which medical field/specialty has most problems that need solutions

[usr]

hello

is there a medical field/specialty that patients expect more to come in the future? where there is large need of new innovative therapies? where research is vast, where many aspects are unclear and many problems unsolved?

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[Neuronix]

Hmmmmmmmm.... Lemme think....

All of them?

 

[usr]

sure, all of them, but which most?

also making a list of which needs what would be nice as well..

 

[Neuronix]

It's a silly question. There is no one specialty that has the "most" unmet needs. How would you identify what an unmet need is? Does a specialty with alot of diseases that affect 600 people count? Or does Cardiology win because the most people die of heart disease? Does oncology win because it deals with cancer and lots of people get cancer, or do you subdivide into the different organs? People are sick with and die of all sorts of things that affect every organ in the body. The only possible answer you can get on here is from people who love a given specialty and will plug it. Sure, I think Radiology is neat and there's alot of research going on and alot coming down the pipes, but... Who would possibly have the experience and ability to answer this question in an unbiased manner?

As for a list of needs for every medical specialty. You're asking alot. You could try to do some research on your own by going to the websites for the different national institutes and seeing what they think are unmet needs in their areas.

 

[jjmack]

derm and psych come to mind for me as being some of the most "in the dark" But I agree almost any field will have areas that need research.

 

[usr]

number of papers/journals per subject/field would be a hint

ongoing reasearch projects per subject/field as well

 

[RxnMan]

number of papers/journals per subject/field would be a hint

ongoing reasearch projects per subject/field as well

Good idea. What field would you consider Cell in? Or Nature? How about something simpler - J of Biomechanics? But that could go under ortho, sports, preventative medicine and PM&R!

 

[MSTPbound]

Good idea. What field would you consider Cell in? Or Nature? How about something simpler - J of Biomechanics? But that could go under ortho, sports, preventative medicine and PM&R!

don't forget neurology (neuromechanics field), cardiology (cardiac biomechanics), psychiatry (sports psych), pulmonology (lung fluid mechanics), emergency med (neck injury), endocrinology, radiology, rheumatology, pediatrics, geriatrics, nephrology, gastroenterology, hematology, hepatology and pathology.

Found all of these covered in J of Biomechanics too.

 

[SpeakLittleB]

determining rank of need in medicine is definitely difficult..

there has been a lot of talk about the quickly growing population of elderly and the lack of increase in primary care physicians in that area, though. perhaps you can find some more on that.

 

[bottles999]

hello

is there a medical field/specialty that patients expect more to come in the future? where there is large need of new innovative therapies? where research is vast, where many aspects are unclear and many problems unsolved?

IMHO perhaps your approach might be a lil off. I have to agree with Neuronix, ALL of medicine is in need of innovative new therapies. So rather to try to determine where you might think you can contribute the most or have the most significant impact. Why dont you look and see what area of medicine appeals the most to you.

I mean as a future MD-PhDer the training is long, as are the hours. You might as well find something you enjoy doing. The flip-side to that is if you select something You think might make you more prestige or fame, but hate doing it.... You probably wont be very productive at it, ergo underminding the reason you chose that field in the first place, and most of all happy in your career.

Good luck

 

[Vader]

hello

is there a medical field/specialty that patients expect more to come in the future? where there is large need of new innovative therapies? where research is vast, where many aspects are unclear and many problems unsolved?

I think this is a legitimate way of thinking about an approach to one's research career. Of course almost any specialty could stand to benefit from additional research. However, there are certainly fields in which patients have especially bad outcomes because of lack of diagnostic tools and/or treatments. I would say neurology and psychiatry are two fields which have a large need for innovative approaches and therapies. Other areas of particular need are oncology, cardiology, and especially on an international level, infectious disease.

One can make an impact no matter what particular field one chooses. As an MD/PhD, you will be one of the select few who are conversant in the languages of both medicine and science.

 

[mjs]

hello

is there a medical field/specialty that patients expect more to come in the future? where there is large need of new innovative therapies? where research is vast, where many aspects are unclear and many problems unsolved?

No harm in a little ambition. There are black boxes, mysteries, and hand-waving arguments that need to be described mechanistically everywhere in medicine. You just have to find out where the problems seem biggest to you.

Be patient, read up, and keep your eyes open. A good place to start is reading the lay literature (WIRED, Scientific American, the New York Times Science section, and so on) and dive in to the work of scientists that catch your eye there.

One current "new big thing" in genetics is "genomic medicine" or "systems medicine". The philosophy underlying this is that diagnosis, assessment of risk, and prevention are all cheaper than treatment of a full blown disease.

Those that believe in it say it will impact all fields of medicine. You can read a ton about it in the reviews of large association studies, the cancer genome project, and the systems biology literature. I recommend you read some of the criticisms as well. Biomedical research is a polyculture of ideas, and no one is right until almost everyone agrees.

Another that's huge in Seattle is Global Health. This is more multi-disciplinary than just science and medicine, but is also worth a look.

Another thing to consider: I personally think the biggest change underway in medicine is not in the technique, technology, or outcome per se, but rather in the transformation of the patient into a (semi-)informed consumer. Patients everywhere in the US are starting to expect a slicker product.

 

[ChildNeuro]

Almost everthing is being researched that can't be cured perfectly or treated very well. I would think that infectious disease is a big deal, for example the number people who will die of HIV/AIDS unfortunately is greater than have in the past (if no big breakthroughs are made), i.e. more people getting infected per year than pass away each year from it, so a highly effective HIV/AIDS vaccine I think would save the greatest number of lives over the next couple decades, even if the pandemic "stabilized" which is horrifying prospect itself.

 

[Hard24Get]

Almost everthing is being researched that can't be cured perfectly or treated very well. I would think that infectious disease is a big deal, for example the number people who will die of HIV/AIDS unfortunately is greater than have in the past (if no big breakthroughs are made), i.e. more people getting infected per year than pass away each year from it, so a highly effective HIV/AIDS vaccine I think would save the greatest number of lives over the next couple decades, even if the pandemic "stabilized" which is horrifying prospect itself.

Hey ChildNeuro, are you a Phudster?

HIV/AIDS is cool (to research), I wouldn't minding studying methods to prevent the initial seeding of the virus as an Emergency Physician - I would wager this will be more feasible given the rate at which the crazy thing mutates. However, in the ID category I think antibiotics have it cold. Once we start getting Zosyn et al resistant bugs, we are going to see patients start going down the drain fast (too many times on IM I could only treat with ONE thing!)

Of course, Neuronix is right that the answer is "everything" but it seems fun to discuss.