Worst/ Most Boring Specialty?

[quideam]

Here's a fun thread - if you had to make a list, which specialty would you most want to avoid? Which do you think is the worst in general and/ or the worst for you, and why?

This could turn ugly... or be funny

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[quideam]

I'll start: I think that the worst specialty is probably geriatrics... sooo slow and boring... ugh. For me, close seconds would probably go to OBGYN (gross) or Heme/Onc (too much molecular nonsense...).

 

[ShyRem]

ob/gyn - ICK. Although delivering babies is kinda cool.
peds - dealing with paranoid parents who demand antibiotics for a simple cold? no thanks.
urology - the only penis I want to see on a regular basis is my husband's. Sorry.
GI - I don't do poo very well. Again, MAJOR ICK.
geriatrics - while lots of old folks are neat, I think being a medic and dealing with too many that are just lonely makes me want to avoid this one like the plague. I broke my ankle going to one who lied and said they had chest pain when they just wanted a sandwich and someone to talk to for a few hours. No kidding.

 

[fantasty]

You might as well just start a flame war... As this will get into the diametrically opposed personality types

But for me...
Rads - might as well live in a cave
Gas / many surg - dullsville (maybe not for the ones doing it, but as a student )
Ob-gyn - as a male med student, we sometimes get ostracized


I'll disagree on the geriatrics, though (haven't done a rotation in this but I think old people rock, plus you have to know all the complexities of IM plus the altered physiology / pharmacology of aging).

 

[idq1i]

Geriatrics - I'd rather jump off a bridge
OB/Gyn - Same as above, but I'd drag a resident or two with me
Psychiatry - We have no idea what's wrong - here are some toxic meds
Physiatry -
Family Med - In how many ways can you spell HCTZ

 

[BozoSparky]

yeah, this thread might makes some people mad..but here goes.

i'd hate to end up in...
sports medicine - hmm, I won't make any comments about why
nephrology (the kidney is cool, but too static for me - or should i say homeo-static?)
GI - too much butt-time

I think oncology would be really interesting. Cardiology & Neurology, too.

Sparky

 

[deuist]

Geriatrics---I don't like old people
Peds---or kids.
Medical genetics---Welcome to Dullsville. Population: you
Preventative Medicine---Wear a condom if you want to prevent the spread of disease.
Ob/Gyn---Gross
Family Medicine---Why not become a real specialist?
Derm, urology, and optho---I don't see how you have to graduate at the top of your class to be in these specialties.

 

[diosa428]

Geriatrics---I don't like old people
Peds---or kids.
Medical genetics---Welcome to Dullsville. Population: you
Preventative Medicine---Wear a condom if you want to prevent the spread of disease.
Ob/Gyn---Gross
Family Medicine---Why not become a real specialist?
Derm, urology, and optho---I don't see how you have to graduate at the top of your class to be in these specialties.

So you want to be a surgeon?

 

[omgwtfbbq?]

I don't think I would go into any specialty that requires marathon surgeries, like ortho's who work on the spine. Unless i get into better shape, I wear out after standing for that long!

i don't know what i don't like other than that , maybe urology, and rads/path, because i REALLY want the patient contact

i really like psychiatry, ped onc, ENT and neurosurgery. i can't wait to get my hands on someone's brain!!!!!!!!! wheeee!!!

 

[omgwtfbbq?]

Wow... i think someone else needs your med school seat. women are 50% of the population (about) and you're going to have to treat them in whatever practice you have, ob or not. if you hate them, then i feel bad for any female patient you have in the future.

and kids aren't stupid. maybe they're just mean to you because they can tell who the people with big chips on their shoulder are. yike! what if during medical school, during your peds rotation, they make you examine a female child! *siiiiiiiiiiigh*

 

[PhillyGuy]

Derm - by far the most boring specialty

 

[automaton]

rheumatology

 

[Callogician]

Wow... i think someone else needs your med school seat. women are 50% of the population (about) and you're going to have to treat them in whatever practice you have, ob or not. if you hate them, then i feel bad for any female patient you have in the future.

and kids aren't stupid. maybe they're just mean to you because they can tell who the people with big chips on their shoulder are. yike! what if during medical school, during your peds rotation, they make you examine a female child! *siiiiiiiiiiigh*

I hate women because they don't understand hyperbole!

