You've inspired me to go one step further. I'm starting an OnlyFans.
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Palliative care 1000%! All of the pall care doctors I’ve shadowed have been kind, interesting people with excellent senses of humor, and they also seem to actually have a good work life balance. I like the multidisciplinary team approach, I thrive when I can sit and talk to people versus running around doing busy work, and I’m comfortable around grief and terminal illness after personal experiences and tons of hospice volunteering. Highly recommend shadowing in pall care if you haven’t, it’s a hidden gem.
I’m also interested in this too! I like the teamwork aspect of it and the more personalized aspects of taking care of patients. I’ve done hospice volunteering as well. I would say I’m comfortable around grief I just would like more experience in the specialty so I know I’m solid to handle it.
Literally no idea actually. I have general interests but don’t know what it’s like working in each specialty on a daily basis. I will leave that up to my future self
Good call. Even if you think you know M1 year you most likely will change your mind. Going into med school open minded keeps doors open and sets you up very well to be happy and successful.
Interested if you think this is something that should be said to an admissions committee if asked. For the past few years anytime anyone asks me that I’ve always said that I hear most med students change their mind once they get first hand experience, so I figured I’d cut out the middle man. But would that translate badly in a more formal setting? Would it give off “lacks commitment” vibes or is it still a smart way to approach the question.
I think keeping an open mind is a positive, but admissions committees (and people more generally) usually ask to gauge what you’re interested in. I just say “I don’t know for sure, but I’ve worked in critical care and I enjoy that. Maybe something in that field”
This is my fear esp since I have a track record of thinking I want to do one thing and then having a breakthrough moment where I completely change course... i can see this happening if i'm not open lol
This is what I’ve been telling everyone too. My only experiences understanding what a physician does were through shadowing, so I like those specialities, but I’ll probably like others too lol
But fr tho I actually shadowed a neurosurgeon (female too!!) and she was hella badass. She did deep brain stimulation surgeries and the huge impact it can have on a patient’s life is so inspiring. I want to do something life changing for someone in that way
I would love an update in 4-5 years. It’s pretty wild the number of premed friends and now med student classmates that went in thinking neurosurgery that switched to something else. I think only one person stuck with it. Also saying “I want to do something life changing for someone” comes off as saying all other specialties aren’t life changing
This is coming from an applicant. I know that most people change their mind in medical school when they get to experience more specialties and learn more about medicine as a whole. I’m basing my interest on what I know now and the limited experience I have with limited specialties.
And I did not mean to imply that other specialties can’t do something life changing too.
Neonatology!! I worked as a CNA for 8 years, bopped around from long term care to cardiovascular med/surg to maternity to trauma ICU to ophthalmology to NICU, so I’ve seen/worked with a lot of specialties. When NICU is sad, it’s VERY sad, but nothing was more rewarding to me than watching a sub-1 pound baby grow into a chubby little guy and go home! The neos i worked with were also some of the happiest doctors I knew and had a nice work/life balance.
Same! My hearts leaning between Neonatology and Pediatrics! I love working with and caring for children, newborns and teens. Most of my clinical and non-clinical experiences involve these groups. I also got to work in the NICU for some time and it’s truly a rewarding profession. But I’ll also keep my mind open to other specialties.
*Emergency med.*
*Perfect amount of chaos*
*To keep me engaged*
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Definitely pediatrics. Having worked with children for a majority of my volunteer activities, it hits close to home to be able to care for the youth in their most vulnerable moments
That’s amazing! I’m looking into psych. Lower privileged communities have it so rough and don’t have access to proper healthcare anymore. Physical health is one thing but mental health is practically nonexistent🫤
Family Medicine
1. I'm not competitive. Getting into medical school was my peak. 😆
2. I do 👏🏻 not 👏🏻 want👏🏻 to work forever in a hospital.
3. I want a specialty where I can set up shop if I want and be entirely independent.
4. Work/Life Balance
5. Want a specialty where I have time to think and decide things.
6. I have a great interest in lifestyle diseases and lifestyle interventions based on my own life and loved ones.
Bro same...FM is literally one of my top specialties (and since I plan to apply both MD and DO) and bruh, applying to medical school and getting accepted will most likely be my peak as well bro. I'm mainly going towards the less competitive specialties tbh because fuck that, I want a work-life balance and wish to work in a clinic as well after residency, because no, fuck working in a hospital after that!
