Specialty

[Zumba]

Hey all,

I am a long time reader, first time poster! I am a 3rd year US med student, and trying to figure out what I want to go into. Given the different issues going on with healthcare currently, the new law, and so forth, what is the best thing to go into, speaking in terms of compensation and lifestyle? Yes, I know that it's important to do what one likes, but I'm interested in getting others' opinions on what this. If anyone cares to share their thoughts, it would be great!

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[Law2Doc]

Hey all,

I am a long time reader, first time poster! I am a 3rd year US med student, and trying to figure out what I want to go into. Given the different issues going on with healthcare currently, the new law, and so forth, what is the best thing to go into, speaking in terms of compensation and lifestyle? Yes, I know that it's important to do what one likes, but I'm interested in getting others' opinions on what this. If anyone cares to share their thoughts, it would be great!

You don't pick a profession by asking for opinions. You need to get out there and see what you like and would enjoy doing for the next 40 years. New law impact, compensation, lifestyle are pretty irrelevant if you dont like what you are doing.

 

[Zumba]

You don't pick a profession by asking for opinions. You need to get out there and see what you like and would enjoy doing for the next 40 years. New law impact, compensation, lifestyle are pretty irrelevant if you dont like what you are doing.

I realize that, and I'm not saying that I'm going to choose a specialty based on what others think. I'm simply asking for what the consensus out there is for the best compensated specialty out there is, financially speaking, as well as lifestyle. That's all.

 

[smq123]

The general residency forum is for issues pertaining to residents. Moving to allopathic.

 

[ArcGurren]

I realize that, and I'm not saying that I'm going to choose a specialty based on what others think. I'm simply asking for what the consensus out there is for the best compensated specialty out there is, financially speaking, as well as lifestyle. That's all.

Right now? Derm.

I think it's fine to take lifestyle and compensation as a consideration but you of course should do what makes you happy.

 

[Zumba]

Right now? Derm.

I think it's fine to take lifestyle and compensation as a consideration but you of course should do what makes you happy.

Other than derm, which is very difficult to get into, what are other fields that are good compensation wise as well as lifestyle wise?

What about things like anesthesia, radiology, PMR, etc?

 

[TenderRender]

Other than derm, which is very difficult to get into, what are other fields that are good compensation wise as well as lifestyle wise?

What about things like anesthesia, radiology, PMR, etc?

I mean it sounds like you're asking about the ROAD specialties? If you're not familiar, those are Radiology, Opthamology, Anesthesiology, and Dermatology. Those are generally considered some of the nicest combos of lifestyle and salary.

 

[VisionaryTics]

Other than derm, which is very difficult to get into, what are other fields that are good compensation wise as well as lifestyle wise?

What about things like anesthesia, radiology, PMR, etc?

I'm sorry, how do you get to M3 year without knowing any of this?

 

[Zumba]

I mean it sounds like you're asking about the ROAD specialties? If you're not familiar, those are Radiology, Opthamology, Anesthesiology, and Dermatology. Those are generally considered some of the nicest combos of lifestyle and salary.

I've heard that both Radiology and Ophtho are having serious financial issues when it comes to compensation. How realistic is that?

 

[dude1344]

His status says 'resident"...

 

[Zumba]

His status says 'resident"...

That was just a simple mistake when I registered. It would be nice if people just actually stick to answering the question, vs. trying to investigate my life.

 

[Law2Doc]

That was just a simple mistake when I registered...

I'm not buying any of this. As mentioned above, if you are a third year med student, you are in the thick of rotations and getting exposure to the various specialties on a daily basis. You would know what the lifestyle specialties are, and a general sense of pay. Your post sounds like you don't actually have this vantage point.

 

[Zumba]

I'm not buying any of this. As mentioned above, if you are a third year med student, you are in the thick of rotations and getting exposure to the various specialties on a daily basis. You would know what the lifestyle specialties are, and a general sense of pay. Your post sounds like you don't actually have this vantage point.

Not really, I've had core rotations but not specialty rotations at this point. I have heard doom and gloom from a number of specialties which in my understanding where part of the "ROADS" but it seems like they all suck now. So I'm trying to get an idea of what others think in this regards.

 

[2012mdc]

Not really, I've had core rotations but not specialty rotations at this point. I have heard doom and gloom from a number of specialties which in my understanding where part of the "ROADS" but it seems like they all suck now. So I'm trying to get an idea of what others think in this regards.