 

[Brainsucker]

Outpatient internal medicine. Oh god, how boring it is. So boring. "Eat less. Exercise more. Take your meds. The chemicals in generics are the same as brand names. Don't smoke." People go to med school to repeat those things patient after patient? ****, I suddenly feel like studying harder.

 

[Diceman M.D.]

Peds - Hate kids, hate parents, hate kids who are parents.
Geriatrics - I'm the kind who'd want to actually spend an hour talking to a lonely pt about his old war stories or whatnot, but that's incompatible with good time management.
Pathology - Nah, want to deal with patients.
Neurosurgery - 7+ years of residency and for what? Call every night treating every idiot who gets plugged with a .45 in the head? I don't think so.
Ob/Gyn - I did not go to med school to be unemployed because patients would rather see a female gyno.
Family Practice - You ever see that ad in like AMSA or AMA magazines where there's this asian kid throwing a baseball and it lists like every minor procedure or medication you've given him for the past 7 years? And you're like "cool!" but when you read the list it basically only contains suturing and amoxicillin? Yeah, that's what disappointment feels like.
Internal Medicine - "So Mr. Lardass is a 60-year-old male presenting with a history of morbid obesity, type 2 diabetes, chronic kidney disease, Crohn's diease, unstable angina, and fulminant hepatitis, etc...I think the most important issue here is what his chloride increase of 4meQ/L signifies. Let's list a differential diagnosis of 400 different items and spend an hour on each one debating why it should or shouldn't be ruled out, mmkay?"

I could go on but it's late and I'm tired.

 

[QuikClot]

GI -- I shadowed a GI, and he was smart, funny, doing good work and in love with what he was doing. But the rooms were houses of horror . . . all day, sticking thick black tubes in the mouth and the anus . . . the semi-sedated patients crying and gagging on the tube haunts me even now.

 

[drmota]

PATHOLOGY. i don't need to be a med student to know that would be the most boring **** ever
-mota

 

[QofQuimica]

OB/Gyn. The thought has occurred to me that I should pick my medical school based on how many weeks this rotation lasts at each place. I think it would be great to see the miracle of birth....once. After something happens the first time, it's not exactly a miracle any more, is it?

Urology. I'm equal-opportunity here. No STDs, urinary tract infections, or kidney stones for me.

Proctology. Self-explanatory.

Surgery. Nope, no thanks. I'm into drugs, not cutting.

Neonatology. Sorry, OBP, if you're reading this, but I've never been all that gung-ho about babies. I'd be all right with older kids, though.

Emergency Medicine. If I didn't have to endure an EM residency, I think clinical toxicology would be awesome. But I don't want to see people with multiple gunshot wounds or other traumatic injuries. Not my thing.

Family Practice: I think in the past, before the advent of managed care, FP was great. My dad is a FP, and when he started out in the 60s, he did a little of everything, made housecalls, etc. Nowadays he spends a lot of his time duking it out with the HMOs.

 

[anon-y-mouse]

pathology
pm&r
physiatry
preventive medicine
psychiatry
pediatrics (kids are great up till a certain point)
public health
pulmonary disease
pain medicine
primary care (ok ok family medicine)

all the residencies that start with p!

 

[Messerschmitts]

Least favourites:

Radiology: I didn't bust my ass to get into medical school to not interact firsthand with patients. I want the hands-on clinical exposure, not sitting in the batcave looking at MRIs.

Pathology: I didn't bust my ass to get into medical school to work with dead people either.

Anaesthesiology: Sounds like a sweet job, but again I want something a bit more hands-on.

Dermatology, Ophthamalogy: Kinda boring, no offence to people who love it.

Plastic Surgery: Oh, hell no. I don't care how much they make.

G.I.: I have no problem with blood or viscera, but faeces I'd like to minimise my contact with, a ser posible. And as another poster so eloquently put it, "too much butt-time".

Geriatrics: I don't "hate" this specialty, but I wouldn't prefer it. I get along well with the elderly, and have done my share of volunteering in con-homes. However, in general too depressing for a permanent career.

Sports medicine: I really hate sports. No interest in it whatsoever.

Just for fun, the specialties I do like are EM, OB/GYN, general surgery, IM, and FP. Peds is alright too.

