ffatt Posted August 18, 2011 Report Share Posted August 18, 2011 Hi guys, I recently had a discussion with my newphew who is considering medical school like myself. He was not convinced with my response, so I was wondering what your guys take might be on it. We have a family member who is an Otolaryngologist and he is totally inspired by his example of being satisfied in his job and having a rather good lifestyle in contrast to other physicians who are required to have busy schedules. I told him that lifestyle friendly fields are usually competitive (50% chance of not matching) and that he should not think of them as the be all end all of post undergraduate medical education. He seems to put lifestyle at the top of his priorities and says he would not pursue medicine if he could not work stable hours, make enough time for family. So far he has enjoyed working in a hospital setting as a volunteer/research and also finds the field mentally stimulating. He is quite intelligent with good scores and as far as I can tell will get in to Meds, but I have told him there are no guarantees afterwards. But, do you think it is reasonable to pursue medicine with the ultimate goal of pursuing those lifestyle friendly specialties or is he setting himself up for disappointment? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
psychoswim Posted August 18, 2011 Report Share Posted August 18, 2011 I think you can pursue medicine for many different reasons. Many people do want a more "normal" lifestyle which, like you said, is why those specialties are more competitive. Others don't care or might just enjoy a completely different and crazy lifestyle. I mean it's your life, it has to be important in your choice of career. Just depends what you're looking for. If no one tried for those specialties because they're competitive, then they wouldn't be competitive anymore. You just have to know the situation and know the possibilities of not matching to one I guess. Anyway, I'm only starting this fall but this makes sense to me. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lactic Folly Posted August 18, 2011 Report Share Posted August 18, 2011 There are lifestyle friendly fields that are less competitive. Family medicine is quite flexible. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest copacetic Posted August 19, 2011 Report Share Posted August 19, 2011 nobody is stopping you from working less. albight youll make less money. your choice. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rmorelan Posted August 19, 2011 Report Share Posted August 19, 2011 The odds of not matching are not as bad as 50% for the vast majority of even competitive specialities - the CARMS website has exact figures and he would just have to see if some of the other specialities he might have to back up with would also work for him. If he is happy potentially doing family the problem is immediately over I guess - with a back all but guaranteed then he can go full out for the other specialities of interest Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ffatt Posted August 20, 2011 Author Report Share Posted August 20, 2011 Hi, Yeah, Fam Med would be a nice way to backup with a lifestyle friendly specialty. I guess the odds are around 60 something %. Little better, but no guarantees. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
palma Posted August 20, 2011 Report Share Posted August 20, 2011 That sounds right for those who selected a competitive specialty as their first choice so probably not wise to back a competitive one with another competitive one. I wonder if one is more flexible in terms of willing to move anywhere in the country that might help increase your chances a bit? Or does that only apply to IM? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lactic Folly Posted August 20, 2011 Report Share Posted August 20, 2011 Well, the more geographically flexible you are, the more programs you can apply to and rank, which can only increase, not decrease, your chances (though how much it helps depends on a number of factors). For competitive specialties, it is common to apply across the country, unless one has very strong reasons for staying in a certain location. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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