Rad Onc probably offers a better combo of pay and lifestyle than any of the ROAD specialties save for Derm

 

[Alvarez13]

I'm not buying any of this. As mentioned above, if you are a third year med student, you are in the thick of rotations and getting exposure to the various specialties on a daily basis. You would know what the lifestyle specialties are, and a general sense of pay. Your post sounds like you don't actually have this vantage point.

I'll go get the tar. Do you still have those feathers from when we were playing indians the other day?

 

[CaptainSSO]

Zumba, Zumba, Zumba.

What are we going to do with you?

Go into neurosurgery. Best lifestyle specialty.

 

[Zumba]

Zumba, Zumba, Zumba.

What are we going to do with you?

Go into neurosurgery. Best lifestyle specialty.

Please don't insult my intelligence. If you don't want to participate in a positive discussion, why participate at all? My question is a very valid one.

As I've stated, both Anesthesia and Rads were previously considered part of ROADS. Are you aware that there are serious issues with both right now? As a result I wanted to get some insight from residents who can talk more about the situation and their thoughts on the situation.

 

[ppfizenm]

I've heard that both Radiology and Ophtho are having serious financial issues when it comes to compensation. How realistic is that?

Please don't insult my intelligence. If you don't want to participate in a positive discussion, why participate at all? My question is a very valid one.

As I've stated, both Anesthesia and Rads were previously considered part of ROADS. Are you aware that there are serious issues with both right now? As a result I wanted to get some insight from residents who can talk more about the situation and their thoughts on the situation.

It's nice to know that between yesterday and today Optho no longer has serious issues. I am dismayed however to learn of the recent troubles anesthesiologists are now facing.

 

[Zumba]

It's nice to know that between yesterday and today Optho no longer has serious issues. I am dismayed however to learn of the recent troubles anesthesiologists are now facing.

Ophtho is having serious issues, as well as Rads and Gas. Not sure why you are being rude??

Again if you have nothing valuable to add, maybe you should just go on your way, or actually read the forums-I sure did!

Even the path market is apparently awful currently. Did you know that as well? Maybe you should inform yourself first, before acting in an immature and childish way. And you are a pre-med? Gotta love pre-meds.

 

[ppfizenm]

Ophtho is having serious issues, as well as Rads and Gas. Not sure why you are being rude??

Again if you have nothing valuable to add, maybe you should just go on your way, or actually read the forums-I sure did!

Even the path market is apparently awful currently. Did you know that as well? Maybe you should inform yourself first, before acting in an immature and childish way. And you are a pre-med? Gotta love pre-meds.

Standard go to pre-med ignorance excuse.

If you go back and look at your own quotes you will find that you switched specialties you were referencing. Since you've added more that are unstable in this most recent post however I really have to question why you are asking at all what specialty you should go into at all.

 

[gman33]

You are asking people to guess what pay is going to be like in 5+ years when you are done your training.
No one has any idea.

There are fields that can get killed with one little change.
GI pay is fantastic right now.
If they change the pay for C-scopes it could go to paying the same as gen int med.
Not saying this is going to happen, but it very easily could.

Rads has a pretty nice pay/lifestyle ratio.
Who knows what it will be like in 10 years?

Pick something where you like seeing the types of patients that are common in that field. You can probably guess what the lifestyle will be like, but pay is much harder to predict.

 

[officedepot]

.

 

[2012mdc]

Instead of wasting time on these forums go study and do some research and match into derm and do as much cosmetics as possible

 

[QuizzicalApe]

This is a somewhat silly topic.

Nobody can tell you how pay will change by the time you're through med school, residency, and fellowship. Nobody can even tell you how things will probably change - they're just blowing smoke up your arse. It's even more complicated than this, because as anaesthesiology shows it is possible to have good lifestyle and good pay but no way of getting either because you can't find a job on the coasts like you want.

Everyone is going to recommend you aim for a specialty you've actually enjoyed. I know, it is impossible to have perfect exposure, but it is possible to make some decisions. By now you should know if you like surgical specialties, doing procedures, or prefer something more medical. This helps you pare down your list of possibilities. Also start removing anything that is out of your range (hard to shoot for rad onc suddenly as of M3 unless publications shoot out of your ears when you sneeze), and anything that you just know you don't want to do.

If you take the specialties that are left and ask specific lifestyle questions, you can probably get a more reasonable response. Less so with pay because of how things are up in the air.

