particular flavor of medicine. It's been a good motivator because I have a clear idea of what my life is going to be like 5 or 10 years down the road.

I still approach each specialty with an open mind. Most of the time, rotating through just reinforces my interest in my preferred field. Once in a while I really enjoy something and consider it as a career, but in the end I determine that although I like it, I don't like it the most.

 

[cfdavid]

Hello,

Though I already have a BA, I guess that you could consider me a pre-med student. Med students, can you answer the following question for me?

I considered, at first, to try and enter a PhD program in clinical psychology. But then, I did a lot of thinking and would rather be a psychiatrist.

Thing is, I have almost *no* interest in practicing other areas of medicine - surgery, pediatrics, ENT, etc. Would it be nuts of me to go to med school knowing this? Is going with a single goal in mind - psychiatry - risky?

Thanks!

Sure, you should. Try keeping an open mind, but if you know what you want to do, you know what you want to do. No big deal. There's a huge demand for psychyiatrists anyway, so you'll have good prospects. And, no it's not risky.

 

[cfdavid]

I'm seeing a pretty big split -- those who had something in mind and are doing well, and those who had something in mind and are horribly frustrated by how poorly they are doing and full of angst that they likely cannot be what they wanted to. But come third and fourth year, they may see they didn't like it anyhow. It's fine to have leanings, but keep an open mind, and decide later.

Actually, yeah, if you're ONLY interested in interventional radiology or dermatology (or some other hypercompetitive field), you REALLY would need to keep an open mind. For sure.

But, psych doesn't seem particularly competitive right now, so the OP should be fine. But, it's generally a good idea to keep an open mind for oneself, regardless of the competitiveness of your interests.

 

[NonTradMed]

Dont' go into medicine if you think you won't enjoy anything but X speciality b/c there's a good chance you will find X not fitting your temperament/lifestyle/grades etc. Go into medicine if you enjoy patient interaction and are open to other specialities (or at least, do not hate it).

 

[Llenroc]

You know if you had come here on this thread and stated that you hate medicine, but love surgery and only wanted to go to medical school to become a surgeon, then tons of people would give you the thumbs up. I hear this from my classmates on an almost daily basis, and it seems to be how most surgeons think.

I don't see why someone can't do the same thing for Psychiatry, especially since almost everyone who wants to go into Psychiatry gets a residency.

 

[dilated]

I don't see why someone can't do the same thing for Psychiatry, especially since almost everyone who wants to go into Psychiatry gets a residency.

because med school and intern year are going to blow if the only thing you like in medicine is psychiatry? there's a lot more overlap between the learning for everything else and surgery than there is everything else and psych. if your only interest is psychiatry I don't see why you wouldn't be better off with a clinical PhD.

 

[TexPre-Med]

Psychiatry is so easy to get into that its not that risky.

Not that risky???? haha NO risk at all.

 

[45408]

Psychiatry is so easy to get into that its not that risky.

Exactly. If you want it, you've got it. However, make sure that you have enough interest in the basic sciences to grind through it all for two years, followed by two years of rotations doing surgery, pediatrics, etc. If you can't keep yourself focused through all that (and your pre-med prerequisites should let you know if you like science), then go for the PhD. Although you'll probably make more money with an MD. 😛

 

[cfdavid]

Exactly. If you want it, you've got it. However, make sure that you have enough interest in the basic sciences to grind through it all for two years, followed by two years of rotations doing surgery, pediatrics, etc. If you can't keep yourself focused through all that (and your pre-med prerequisites should let you know if you like science), then go for the PhD. Although you'll probably make more money with an MD. 😛

That's good advice. But, OP, you can get through that if you keep the attitude that you'll be a physician psychiatrist that will need those skills (o.k., so not in practice really) to round you out as an MD or DO. Also, the basic sciences will prepare you for the right to prescribe medicine to your patients. So, just keep that viewpoint, and an open mind. You just need a realistic view on what medical school actually is.

 

[justwondering]

its ok to go in with the idea that u'll want to do psych. but what if u decide u dont want to do it after u get clinical experience in med schl? would u be open to doing another specialty?

it always helps to have an open mind during ur rotations, even if u know what ure going into. im doing family med, so every rotation ive done seems relevant to my future. that has made things a lot more mentally bearable during the more annoying parts of med schl. i wonder if it would be really hard getting thru surgery, ob, etc unless u can attach a little relevance to ur future practice (u can do it, but u have to have an open mind...and an active imagination).