do NOT do a specialty based solely on money or lifestyle. it seems attractive now, but you will pay. if you have no explicit interest in one field over another, then by all means, lifestyle is the most important character of a specialty.
try to remember also that you'll get a lot of **** for most lifestyle specialties from colleagues. I was at a party last night, for instance, and a girl called me a "princess" (I'm a dude) for doing derm. These comments come about almost once a day from colleagues. I mean, they can suck it, but it does get annoying to deal with.
now, surgery is a WHOLE different ball game. I considered surgery going in, and during 3rd and 4th year talked with a lot of attendings (not just residents). The gist of it is, with something that requires a lot of your time (during residency at least) you should absolutely love it in order to go into. Like, you can't see yourself doing anything else.
Attendinghood hours vary considerably from practice to practice, from what I can tell. Everyone knows about the gen surg who keeps better hours than the IM guy, or the fam practice doc who works less than the radiologist.
Keep in mind also (I'm older) that priorities outside of work shift for most people when they hit mid-thirties. Your kids and hobbies start to become more important, and so you'll need to consider that before you get into a specialty committment. Some people don't want to get married or have kids, so whatever.
