True or False?

[nima123]

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The sooner you know what specialty you wanna go into, the more likely you are to succeed.

T or F, and why?

 

[Faebinder]

The sooner you know what specialty you wanna go into, the more likely you are to succeed.

T or F, and why?

False. Cause your ass may focus on it and end up screwing the rest and hurting your grades.

 

[Blade28]

False.

 

[mlw03]

F - no correlation either way. med school requires focusing on the task of the moment, and you can do that whether you know what specialty you want or not. the caveat being you need to know what you want by early MS4 year to make sure you get elective time before applications are in so you can tell your interviewers you have some experience in that field and enjoy the work.

 

[Winged Scapula]

False.

If anything, people who blindly pursue a goal without attention to what else is on offer, may instead end up unhappy and unsuccessful.

 

[nima123]

Wouldn't it help to know, so that you can do some research in the field and start making connections earlier on?

 

[yaah]

Wouldn't it help to know, so that you can do some research in the field and start making connections earlier on?

Not if it isn't what you want to do. If it isn't what you want to do, it probably makes it worse.

 

[Blake]

I do believe the sooner you know the specialty you want, the better your chances of matching in that specialty (your definition of success, right?).

 

[nima123]

Not if it isn't what you want to do. If it isn't what you want to do, it probably makes it worse.

So you're saying that if I do research in, say, neurosurgery, and then decide to go into, say, radiology, that will actually look bad on my CV?

 

[Blade28]

Usually, for purposes of residency applications, research is research. Just like when applying to med school.

 

[Faebinder]

More like if you do research in neurosurgery... and then you decide you liked neurosurgery and generally dislike everything else.. you will be less inclined to learn everything else and that will hurt your grades/scores.

 

[Winged Scapula]

So you're saying that if I do research in, say, neurosurgery, and then decide to go into, say, radiology, that will actually look bad on my CV?

Can't speak for Dr. yaah, but I think he's saying that you aren't helping yourself by making all your connections and doing all your research in one field if you eventually choose something else.

Like Blade, I think for almost everyone, research is research. What you do is not as important as how you do it (were you published, were you first author, etc.).

 

[yaah]

Indeed. If you do a lot of research in neurosurgery but then decide to go into something else, it will be a good thing for your application.

If you commit too early, you are also potentially getting tunnel vision and forgetting to realize that you actually may like something else.

You know, consider an example: The med student who goes into med school saying "I want to be a pediatric nephrologist" and then every question you ask them, even if it has nothing to do with medicine, they relate it to pediatric nephrology. They treat pre-clinical years with this goal. They request to do their early office visits at a pediatric nephrologist's office. They participate in a short study and get published. They volunteer in a pediatric dialysis ward. Then they get to third year and they find that not only do they not really like pediatrics, they want to be a geriatrician but they also find they are interested in adult cardiology or endocrinology and gee psych was kind of fun too. Now they have wasted all that time to explore the field, talk to people in it, etc. Of course, it's not too late, but you might end up kicking yourself quite a bit.

 

[Winged Scapula]

RE: tunnel vision - check out the "One Track Mind" in the panel below for an example. ("chicken has bones, so yes." Makes me laugh every time.)

http://www.theunderweardrawer.org/twelvemedstudents.html

 

[Blade28]

RE: tunnel vision - check out the "One Track Mind" in the panel below for an example. ("chicken has bones, so yes." Makes me laugh every time.)

http://www.theunderweardrawer.org/twelvemedstudents.html

Best medical blog out there!

 

[howelljolly]

What about if you've signed up for student interest groups, either within med school, or with the ACEP, ABIM, APA...etc
Will I have a problem if I join the Student interest group of the American College of Emergency Physicians, and ultimately decide to apply for residency in IM?
Should I just not document those memberships on my residency app?

 

[Winged Scapula]

What about if you've signed up for student interest groups, either within med school, or with the ACEP, ABIM, APA...etc
Will I have a problem if I join the Student interest group of the American College of Emergency Physicians, and ultimately decide to apply for residency in IM?
Should I just not document those memberships on my residency app?

Put them on, leave them off.

No one will notice, nor will it make a difference in your chances of matching into the residency of your choice. Plenty of students join clubs that they never participate in or change their minds about.