 

[1Path]

What a depressing thread. Looks like most of your parents are going to end up in nursing homes "with a quick" the moment they become too medically "inconvenient" for you. Just remember what comes around, goes around.

BTW, worst/boring speciality - EVERYTHING but pathology!

 

[Discobolus]

Good to see so many people hate gastroenterology, less competition for me!

 

[DrKitty]

Gerontology has one of the most interesting research fields (well, to me) - Alzheimer's disease. Plus, most elderly people are interesting to work with from my experience.

 

[johnny_blaze]

Surgery: I'm already losing IQ points by the second in medical school. By the end of surgery residency, I would be an illiterate arrogant drone with eighteen inch biceps and stupid hot blondes trying to get their gold-digging hooks into me.

Woooohooo I cant wait till i become a surgeon! I love stupid blondes

Pediatrics: Kids are stupid and annoying. Am I the only one who realizes this?

hahah this is so true! Sick kids are a real pain in the butt!

 

[CTSballer11]

I don't think I would go into any specialty that requires marathon surgeries, like ortho's who work on the spine. Unless i get into better shape, I wear out after standing for that long!

i don't know what i don't like other than that , maybe urology, and rads/path, because i REALLY want the patient contact

i really like psychiatry, ped onc, ENT and neurosurgery. i can't wait to get my hands on someone's brain!!!!!!!!! wheeee!!!

You mentioned earlier that you do not want to go into a specialty with marathon surgeries such as ortho spine surgeons. Later you mentioned that you like neurosurgery, which is a specialty that also deals with surgery of the spine. Does not make much sense.

 

[ShyRem]

hahah this is so true! Sick kids are a real pain in the butt!

I think it's the PARENTS that are more a pain in the butt. If you've ever seen a *really* sick kid - they're scary. They don't talk much, they don't move much, and you get the major 'oh ****' factor in the pit of your stomach, especially when they don't put up a fight over procedures (like an IV). Kids who are a little sick are only a pain in the butt if their parents let them be that way.

 

[Hurricane]

Obviously the answers are going to be different for everybody. I liked most of my rotations. But for me, I would be bored out of my skull doing these things for the rest of my life:

Internal Medicine. I hated the culture, I hated the endless flow charts and alogorithms and risk stratification schemes. And by corollary, this includes the IM subspecialties. Cardiology: I don't see why everyone goes ga ga over the heart. It's just a pump. Zzzz. GI: I'm not into poop or parts that make poop. Onc: maybe this makes me abnomal, but I find cancer boring. I really liked my outpatient IM preceptor, who did a lot of women's health stuff, but not enough to go through an IM residency. Being an IM resident would be my own personal hell.

Peds: I like kids (may even do child psych) but I would hate peds for many of the same reasons I hated IM. And inpatient peds sucked the life out of me.

Radiology: Sitting in the dark looking at scans doesn't do it for me. Some of the interventional stuff is cool, and brain imaging research (which I'm doing now) is way cool, but reading x-rays and scans all day, not so much.

Path: see above, but substitute "slides" for "scans."

OB: I really liked GYN, but hated OB. Birth disgusts me. The whole thing made me want to adopt.

Derm: bores me.

 

[BooMed]

Wow, this thread is really interesting.

I don't think there's anything wrong with hating certain specialties, we can't all do the same thing.

 

[BaylorGuy]

You guys got me....i'll bite

OBGYN--theres a reason why a woman is going to spread her legs for you....and its not the good kind. There's just something about it that just doesn't do it for me.

IM and its subspecialties--meh, mediocre at best...seems like if nothing else works you get the brunt of the work and deal with it.

FP and peds---it doesn't really do it for me either...nothing like seeing cases after cases of otitis to make the day go faster. Oh yeah, and not to mention the crazy parents.

 

[getunconcsious]

Orthopedic Surgery--The musculoskeletal system is by far the most boring system in the body.

Radiology--How the hell do you know what you're looking at? It's just black, white, and shades of gray that all look like amorphous masses. Path seems way better b/c slides are stained pretty colors and such.

 

[Mike59]

Firstly, I dunno what the hell this thread is accomplishing, this is chaos!...However, a little anarchy is good for the system so here goes:

1) RADIOLOGY - You went through four years of medical school torture to sit there and look at colorless pictures of the body that don't even tell us all that much? Should've gone pathology, at least you could've made it colorful...

