What area are you interested in?

[Guest kylerh]

For those premed and med students what specialty do you believe you will pursue. I am currently interested in radiology or cardiology? Also state how long this residency program is and where you would want to take it.

 

kylerh:D

[Guest Jochi1543]

I'm leaning mostly towards FP.

[Guest DancingDoc]

I really like the idea of doing surgery.... maybe head and neck oncology/Otolaryngology. I'd have to try neurosurgery and plastics (Burn unit maybe?) as well though!

[Guest jaegwon]

Neurology leads by a wide margin...Rads and Anesthesiology also make the podium for me right now

[Guest Lurkergonepublic]

Specialty? What do you mean? I'm just gonna be a Dok-tor!

 

Honestly, I have no idea yet, although I've always been interested in immunology, allergies, etc - maybe some brand of IM - many years ahead I'm sure. Hello electives!

[Guest Isoceles]

1) General Surg (not sure yet if I can tough out the lifestyle tho)

2) FM

3) Obs/Gyn

 

I know... broad...(and I had never considered family until this year), but I want to live and practice rurally or in a small centre - so I won't specialize TOO much.

 

That said... I think everything is likely to change once we start getting hands-on experience!

[Guest muchdutch]

Onco, Obs, Optho - why all the o's? I have no idea. That's got to say something deep about my personality, no? lurkergonepublic, where are you?

But as isoceles said, likely to change once we get hands-on experience.

[Guest MrNeuroscience]

Neurosurgery... with a close second in Neurosurgery

[Guest try2dstress]

A lot depends on what I see while in med school (if I get in). Depending on needs/circumstances/lifestyle preference I'd lean towards:

1) Family Medicine (for a less stressful but still rewarding lifestyle)

2) Neurology (if I want to specialize this is where my intrinsic interest lies)

[Guest try2dstress]

To all the med students: just out of curiousity, how come no one generally chooses to specialize in something like...gastroenterology...when first entering med school. And when does this change of decision usually take place?

[Guest Jochi1543]

Good point. You rarely hear people stating they'd like to go into gastroenterology/neonatology/gynecology/endocrinology/proctology (well, maybe that last one isn't that hard to figure out 8o :lol ) I think until you are actually out there doing clinicals, you are likely to lean towards a specialty which is either familiar to you as a patient or family member of a doctor in that specialty and/or straightforward - surgery, family practice - or one that is actively glamorized, such as neurosurgery. Another factor, I think, are sometimes rumours of very high income and/or low-stress and flexible lifestyle, such as in cardiac surgery or radiology.

 

I think it would be interesting to see WHY people are attracted to a particular specialty. I stated earlier that I think I would be most interested in FP, and my reasons include

1) the ease of opening your own business (I would definitely prefer that to working for a hospital),

2) consequently, the ability to work as much or as little as I want to since I am not a salaried employee

3) ability to build lifetime relationships with patients and lots of face-to-face interaction

4) very wide scope of practice - I like variety

5) short residency (it doesn't matter much if it's 3 or 5 years, but I don't think I could ever go into a specialty which required, say, a 7-year residency)

6) patients of all genders and ages (I don't think I would enjoy limiting myself by practicing pediatrics or gynecology) 7) ability to focus on prevention and overall healing and health improvement as opposed to consistently having to deal with critical cases

8) absence of other factors I don't enjoy which happen to be prevalent in some other specialties, whether it's sitting in the dark all day as in radiology or staring in the microscope 24/7 as in pathology.

 

I know I would never go into any area of surgery - not a big fan of blood and ORs, it's fun to see a few times, but that's it for me - pediatrics (don't like children), or emergency medicine (as I stated above, I like having a certain degree of predictability and don't want to face high-stress situations constantly). But as far as, say, non-invasive cardio or endocrinology - I would definitely like to learn a little more about those specialties since I can picture myself enjoying them.

 

I spent 3 months in a gastro hospital when I was a child, and I don't think I could ever fully enjoy practicing gastroenterology because of that.:lol

[Guest peachy]

To all the med students: just out of curiousity, how come no one generally chooses to specialize in something like... gastroenterology... when first entering med school.

