Specialty that attracts best students?

[Orcamute]

What specialty in Medical School have you noticed that seems to attract the better students of the class? Vaguely speaking of course.

[inthesticks]

specializing in specialties tend to attract the 'best' students, IMO

[shikimate]

It's really hard to say who are the "best" students, because 1) everyone has their strength in some area and weakness in others, 2) things like test scores doesn't generally reflect how you'll do clinically (also you'll forget a lot of the things you've learned after 2 years).

 

But to answer your question, it's no surprise that people aiming for competitive specialties, especially surgery (Ophtho, ENT, etc) generally seems to be more active when it comes to research, doing observerships, etc. It doesn't necessarily mean they are the "best", it's probably just that the competitive nature of the match forces them to be more proactive.

[Real Beef]

It is hard to tell who is the 'best' students even from a marks basis because the marks are generally pass or fail though sometimes people do share their quantitative marks ... usually when they do poorly however to complain.

 

Anecdotally, one of the smarter upper year students is voluntarily on course for a career in family medicine due to the favorable lifestyle it provides and another upper year who very active in a lot of student committees/student groups is also interested in family. Our classes VP of the student society is strongly considering a career in Psych which is considered a CO2 specialty. Last year the former student society prez matched to Optho and others who I get the sense are on the lower end of the bell curve are gunning for surgery. Its quite variable.

 

I mean just because someone is the top student in the class doesnt mean they automatically have an interest in Radiology or Optho or some super surgical specialty. At a certain junction if people are honest with themselves they gravitate towards something because of pure interest, perceived job satisfaction and less so due to perceived prestige (which is a joke) and potential income.

 

I am however very interested in seeing where my classmates eventually match as well as the class above me as I have started to get to know some of them.

 

Beef

[ellorie]

I think by the time you get to medical school, in a lot of ways it becomes less about who is "better" and whose skills fit where. I have skills that others do not, and there are people in my class who will do things that I never could.

[aKGDH]

not really an answerable question.

 

rather, the more competitive specialties tend to attract people who don't mind competition (or really really want the speciality), and thus tend to be pretty smart/. so anything surgical, rads, emerg, anesthesia etc.

 

that being said, some of the "best people" also know that lifestyle is huge so they tend to go for family.

[futureGP]

best students get the specialty they want at their preferred location

 

 

not best students have to settle for elsewhere

 

 

and everyone in between

[A-Stark]

best students get the specialty they want at their preferred location

 

 

not best students have to settle for elsewhere

 

 

and everyone in between

 

Not really. CaRMS isn't about who had the highest marks in per-clerkship or on any exams really. You can be very smart and not do so well in the match, though it is fair to say that the lower performing students (with potential red flags) might not do so well.

[Orcamute]

Not really. CaRMS isn't about who had the highest marks in per-clerkship or on any exams really. You can be very smart and not do so well in the match, though it is fair to say that the lower performing students (with potential red flags) might not do so well.

 

What is your opinion on CaRMS? Is it a good way to sort medical students out or should we change it??

[A-Stark]

What is your opinion on CaRMS? Is it a good way to sort medical students out or should we change it??

 

I don't know. I think that the CaRMS process is fine as a way of allocating postgraduate training spaces; the problems lie in the rigid way these spaces are structured, as a sort of "all or nothing" match that forces career decisions prematurely. Lots of people end up switching, more than you might think, but the system is designed so this is something of an exceptional, difficult process.

 

It shouldn't be. Retraining and switching shouldn't be encouraged per se, but neither should they be discouraged. The physician workforce lacks flexibility, and forces pigeon-holing in generalist or specialist roles at a ridiculously early stage. A further issue is that CaRMS affects the final-year of med school (especially electives) that it raises the question of just what undergrad medical education is supposed to produce.

[tberry3]

I think when it comes to CaRMS (and med school in general, really) - the idea of who is the "best student" isn't as important as it has been for most of our lives. Now it's about who would be the best future doctor (in their specialty of choice). Of course I haven't been there yet but I think there's an important shift from being a student to being, essentially, a doctor-in-training.

[rmorelan]

What is your opinion on CaRMS? Is it a good way to sort medical students out or should we change it??

 

CARMS I think is actually a very good system although of course stressful. Any problems are not really associated with CARMS but rather some people don't like how a school may rank them etc.

 

In the end is a job application system and just like anywhere else and in any other field people are going to be frustrated with hiring practises to some extent.

[rmorelan]

I think when it comes to CaRMS (and med school in general, really) - the idea of who is the "best student" isn't as important as it has been for most of our lives. Now it's about who would be the best future doctor (in their specialty of choice). Of course I haven't been there yet but I think there's an important shift from being a student to being, essentially, a doctor-in-training.

 

That shift pops up starting in clerkship

[Gmaarom]

I'd say that generally the best students probably gravitate to derm and rads because these are both very competitive specialties with excellent lifestyles and pay.

 

Of course this isn't an absolute rule; ie some great students may not be interested in the aforementioned or may be more willing to sacrifice their lives to their jobs (ie surgical specialties), but I think it probably holds true on average.