2) GERIATRICS - 9 times out of 10 you already know the diagnosis: Yea, you have dementia. Not to mention, you're on way way too many medications...These guys are like the clean up crew after the rock concert is over (I worked with some great geriatricians who were awesome, god bless them)

3) ANY IM Subspecialty or Surg Subspecialty (esp ortho) - holy mother of gawd, I wanna poke my eyes out when shadowing some of these guys...How can they go through their day in such an algorithmic fashion, seeing the same crap over and over and over?!?

 

[Hurricane]

Firstly, I dunno what the hell this thread is accomplishing, this is chaos!

Even if it's not accomplishing anything important, for some reason I find it entertaining to read the reasons why people hate different specialties

 

[beary]

worst:
1) neurology - incredibly boring and long neuro exam that almost never gives you any useful information
2) anything primary care - boring boring boring

best:
1) PATH!!! These are the people who make the diagnosis. Everybody else depends on pathology (except psych and anesthesia I guess, the only two other specialties I liked ).
2) psych - hottest thing in science right now. Antipsychotics really do work, but we don't understand why!
3) anesthesia - they are the ones with the patient's life in their hands. And anesthesiologists are cool and know tons of basic physiology.

 

[Rafa]

I think it's the PARENTS that are more a pain in the butt. If you've ever seen a *really* sick kid - they're scary. They don't talk much, they don't move much, and you get the major 'oh ****' factor in the pit of your stomach, especially when they don't put up a fight over procedures (like an IV). Kids who are a little sick are only a pain in the butt if their parents let them be that way.

Have you worked with kids like these?

 

[Brainsucker]

3) ANY IM Subspecialty or Surg Subspecialty (esp ortho) - holy mother of gawd, I wanna poke my eyes out when shadowing some of these guys...How can they go through their day in such an algorithmic fashion, seeing the same crap over and over and over?!?

Um...What does that leave?

 

[lingonberry]

I don't think I would be interested in doing physical medicine and rehabilitation.

 

[ShyRem]

Have you worked with kids like these?

Unfortunately, in my 10+ years as a paramedic I ran a whole string of really (really) sick kids - towards the end they started dying on me. It sucked. Quiet kids are sick kids, and after a few really sick ones the best sound in the world is a crying kid.

 

[Ypo.]

I haven't had enough experience yet to know what I hate. But, I shadowed my mentor the other day (he is a pediatrician who only does clinical work 1 and a half days a week), and by the end of the morning, he seemed like he was burnt out. We saw ear infection after ear infection. And some of the parents were irritating: like this one who brought in her symptomless child and wanted antibiotics for them because she'd (the mother) had strep throat the week before.

 

[MN81]

Derm, urology, and optho---I don't see how you have to graduate at the top of your class to be in these specialties.

You pissed a lot of people off with that one, but I agree... Especially about Derm and Uro.

Is time and money all that being a doc is about?

Apparently

 

[Hurricane]

And anesthesiologists are cool

I think anesthesiologists are cool because one of the attendings gave me his kickass (first-row dugout) baseball tickets when he couldn't use them because he forgot he had a faculty meeting that night. Yay for forgetful anesthesiologists

 

[beefballs]

You pissed a lot of people off with that one, but I agree... Especially about Derm and Uro.

Is time and money all that being a doc is about?

Apparently

Yeha I am furious about the ny times insider crap too, although I have a sneaking suspicion we like the opposite editorial writers

 

[sacrament]

Worst: Either family medicine or ob/gyn

Most Boring: radiology, anesthesiology, general surgery, dermatology

Note that worst != most boring. I'd do a very boring job indeed for enough money and free time.

 

[MN81]

Yeha I am furious about the ny times insider crap too, although I have a sneaking suspicion we like the opposite editorial writers

Actually, DBrooks is not my fav. However, he does look the cheesiest of the bunch and thus deserves to have his face shown as my avatar.

Oh, I also figured a way to cheat the system (and read the editorials). If you go to a college that has a subscription to NYTimes, you can go through the periodicals online and read them.

BUT its not the same... Its kind of annoying and takes too much time... SO I am still not happy about NY Times 'insider'

 

[8744]

Family medicine. Hands down. No contest.

