I Think I may have chosen the wrong speciality

[mdstudent1234]

Hi! 

I wanted a really precise subspeciality in surgery since I started med school. I worked really hard to built a perfect CV to get into that speciality but when the carms applications started I did an elective in radiology that I loved. At that point I was starting to question my choice to go in surgery because I was getting burned out and did not think I loved surgery enough because of that. The environnement of that speciality was also really toxic. I ranked radiology before surgery at the end. I did not take that descision lightly. I talked to so many people about it, I wrote the pros and cons, and at the end radiology seemed do much more logical. Better hours, better pay, more diversity, the possibility to do minimally invasive interventions.. 

When I waited for the match results I hoped for radiology so much. Then the result came and I matched in radiology, my first choice. Since the match day I can't stop thinking I made a horrible mistake. Like the worst mistake of my life. I don't know why I am reacting like that, it seems I needed to be faced with the reality of my choice to understand that this is not what I wanted? I really thought I knew what I wanted but I can't stop crying since the match result even though I got what I wanted. And on top of that I feel ungrateful since so many people wanted radiology this year and did not match. Maybe I feel like that because I did not do any internship since march and I have forgotten what I liked about radiology and did not like about surgery. Maybe my interest for radiology will come back. But I am so afraid it will not.. 

I don't know why I came here with this problem but I feel really alone and I cannot talk about it to a lot of people since I feel so ungrateful and frankly stupid. I want to know if something similar happened to anyone? If someone can relate? I heard it was possible to transfer residency after a couple of years, did someone here did a successful transfer to a small speciality  and could talk to me about it?

Thank you in advance and sorry for the long rant, I really needed to get it out :/

[yohohoy]

No need to apologize, like you said it’s tough to talk to people about in real life so it’s good to let it all out here anonymously. 
 

The nice thing is that there will probably be residents who would love to transfer into radiology and you’ll be able to facilitate that for them  . It’s also possible that you will be soo grateful for your decision to rank radiology once you actually start residency. 
 

I’d say give it some time. Nothing is set in stone, the possibility of transfer is there.

[HoopDreams]

I think that a lot of people are facing the same reality at the moment. You spend your clerkship hoping for good evaluations, hoping the preceptor will like you, hoping your letters will be fine, hoping you will be invited for interview, hoping to be ranked. And now, you aren't even enjoying the match that you have to think of the LMCC, registering to your new program and getting ready to become a resident.

You have been going through all sorts of emotions in the last year, living an emotional marathon and you are just crashing. Your body is living off adrenaline and you need a break. Take this week-end to yourself and don't think about anything medicine related.

I think you would have reacted the same way had you ranked that said specialty higher. You know realize that it is real, that the idea is going to be a reality in 3 months when you are actually the R1 in Radiology. 

I don't know you but be proud of yourself. It takes courage and hard work to do what you did. You are having doubts without even having started. Which means all of that is simply apprehensions based on assumptions. You will make what you want out of your training and I am convinced that if you had doubts about that specialty you ended up not ranking as high, they would have hunted you for the rest of your life.

Best of luck to you and congrats on matching to a beautiful specialty.
Trust yourself and know that in the end, everything happens for a reason.

[medmedmed132]

Hey, I totally understand where you're coming from. If it's any consolation, I also considered radiology and ranking it. Didn't apply, but did electives and considered strongly parallel planning. Ultimately, I chose to go all in on my specialty of choice... and ended up unmatched. I'm not happy either, but I still have control (somewhat?) over trying to end up where I want to. It's a challenge, but neither option - backing up and ending up in the back up, or being unmatched - is ideal. Very few if anyone gets their #1 choice program and location. Most people in CaRMS are not ecstatic, but the system as a whole is optimized for a utilitarian happiness.

 

All this to say... I understand your regrets. You can consider or try to find ways out of this, and look to transfer if possible (not sure if it is, but look into it!) or you can come to find joy in the way life has turned out. I wish you all the best. You're clearly a very talented student.

