I must mention the fact that general surgery has decreased in competitiveness precipitously over the last 15 years. I believe this is most likely due to lower insurance and Medicare reimbursements. Maybe Kim Cox can elaborate more on this issue. I'd have to say that Derm and the surgical subspecialties were competitive back then, and radiology was not as competitive as it is now. I believe Urology was super competitive up until the decrease in reimbursment of the TURP procedure sometime in the late 80's early 90's. Competitiveness really is a function of income and lifestyle. Medical students are not stupid, they go for the best jobs.