I think it's because you don't apply to GI out of medical school, you apply to internal medicine, and then later subspecialize within internal medicine. There's no reason to worry about whether you are intersted in GI or cardiology or whatever else until you've matched into internal medicine, which is a big hurdle on its own. After all, if you don't get into internal medicine, you will never even have the option of doing GI! That is, medical students plan based on the next difficult decision they have to make and application process they have to prepare for: CaRMS.

[Guest 0T6]

It's a valid point though, in my class I hear a lot of people who want to be cardiologists and I don't think I've come across anyone who wants to go into gastro or endo, that said, peachy's right in that those are decisions to be made at the next level so a lot can change by then.

[Guest DancingDoc]

actually, if I don't end up wanting to go nto surgery and instead want to do IM, endo is what I would most likely want to do (based on my current experiences). However, I do have a reason. I've had an endo condition since childhood, so as a kid I found it all really interesting (it's a pretty low key condition, no worries!). I remember asking all sorts of questions when I was little, I think the docotor even gave me a pamphlet to read (geesh, apparently I was quite the keener as a kid!)

[Guest Jochi1543]

You are right, peachy, but aren't most secondary and tertiary specialties like that? As in, first you have to match into a general residency, then into a special program, then you have to complete a fellowship, etc.

[Guest GundamDX]

internal meds, then hopefully palliative someday

[Guest scooter]

Hey,

Just starting out so I'm prone to changing my choice once i get into the hands-on part. RIght now:

1. Emerg - i love the high-stress and changing environment - also, as a NY city ER doc told me- the stress stays mostly at the hospital... once you see the patient once you don:t see them again... so you don't get the chance to build relationships with patients so it becomes easier to distant yourself (except my local hospital ER doc, she recognizes me everytime i come in.... i'm a touch accident prone)

2. Pediatrics - I think this is one I will either really really love or absolutely hate when I get around to that clerkship

3. Ortho- I guess with 12 breaks (mostly at different times, I like to say that gravity is my secret lover) i've been fascinated by it, but i think it might get a touch mundane and predictable... though I suppose in an urban center it would be more varried.

4. Emerg Peds- though i think this would be by far the most stressing - just seeing really sick and injured kids, and they are far more fragile.

 

Who knows, maybe i'll just love proctology

[Guest Steve MD09]

You are right, peachy, but aren't most secondary and tertiary specialties like that? As in, first you have to match into a general residency, then into a special program, then you have to complete a fellowship, etc.

There are a lot of programs that are done as fellowships (more so in medicine than surgery), but there are still tons of direct-entry programs.

 

As for me, I'm currently interested in heading into general surgery and probably sub-specializing from there. I've scrubbed in on a couple of vascular procedures and think that's an interesting field. Then again, I'm trying not to rule anything out until clerkship.

[Guest peachy]

You are right, peachy, but aren't most secondary and tertiary specialties like that? As in, first you have to match into a general residency, then into a special program, then you have to complete a fellowship, etc.

Yes, but most people, when asked what they plan to specialize in, name something that they can apply to through CaRMS, rather than a subspecialty that they would apply to later.

[Guest try2dstress]

I guess it has a lot to do with exposure too. Because even though cardiology is done through internal medicine, it still seems to be a favourite 'specialty' to mention when entering med school. Cardiology is very tangible and 'hype' while gastroenterology, endocrinology, etc, even though they are still tangible (...I mean everyone has a digestive system and hormones so must be able to relate), perhaps they are less visible to those on the outside. I know that I never would have even *thought* of GI until I've had to see many specialists for personal illness. I've become much more aware as a result, so now I can say I have concrete reasoning behind my non-interest in that field

 

On another note, how are people chosen to 'subspecialize'? Is that another huge competition like CaRMS or is it a less stressful process (ie. do lots of people in internal medicine intending to go into cardiology get stuck with GI because of another matching game?)? How do quotas get filled for subspecialties?

[Guest Steve MD09]

(ie. do lots of people in internal medicine intending to go into cardiology get stuck with GI because of another matching game?)?