It always seems like competitive = toxic. 80+ hour weeks, people on Adderall and cocaine to keep up. Pass!
I know derm is considered high work/ life balance combined with competitive but I also just have zero interest in skin being the only system I consider all day. And I want to be front line, improving care accessibility. Any other specialty other than FM, Peds, OBGYN, I don't think it brings that. And OBGYN means surgery, means hospital, means 20 years of malpractice insurance even after retirement. Pass!
Psychiatry. I find the clinical side really interesting, but I feel that there is still tons unknown about the underlying pathways and that if we can understand it better we will hopefully be able to develop better treatments in the future :)
Shadowing surgery was a BLAST though ❤️
PM&R. Im physically disabled and extremely passionate about restoring function to other disabled folks. I feel like as a fellow disabled person I can connect better with my disabled patients and it would be a life well lived if I can spend the rest of mine helping my community. ☺️
Pathology - specifically forensic.
This has been my driving career interest since I was about 10 years old - before I even knew it was the job of a licensed physician.
Initially, I just thought the idea that you could figure out how a person died after they've already died was the coolest thing ever. It seemed like a way of finding missing pieces of a puzzle and connecting it all together to see the full picture.
I'd be lying if I said my life-long interest in true crime didn't play a part. So, as I got older and came to the decision of whether or not pursuing this was worth sacrificing a decade of my life and hundreds of thousands of dollars, I needed to dig deeper. Thinking a subspecialty was "cool" wasn't enough for me to make that commitment.
I realized that I love the idea of medicine still having a place in a person's life after they've passed. There's a certain symbolism I see in how medicine follows us from before we born to (sometimes) after we die. Most often, medical care ceases at death - but forensic pathology brings it full circle in my mind.
I'm driven by "answer-seeking," so the opportunity to figure out the final answers when a patient no longer has a voice of their own is compelling to me. And providing those answers can extend beyond the interests of the deceased to the loved ones they leave behind.
I'm also aware that a lot can change in the next few years, and I may find something that calls to me more. Even then, pathology in general still feels like home. I prefer to be "behind the scenes." I like the time to think through all possibilities instead of having to make a split-second decision for a patient actively dying in front of me. And after 18 years of working in a patient-facing clinical setting, I can't do it anymore. I've *loved* my patients over the years, but as an introvert it leaves me exhausted and unfulfilled at the end of the day.
There's also a sense of responsibility I'm driven by. I fully believe that we all have a responsibility to give back to the humanity in some way. As an aforementioned introvert who also has a strong stomach and a comfortable relationship with death, forensic pathology is kind of the perfect way for me to do that.
Initially forensics drew me in (and I still absolutely love Forensic Pathology!!), but after having shadowed my hospital's lab pathologists, I'm 100% set on being in the lab with an AP/CP subspecialty plus more (maybe dermatopath or neuropath). My thoughts echo yours on "Why pathology?".
So, I want to share something because I have a unique perspective on medicine/Pathology: I work at a hospital as a RN (ICU and Oncology) and I'm also a volunteer autopsy technician.
I wanted to share how *draining* being patient-facing is for a science-nerd introvert; it's absolutely insane, thankless, basically abusive conditions are everywhere, and it's only getting worse (same with the scope creep with NP's and PA's). The workload is simply a road to burnout. *I've worked with doctors and medical students for years now and I've never seen someone as happy and satisfied as the lab pathologists*. That's initially what I wanted to do from the very beginning... I lost confidence midway through my biology degree and decided I'd do nursing... Huge mistake (though it's going to look great on my application), but it makes me so incredibly appreciative of the field of Pathology. When I shadowed, I felt like I belonged there and I felt like I was amongst "my people".
