What to choose??

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deuce924

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Does anybody else have no idea what they want to specialize in? I have days where I think I know and other days where I question it. Any thoughts?
 
This is common. Some people know EXACTLY what they want to do, other people have no idea. I went through 3-4 different things before I chose because...well, I kind of liked everything.

No worries, it'll work out.
 
I know exactly what I'm suited for and what's in store for me, given my bevy of C's.
 
I went through most of medical school not really feeling like I loved anything I rotated through. I liked Urology, but I realized later that it was only because the Urologists were super chill and we have the same sense of humor.

As of now, I'm leaning towards medicine. Who knows, tomorrow, maybe ENT, next month, CT Surgery. I don't think most people are sure 100% even at the point when they MUST make a choice. Most people just convince themselves afterwards that whatever decision they made was the right one. In a way, I feel like things are easier for those of us who don't do too well in med school or go to a no name institution. The options for us are limited and so we're saved from having to suffer the paralysis of choice.
 
It'll all start to make sense and you will get a sense of where you fit (and don't fit) once you actually have to live and breathe the particular specialties. For example, you may think that you like peds, but until you experience outpatient peds in which 8/10 patients are WCC or rhinorrhea/cough/ear pain or asthma, you won't know if you could deal with that for a career. Or like when you walk into the room for a WCC and mom has brought in the three other kids because they all have the sniffles x1 day - does that make you excited or do you want to run for the door? You really won't know until you have to deal with that in 3rd year.

I recommend doing a rotation or two in the community. It's actually pretty eye opening to do rotations out of the academic medical center, it gives you a feel for how medicine is practiced in the real world.
 
I came into school thinking I knew exactly what I wanted to do. Now, 6 months in, I have no idea. I figure if I get to the end of 3rd year and still don't know, then I'll start worrying. But until then I'll just keep going to the interest group meetings (yay food) and see what I like. 😉
 
Slevin said:
Heh... I'm in the same boat... although if I can get the USMLE score up I'm good

What are you going to go into?
Click to expand...

Psych. I'm lucky it's what I wanted to do anyway.
 
I'll wait until I get my step score back and that will tell me what I am or am not going to do 😉
 
I know if I had a steady gf I would be purely into EM because of the lifestyle, ability to take long vacations and of course I have some level of interest in most diseases, whether it's pH or ekg or ingrown toenail. But if I do not have a steady gf then I might feel insecure. I know that when hot women come to a specialist like an ortho with some ankle pain they are ready to flirt with him. In ER some ugly psychotic woman might claim that you harassed her. I could brush that off I had a hot woman at home, but if not, I might not enjoy my work...
 
braveone said:
I know if I had a steady gf I would be purely into EM because of the lifestyle, ability to take long vacations and of course I have some level of interest in most diseases, whether it's pH or ekg or ingrown toenail. But if I do not have a steady gf then I might feel insecure. I know that when hot women come to a specialist like an ortho with some ankle pain they are ready to flirt with him. In ER some ugly psychotic woman might claim that you harassed her. I could brush that off I had a hot woman at home, but if not, I might not enjoy my work...
Click to expand...

I love your self-loathing posts.....:laugh:
 
I'm just a first year, but I'm constantly surrounded by people asking me what I want to specialize in. Whenever I'm asked I respond truthfully: I have absolutely no idea. People look at me in shock and sometimes give responses of "How can you not know what you want to do?"

Just about anything that isn't peds is a possibility for me, but I'm in no rush to decide. I don't know how anyone else can be so sure about it. They'll probably change their minds 30 or 40 times.
 
engineeredout said:
I'm just a first year, but I'm constantly surrounded by people asking me what I want to specialize in.
Click to expand...

Wait till you start clerkships... literally every single resident and attending asks what you want to do in the first 10 seconds of meeting you, and their treatment of you totally depends on the answer you give, even when they insist it doesn't matter to them. saying "i'm not sure yet" doesn't help because then they think you're lying to them. once i told a pediatric endocrinologist i wanted to be a pediatric endocrinologist just to see what would happen, even though i would never want to do either pediatrics or endocrinology in a million years. she gave me an A, which i found quite troubling.
 
bydotte said:
Wait till you start clerkships... literally every single resident and attending asks what you want to do in the first 10 seconds of meeting you, and their treatment of you totally depends on the answer you give, even when they insist it doesn't matter to them. saying "i'm not sure yet" doesn't help because then they think you're lying to them. once i told a pediatric endocrinologist i wanted to be a pediatric endocrinologist just to see what would happen, even though i would never want to do either pediatrics or endocrinology in a million years. she gave me an A, which i found quite troubling.
Click to expand...

HAHAHA. This is actually fairly acurate.
This year (M4), when I tell people I'm going into pathology, they immediately assume I'm not interested in ANYTHING clinical. It makes me want to jab them in the eye with my penlight.

Who are these people who are shocked you don't know what you want to do? Other med students? I'd ask the opposite question: how CAN you know what you want to do during M1 year? Unless you've done extensive shadowing or have a family member in medicine, I find it hard to believe that people are making choices that early on a completely sound basis. Even if it's a good basis, I'd be inclined to think that they are influenced by a glamourized view of medicine.

Our first year, a faculty member polled my class, asking how many of us wanted to go into surgery; a good 1/3 of the class (171 people), including me, raised their hands. When it came time to choose, only 4 people chose general surgery.
 
bydotte said:
Wait till you start clerkships... literally every single resident and attending asks what you want to do in the first 10 seconds of meeting you, and their treatment of you totally depends on the answer you give, even when they insist it doesn't matter to them. saying "i'm not sure yet" doesn't help because then they think you're lying to them. once i told a pediatric endocrinologist i wanted to be a pediatric endocrinologist just to see what would happen, even though i would never want to do either pediatrics or endocrinology in a million years. she gave me an A, which i found quite troubling.
Click to expand...

I feared this....:scared:
 
TinyFish said:
Our first year, a faculty member polled my class, asking how many of us wanted to go into surgery; a good 1/3 of the class (171 people), including me, raised their hands. When it came time to choose, only 4 people chose general surgery.
Click to expand...


I guess they learned what the hrs are like...:laugh:
 
braveone said:
I know if I had a steady gf I would be purely into EM because of the lifestyle, ability to take long vacations and of course I have some level of interest in most diseases, whether it's pH or ekg or ingrown toenail. But if I do not have a steady gf then I might feel insecure. I know that when hot women come to a specialist like an ortho with some ankle pain they are ready to flirt with him. In ER some ugly psychotic woman might claim that you harassed her. I could brush that off I had a hot woman at home, but if not, I might not enjoy my work...
Click to expand...

What, you don't have any hot women at home?! Just find one, grab her, and say "give me some sugar, baby"
 
This is common. Consider taking note of what you feel happiest doing and the personality types you enjoy working with.
 
choosing-a-specialty-788196.jpg


Edit: There's also always the Goo Tolerance Index
 
Last edited:
J DUB said:
I guess they learned what the hrs are like...:laugh:
Click to expand...

Yeah...and the fact that not everyone fits into the culture. 😀
But seriously, if it weren't for the lifestyle, surgery...😍
 
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