What are you people thinking?

 

[8744]

I haven't had enough experience yet to know what I hate. But, I shadowed my mentor the other day (he is a pediatrician who only does clinical work 1 and a half days a week), and by the end of the morning, he seemed like he was burnt out. We saw ear infection after ear infection. And some of the parents were irritating: like this one who brought in her symptomless child and wanted antibiotics for them because she'd (the mother) had strep throat the week before.

Outpatient peds today:

Well child check, well child check, well child check, well child check, runny nose, well child check, eczema, cold, cold, well child check, well child check, constipation, well child check, etc.

Whee! Look at me, I'm a Doctor!

 

[quideam]

Good luck w/ the match tomorrow, Panda - I hope you got one of your EM spots! . Either way, you're done with FM.... no more healthy little kids for you .

I'll add FM to my list of worst specialties.... that makes:

OBGYN: If I wanted to look at diseased vaginas all day, I would have... well, I guess that's personal .
FM: What Panda said
IM: I like ID, but all that electrolyte monitoring and tinkering with meds nonsense... I think I could fall asleep standing up!
Geriatrics: You get old, you get sick, you get lonnely... you take lots of meds, they sort of help, but you're still lonely... you get more sick, you take more meds....
Pathology: I'm sorry, but even with all of those "fried egg" and "starry sky" descriptions... everything really does just look pretty much the same to me. Especially the lymphomas...?!

I guess i'm insensitive.... but I prefer to think of it as having a really short attention span . I guess that's why I really like EM!

Q

 

[ForbiddenComma]

The worst specialties. Hmm. I don't think any specialty is really bad, actually. They all have their place, and have their share of dedicated people trying to help people.

Although...

I don't want to be feeding and watering gomers all day. So IM is out.

While the thought of dealing with weird diseases is cool, I don't want to spend half my day writing scrips for HIV cocktails, and the other half cleaning up surgical infections. ID is out.

I want to be able to rely on my knowledge and brainpower to solve cases, not hammers and saws. Ortho is out.

I don't want to be locked away from the patients, looking at studies for other doctors. Path and rads are out.

I don't want to deal with kids because kids are icky and gross... therefore, peds and FP are out.

I don't want to be in a service where most of your job is thinking up new ways of telling your patients "You're gonna die." Heme/onc is out.

I don't want to be spending the rest of my life taking gall bladders out of fat people. GS is out.

I don't want to be Pimple-Popper, M.D. Derm is out.

I also don't want to be putting in silicone boobs all day and call that "medicine." Plastics is out.

I want to actually have some idea on what's wrong with the patients. Psych is out.

I don't want to be a glorified triage nurse. EM is out.

As tempting as looking at diseased genitalia all day might be, I'm going to have to pass. OB/GYN and uro are out.

Same thing with the other perineal triangle. GI and colorectal are out.

Therefore, upon reflection, I'm going to be a lawyer.

 

[Poety]

No way specialties:

Peds, and I have a kid - but only MY kid is cool I don't like brats, and I don't like other kids snot all over my sleeve uggg

IM: stab me in the eye before I see another "78 yo F PMH/o CHF, stroke, IDDM, CABG, HTN admitted for CP"

Neuro: I can't stand rounding as long as IM but then doing all of nothing for the patient - get another MRI

Family: Would be cool if I made more than 50K take home

Surgery: BORING- cut and sew, cut and sew, I don't know anything, I just cut and sew FORGET IT! I didn't learn this stuff to let it all fall by the way side, plus I'm not standing on my feet for 100 hrs a week and never seeing my family when I'm well into my 60's Pyssing contests annoy me too, which are inevitable at every grand rounds/M&M conference

Heme/Onc: Too sad for me - no thanks

Great specialties:

OBGYN if you take away the gyn - I only like the pregnant ladies, the gyn part (std's, gyn/onc, etc) ugg - too gross

Psych: wooo hooo, my specialty save the depressed whiney Axis II's-but ya gotta love schizophrenia or developmental d/o and autism

 

[MN81]

Some people have mentioned that they like the OB, but not the GYN. I guess I can see that.

Question: Is it possible to do a residency in only OB and not GYN?

 

[LT2]

I hate women because they don't understand hyperbole!

!!