I don't know the specifics of the fellowship application process, but I can certainly tell you that I doubt anybody gets 'stuck' with GI, because gastroenterology is actually one of the most competitive fellowship programs in internal medicine. I think you're right about there being a 'hype' around some specialties among pre-meds, but medical school exposes you to some very neat specialties that people on the outside don't really know too much about.

[Guest medicator007]

There is an R4 match for the subspecialty/fellowship positions after Internal Medicine, that is run in a similar fashion as CaRMS, but from what I hear is nowhere near as stressful. In general MOST people will get their first choice discipline if not their first choice location. That being said it all depends on how competitive/popular a field you are applying for. As was mentioned above, cardiology/GI seem to be two of the more popular fields and yet most residents I have met who applied to them were accepted.

 

Medicator

[Guest Lurkergonepublic]

Onco, Obs, Optho - why all the o's? I have no idea. That's got to say something deep about my personality, no? lurkergonepublic, where are you?

 

Ha ha, so I'm the resident psyc am I now? Carefull, I don't really have the training but I did read part of a book once...

(I was going to say I stayed at a Holiday Inn last night, but I hate those comercials)

 

Vell, I sink zat maybe you have a secret facination, with zee Cheerios, no? Perhaps zey remind you of your mother?

 

Honestly, I've never really felt much of an inkling towards psycology, but then again, I've never heard anyone else say that they did, and there are sure a lot of them around (and even more demand). I've had friends that tell me I'd be good at it (probably because I make an effort to observe and like to analyze behavior - I'm sure it all stems back to junior high when I had to start figuring out why I wasn't cool and what to do about it... ). Maybe I just felt like that was a natural ability, and was suspiscious of the fact that you can go to school to learn how to analyze people.

 

I will definately try out some psych electives to see what it is really like, and who knows, maybe I will love it. I have to admit though, I have a vision of myself being far too blunt. I know there is a huge need for mental health in our society, but I have to say that my personal beliefs and opinions lead me to think that many of these are the result of misplaced priorities and expectations. Everyone wants to be free to do their own thing without listening to the wisdom of prior generations, or even common sense, and then when they feel their lives unravelling, they want a magic pill to make them feel better.

 

I may well enjoy a psycology practice that teaches people to rationally and purposefully solve their own problems, only resorting to prescription drugs when there is an underlying physiological need (as it is true, there often is). I guess I really don't have enough practical experience of what a psycologist actually does yet to know what I would think about it, but that's what electives are for, right?

 

Either way though, I think that in any specialty you need to have a good awareness of mental health... medicine is, (as it should be, albeit slowly), moving more towards a full person treatment, and I think that the emotional and psycological attitude of patients is going to be a much bigger part of that someday.

[Guest muchdutch]

I did read part of a book once...

Vell, I sink zat maybe you have a secret facination, with zee Cheerios, no? Perhaps zey remind you of your mother?

 

:lol ....:rollin

 

Lurker you bust my gut...:eek ... we need a surgeon here - got a busted gut!

[Guest satsumargirl]

Honestly, I've never really felt much of an inkling towards psycology, but then again, I've never heard anyone else say that they did, [...]I will definately try out some psych electives to see what it is really like, and who knows, maybe I will love it.

 

I believe you mean psychiatry and not psychology

since psychiatry is a medical specialty and psychology is not.

 

I have frequently heard from students in clerkship that they absolutely loved their psych rotations and found it really fascinating HOWEVER that they would not want to chose it as their specialization. Since I heard that said over and over I finally asked someone why. This was just what 2 people had to say 1) didn`t like the fuzzy diagnosis criteria - that is they felt that some people were genuinely sick and others were just "bad/mean people", they obviously were not comfotable with they grey areas of psychiatry and felt more comfortable in specializations where you have more black&white tests etc. 2) they felt that as family physicians they could still have a certain caseload of psych cases that they could manage and enjoy. as psychiatrists they felt that they would only get the more complicated cases that could not be managed by a family physician and that those are the cases that you can`t "fix". And so they thought they would be frustrated as a psychiatrist...only seeing the complicated more difficult cases.

 

I'm not in clerkship yet so cannot validate these responses. This is just what they told me.