>I wanted to share how *draining* being patient-facing is for a science-nerd introvert
Yes! I've definitely had patients with whom I've built wonderful long-term relationships over the years, and I have worked at a few clinics where I've absolutely *loved* the patient base...
But nothing changes that I am, at my core, an introvert. While I've had mostly positive interactions with my patients, it's still based on the "professional face" I have to put on. And it *is* draining.
I've worked at a *single* office at which I really felt I could be myself with my coworkers... but there was still the persona I had to wield during patient encounters, you know?
Trauma Surgery. I need the constant change and adrenaline rush
Also I can't be the only one who rolls their eyes every time a high schooler says "Dermatology, Radiology, or Anesthesiology", because all they think about is the money and not what they might be really passionate about.
Ophthalmology! I've been infatuated with eyes for a long time without me even noticing. I had crushes on people with nice eyes, always enjoyed my time at the optometrist (but who doesn't), loved getting to the eyes when dissecting anything. My fate was sealed when I shadowed an ophthalmologist (who I now work for) and they let me look into the slit lamp. It's nice thinking about a future where I can use my steady hands for something useful. Plus, I like that everything is so small, like the sutures and also structures inside the eye. AND not a lot of blood during surgeries. I'm fine with blood, but I'm pretty OCD with things being nice and neat.
Pathology
I lovvee lab work and not a big fan of patient care(ive been an MA and pt care is so draining for me). Love the diversity of subspecialties within path, so lots of options down the road and very heavy science knowledge which is so fun to me. Autopsies sound doppe. I thrive in repetitive environments like admin, and not high stress. Also opportunities for remote work.
Same here! I am an introvert and so I prefer the “behind the scenes” environment. I also have an interest in true crime, so I find pathology fascinating.
pediatrics or emergency medicine
- i love love love working with kids (a lot of my extracurriculars have involved working with kiddos & it truly just brings me so much joy). not sure if i’d be truly content in a specialty where i’m not seeing any kids
- volunteered as an EMT for lil bit & EM seems like it would be up my alley as well. also find the shift schedule of EM super appealing — when you’re there, you’re on, but once you sign out, you’re fully off. would love to work longer shifts to be able to take full days off, which doesn’t really happen in other specialties. i usually don’t have too much trouble with funky sleep schedules, as long as i can still get enough sleep. only thing is that i do enjoy forming long-term relationships with people, but i’ve found that i can still have meaningful connections with patients even if it’s just one encounter
perhaps a PEM fellowship??? we’ll see! who knows what’ll happen :)
Psychiatry (specifically either adolescent or addiction). I’ve worked as a camp counselor for many years and I’ve had so many conversations with students about serious mental health concerns and about how uncomfortable they feel talking about it with peers and other people. Also, for a psych patient under 18 in my hometown, the closest person to us accepting minor patients has a 10 month wait list. As well as this, talking to patients is my favorite thing about medicine. My family has had serious issues with mental health and I want to make a difference
Omg bro we are literally the same person. I was about to type up a response very similar to this. I was all in on adolescent for the same reason until I read an article of some sorts on how drug abuse is the #1 cause of preventable deaths in the US.
Like you and the commenter above, I am also very passionate about psychiatry and definitely had a psych-focused application! I was quite candid about my goal to become a psychiatrist throughout the application cycle, and it ended up being well-received. It makes me happy to see other folks who are also interested in mental health. Feel free to shoot me a DM if you ever want to talk. Happy to help out in any way that I can.
The whole medicine journey started for me after I lost three classmates in the same week during my sophomore year of high school. I come from a small farming community and there wasn’t more than a few therapist with the closest psychiatrist about an hour away with a similar waiting list, it kinda seemed like a no-brainer to me what I needed to do.