You'd probably get better responses than you do by asking "what are the best specialties," which is truly just an award-winningly bad sort of thing to ask.

tl;dr:

every specialty has good pay and sometimes a negotiably better lifestyle if you agree to do it in a flyover state the end

 

[CaptainSSO]

Please don't insult my intelligence. If you don't want to participate in a positive discussion, why participate at all? My question is a very valid one.

As I've stated, both Anesthesia and Rads were previously considered part of ROADS. Are you aware that there are serious issues with both right now? As a result I wanted to get some insight from residents who can talk more about the situation and their thoughts on the situation.

I used to be like you--I read hundreds of posts on this topic, trying to pick out the perfect specialty that would never have any problems. And it can't be done. I read posts on this forum regarding negative futures for almost every single specialty--cardiology is gonna have low reimbursements, CRNAs for gas, mid-levels for ER, path will be replaced, rads will be outsourced and reimbursements slashed, rad onc will become obsolete due to specifically tailored genetic therapies.

Finally I just made a choice (and this took me a LONG time to truly accept), forget the money, forget the lifestyle, do what I enjoy the most. Everything else will work itself out.

 

[UnderPar22]

Finally I just made a choice (and this took me a LONG time to truly accept), forget the money, forget the lifestyle, do what I enjoy the most. Everything else will work itself out.

Excellent advice. I too spent a lot of time during M3 wasting away on these forums trying to figure out my life.

No field is perfect. In terms of lifestyle, consider fields where you can define your own hours. These are generally fields that don't need to be tied to a hospital. These include derm, optho, pm&r, interventional pain (accessible through pm&r or anesthesia generally), neuro, psych and plastics.

For money, fields with procedures pay more than those without.


All this can and will change in the future based on finances and politics. Office based non procedural specialties with minimal to low overhead will most likely remain stable in the future.

With that being said, you're going to be a doctor and most likely working 30+ years. You'll make decent money in any field. Your future wealth will be more dependent on investing/spending habits. What's more important is that you enjoy or at worst, tolerate what you do for a living.

I considered all the above fields but ended up choosing a field that I enjoy despite future uncertainty and potentially worsening lifestyle/pay (radiology). Why? Because I am confident it will keep me happy and fulfilled over the course of my career. You should start searching for what you find interesting or at least tolerable based on likes/dislikes from third year rotations. And the answers won't come to you from this forum. If we all wanted lifestyle and money, we'd all be in derm. But what's the use if you find it boring and can't stand doing skin checks? Likewise rads shouldn't be on your list if you are dying to establish meaningful long-term relationships with patients. You'll figure it out.

 

[mybubbles14]

This is a somewhat silly topic.

Nobody can tell you how pay will change by the time you're through med school, residency, and fellowship. Nobody can even tell you how things will probably change - they're just blowing smoke up your arse. It's even more complicated than this, because as anaesthesiology shows it is possible to have good lifestyle and good pay but no way of getting either because you can't find a job on the coasts like you want.

Everyone is going to recommend you aim for a specialty you've actually enjoyed. I know, it is impossible to have perfect exposure, but it is possible to make some decisions. By now you should know if you like surgical specialties, doing procedures, or prefer something more medical. This helps you pare down your list of possibilities. Also start removing anything that is out of your range (hard to shoot for rad onc suddenly as of M3 unless publications shoot out of your ears when you sneeze), and anything that you just know you don't want to do.

If you take the specialties that are left and ask specific lifestyle questions, you can probably get a more reasonable response. Less so with pay because of how things are up in the air.

You'd probably get better responses than you do by asking "what are the best specialties," which is truly just an award-winningly bad sort of thing to ask.

tl;dr:

every specialty has good pay and sometimes a negotiably better lifestyle if you agree to do it in a flyover state the end

All of this really...but especially the bolded. You really aren't giving people much to work with. You might meet less skepticism if you gave more info. Do you really not care what you go into after a year of rotations?! Do you just love everything? Do you think you will grow to love anything? As an M3 you should know if things are essentially beyond your reach by now... You might as well ask people what you should eat for dinner tonight. It would be highly unlikely for any of us to give you a helpful answer without any guidance/context (are you a vegan...stuck on a stranded island...do you only have 5 dollars to spend?)

As a lowly M2 I'm enjoying the last couple months of hopeful bliss before step helps clear up any uncertainties.