Why anger when pre-meds like myself ask about various specialties?

[Alakazam123]

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It's so funny how pre-meds throw around specialties they're interested in and it's an enjoyable conversation (I was guilty of it too). When you start med school and you have this same conversation, people who say for sure they want go into a certain field usually are judged as being too hasty (rightfully so especially if you're a first year). Once you start your first day of class and get exposed to this overwhelming amount of information about each specialty, I'd be honestly surprised if I can make a sure decision a couple years from now.

I came in wanting to do a surgical subspecialty like yourself. Now I'm heavily interested in Psych and maybe IM. I can almost guarantee that while you will go to medical school chances are you won't be a neurosurgeon. Not because you won't be competitive enough but probably because something else will catch your eye and there's absolutely nothing wrong with that.

To be fair though, I did shadow other specialties in the past. I shadowed a non-invasive cardiologist for 3 months and followed him throughout the whole day (basically a rotation), and it was SUPER BORING for me. It was always the same conditions and medications that were prescribed.

I shadowed a urologist and right away was turned off. I did not want to be sticking tubes into people's penises haha. Having gone to a pediatrician my whole life, while I absolutely admired my doctor (who's a great person and physician), I just did not like working with little kids all day long.

Neurosurgery seemed the coolest because of the personal reasons that I mentioned before, but some of the residents seemed a bit rude. Otherwise everything else seemed awesome.

 

[Kpw101]

To be fair though, I did shadow other specialties in the past. I shadowed a non-invasive cardiologist for 3 months and followed him throughout the whole day (basically a rotation), and it was SUPER BORING for me. It was always the same conditions and medications that were prescribed.

I shadowed a urologist and right away was turned off. I did not want to be sticking tubes into people's penises haha. Having gone to a pediatrician my whole life, while I absolutely admired my doctor (who's a great person and physician), I just did not like working with little kids all day long.

Neurosurgery seemed the coolest because of the personal reasons that I mentioned before, but some of the residents seemed a bit rude. Otherwise everything else seemed awesome.

You don't have the knowledge yet to know how interesting cardiology, urology, and pediatrics actually is.

Football is much more enjoyable when you actually know what the hell is going on.

 

[deleted915325]

Don't do things while you're a pre-med that might make your app better for a neurosurgery residency. Do things that interest you.[/QUOTE]

Good advice, I’m just saying if he wants to do research to strengthen his med school app, and he comes across say a neurosurgury research assistant position, then take it. It’ll help for med school app no matter what and, if you do decide to stick it out for neuro after everything else, then a consistent track record of neurosurgical related work will pay huge dividend during the match

 

[Alakazam123]

You don't have the knowledge yet to know how interesting cardiology, urology, and pediatrics actually is.

Football is much more enjoyable when you actually know what the hell is going on.

May I ask you some things to get it out of my system?

1) Do neurosurgery residents get to do research throughout their residency or is it just for that one or two year protected period?

2) Can a neurosurgeon be a consultant for a pharmaceutical company?

 

[Kpw101]

May I ask you some things to get it out of my system?

1) Do neurosurgery residents get to do research throughout their residency or is it just for that one or two year protected period?

2) Can a neurosurgeon be a consultant for a pharmaceutical company?

Yes, and probably. But for both of these to be possible the neurosurgeon had to be admitted to medical school first.

 

[babybrains]

Good advice, I’m just saying if he wants to do research to strengthen his med school app, and he comes across say a neurosurgury research assistant position, then take it. It’ll help for med school app no matter what and, if you do decide to stick it out for neuro after everything else, then a consistent track record of neurosurgical related work will pay huge dividend during the match

This depends. If his med school app is too neurosurgery heavy, he runs the risk of turning schools off for reasons previously mentioned. That being said, one neurosurgery research experience wouldn't hurt, though it won't necessarily help much for the match unless it results in a poster/pub.

I still feel that shadowing a neurosurgeon as well as a neurologist would be called for in this case, as the OP seems confused about what they actually do, and a research position could help with that. But again, it's putting the cart before the horse a bit to think about a specialty decision now.

 

[TheRealCookieMonster]

Seems like OP is unfamiliar with how online forums work. If you ask a stupid question online everyone will remind you of that... I mean you came to a premed forum for question about arguably one of the most difficult and exclusive medical specialties... literally nothing here can add to a google search and a 10min conversation with someone who has actually been through the neurosurgery match successfully.

I’ll bet that >90% of applicants who matched neurosurgery had decided in undergraduate that’s where they were going. But I bet they also knew the profession. They probably didn’t need to post online to learn about what to do as a premed. Because that one could be answered by a university advisor.

 

[SterlingMaloryArcher]

I am very interested in neurosurgery. Yes, I know it has a bad lifestyle during residency, but I don't a whole lot of sleep anyway, so I won't be "losing sleep" over that (no pun intended).

The reason why I want to go into neurosurgery is due to the endovascular component. My grandfather suffered two strokes, and the second one was fatal. My mother has a herniated disc, and my grandfather also suffered from spondylitis. For these reasons, I am very interested in neurosurgery. I could care less if the reimbursement is cut, or if I only make 100K/year as opposed to 500K/year. I want to prevent other fatal cases like what happened with my grandfather.

I personally suffered from a peripheral neuropathy called Parsonage Turner Syndrome, which was another reason for my interest in neuroscience, neurodegeneration, etc.

However, when I come on here and ask about specialties, all I get is roasted over and over again, and frankly it is very discouraging. I'm sorry, but that's just how it comes off. What is wrong with some curiosity?

0 of these reasons show you actually know what the job actually entails/would enjoy the everyday work.

 

[gonnif]

Seems like OP is unfamiliar with how online forums work. If you ask a stupid question online everyone will remind you of that... I mean you came to a premed forum for question about arguably one of the most difficult and exclusive medical specialties... literally nothing here can add to a google search and a 10min conversation with someone who has actually been through the neurosurgery match successfully.

I’ll bet that >90% of applicants who matched neurosurgery had decided in undergraduate that’s where they were going. But I bet they also knew the profession. They probably didn’t need to post online to learn about what to do as a premed. Because that one could be answered by a university advisor.

Data from the matriculating student questionnaire shows about 2.2% of entering medical students consider NS
Data from the graduating student survey shows about 1.1% planning to practice NS
Data from NRMP shows 203 US Seniors out of 17740 US Senior matches went to NS or 1.1%
PS: this appears to be the largest percentage drop across the specialties from matriculation to graduation

Matriculating Student Questionnaire (MSQ) - Data and Analysis - AAMC
Graduation Questionnaire (GQ) - Data and Analysis - AAMC

 

[Mister Significant]

All of my pre-med friends freshman year that had specific specialties in mind (Anesthesiology, Plastic Surgery, Neurosurgery) have since dropped out of pre-med altogether. On the other hand, my friends who have gotten acceptances to medical school tend to have 3-4 specialties they are most drawn to. Wonder why that may be .