[collegedude22]

12 hours ago, medmedmed132 said:

Hey, I totally understand where you're coming from. If it's any consolation, I also considered radiology and ranking it. Didn't apply, but did electives and considered strongly parallel planning. Ultimately, I chose to go all in on my specialty of choice... and ended up unmatched. I'm not happy either, but I still have control (somewhat?) over trying to end up where I want to. It's a challenge, but neither option - backing up and ending up in the back up, or being unmatched - is ideal. Very few if anyone gets their #1 choice program and location. Most people in CaRMS are not ecstatic, but the system as a whole is optimized for a utilitarian happiness.

 

All this to say... I understand your regrets. You can consider or try to find ways out of this, and look to transfer if possible (not sure if it is, but look into it!) or you can come to find joy in the way life has turned out. I wish you all the best. You're clearly a very talented student.

Just a note - most people do get their #1 choice of program and location. 

[Monkey D. Luffy]

I've personally never met a radiologist that was unhappy with their choice of specialty. I'm sure they exist, but overall they appear to be a satisfied group, probably above average in the combination of compensation, time off/vacation, and overall job satisfaction. If you've done electives in it and weighed the pros and cons (which you clearly have), then trust your judgment and rest easy that chances are your concerns may dissipate once you start training. In the worst case scenario, transferring out is also doable.

[HoopDreams]

3 hours ago, collegedude22 said:

Just a note - most people do get their #1 choice of program and location. 

I am not sure what this adds to the dilemma of @mdstudent1234 but I don't believe, to my limited knowledge, that it is accurate.
Could you show us the figures demonstrating that most plastics/optho/derm applicants get their #1 location ?

[1D7]

It's common to think "what if" about your other choice, whether it's location or specialty.

Once you're in the clinical environment you are still shielded from the mundane realities as a medical student. If at that point you don't enjoy it, residency is much, much more difficult and it's doubtful you'd enjoy your next 5-6 years.

But if you're looking for a switch anyway during residency, your best chance if you found someone who wants to switch out of their surgical specialty (more common in GSx and a few others, very rare in a lot of subspecs).

[frenchpress]

1 hour ago, HoopDreams said:

I am not sure what this adds to the dilemma of @mdstudent1234 but I don't believe, to my limited knowledge, that it is accurate.
Could you show us the figures demonstrating that most plastics/optho/derm applicants get their #1 location ?

I guess it depends on how you define ‘most’, but I agree this isn’t really accurate. See https://www.carms.ca/pdfs/2021-carms-forum.pdf slide 36 for some data. Not broken down to the level of specific specialty unfortunately. 

In 2021, about 80% matched to their ‘top-3’ ranked choice . A bit more than half (57%) to their first choice, 15% to their second choice, 7.5% to their 3rd choice. Last year lowest match to top 3-program was actually family medicine, followed by IM, and then all the surgical  specialties as a group. 

[collegedude22]

2 hours ago, HoopDreams said:

I am not sure what this adds to the dilemma of @mdstudent1234 but I don't believe, to my limited knowledge, that it is accurate.
Could you show us the figures demonstrating that most plastics/optho/derm applicants get their #1 location ?

Oh, that’s not true for those specific specialties, but for the match overall. I thought you were talking in a general sense about CaRMS, not those in particular. 

[Pakoon]

2 hours ago, HoopDreams said:

I am not sure what this adds to the dilemma of @mdstudent1234 but I don't believe, to my limited knowledge, that it is accurate.
Could you show us the figures demonstrating that most plastics/optho/derm applicants get their #1 location ?

These applicants do not represent most people

[Edict]

Seriously consider doing IR, see how you like radiology. If you really don't like it, just apply to transfer out. 

[confusedandwondering]

hi! 

are you still considering transferring out? find myself in similar spot but would be interested in chatting. 

 

[mdstudent1234]

On 9/13/2022 at 7:11 PM, confusedandwondering said:

hi! 

are you still considering transferring out? find myself in similar spot but would be interested in chatting. 

 

No I am finaly realy happy with my choice an relieved I made the right one! It would be my pleasure to answer your questions, do you speak french?