what specialty to choose and why

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So for all of us decided and undecided:

Write what specialty you chose and why. If you ruled out any other specialties please include them and why you chose not to go into them.

If you are struggling between a couple of specialties, say what you are thinking of going into and why.

If you have no clue, say why.

 

[ACSurgeon]

So for all of us decided and undecided:

Write what specialty you chose and why. If you ruled out any other specialties please include them and why you chose not to go into them.

If you are struggling between a couple of specialties, say what you are thinking of going into and why.

If you have no clue, say why.

I guess I can contribute. First of all, I enjoyed all of my third year rotations to date, and could be happy (theoretically) in any field.

I am going into general surgery because I felt like it was the specialty that teaches you a ton of medicine (without worrying about very random and rare diseases and associations like IM would). It was the rotation where I wouldn't mind staying when it was time to go home. I enjoyed reading about surgical pathologies, surgical procedures, and post-operative complications. I also like the fellowship options available afterwards.

Which specialties did I consider? Ortho and urology. Why? they are still surgical with better pay and lifestyle. Why didn't I chose one of those instead? The short answer is that orthopedic pathologies weren't stimulating enough (although the surgeries were the coolest) and I felt like orthopods knew the least medicine of all surgeons (this might be my misperception, but I guess we chose our careers based on what we perceive, right?). Urology was closer to general surgery but 1) the kidney surgeries were the only surgeries that interested me and 2) I knew there was a significant risk of not matching, despite being "average" competitiveness for this field.

To conclude: general surgeons were the most inspiring to me, and I not only tolerated the long hours of general surgery, but I seemed to enjoy every minute without looking at the clock. In case it matters, I am married and plan on having a kids, so my career is not the only priority in my life.