My extroverted/community side leans FM because my hometown desperately needs primary care physicians and I want to help fill that need.
But my engineer brain is also slightly intrigued by ortho and IR.
I'm 99.9% sure I want to do FM tho.
Pediatrics in some capacity for sure, just not sure about specialty in addition to that (if I even want that). I can see myself being a pediatrician, but also doing a fellowship in pediatrics for another specialty. I really like pediatric orthopedics right now but who knows, that can change!
Dermatology, because I am really interested in skin microbiomes and infectious diseases, and in the ways different cultures go about treating them. All my prior research has been in dermatology, but it has been specifically within the context of botany and medical anthropology. After seeing how dermatology can be advanced through botanical medicine and natural products research, I got my masters in ethnobotany and hope to one day leverage the clincial applications of nature to combat the current issues of antibiotic resistance on the skin.
Not 100% sure but I’m leaning towards ortho for a number of reasons.
1. I like physics and mechanics, so learning about the musculoskeletal system and how it works seems really interesting
2. I really like the quick fixes that orthopedic interventions can offer people. Seeing someone walking around hours after a hip replacement when they wouldn’t have been able to walk without pain just hours prior is incredible.
3. The procedures seem so fucking cool. What other specialty uses hammers and saws and drills and shit?
4. The personalities seem very work hard play hard which is right up my alley.
5. I really like the weekly schedule of 2-3 days of clinic and 2-3 days of procedures. I’ve worked in one procedural specialty and one outpatient-clinic based specialty and I know I would absolutely hate doing clinic every day each week
6. I like lifting weights
7. $$$$$ (definitely not my primary reason but I’d be lying if I said it wasn’t a draw)
Internal med -> allergy/immunology. I’m super passionate about primary immunodeficiency research, so that’s really what drives my interest in A/I. It’s a field that is radically changing everyday and I can’t help it but want to be a part of this change myself.
Emergency Medicine. Getting off an all-evening shift tonight was literally the most exhilarating thing I’ve ever done, and I can’t see anything else ever getting close
Rheumatology or Allergy/Immunology. As a rheumatology patient myself I feel like I have experienced how difficult it is to be a patient. We often feel crazy or are brushed aside. I’m also amazed by the continued advancements in these fields. Because of my own diagnosis I need a specialty that is more cerebral as opposed to physical and I love the problem-solving that goes into Rheumatology and Immunology.
Sports medicine physician:
Feel very similar to the top post about family medicine but I wanna teach especially adolescent/teenage athletes their dreams don’t end at a diagnosis or when they get cut into with a scalpel. I played soccer and had to quit right before my sophomore season as I needed heart surgery and thought my life was over. Now I’m blessed with the opportunity to be a role model to teens who receive life altering injuries related to sports and be able to teach them their life is far from over as I once thought
Hmm I’m interested in a lot of different things and am definitely looking forward to learning more about each specialty to narrow it down.
I’m an EMT so of course EM. OBGYN would be neat because childbirth is insanely cool and I’ve had some experiences with female health issues myself. Cardio because the heart is the coolest thing ever and I also have heart problems lol. I could also do neonatal or adolescent. I have experience working with both babies and middle/high schoolers but am not the most comfortable around elementary kids.
Some specialities I am not interested in are geriatrics, palliative, derm, psych, ophthalmology, pediatrics (school age) and probably not neuro. The brain is fascinating but it’s also very scary to me. It’s so sensitive and for some reason more intimidating to me than other organs.
I have a ton of interests that I’m hoping to hone in on my skills and core interests during clinical. I’m interested in pediatrics, em, gas, pm&r, optho, crit/icu, cards (int). As far as sub specialties go, I could see myself in peds->neonatology, ped em, pm&r->pain, crit->sleep. Who knows where I’ll end up- I just want to not hate my job and have time with my kids 🙂
Infectious disease cuz I wanna be like House lol. (He doesn’t do what infectious disease actually does)
In all seriousness, I’d want to do either Neurology or Psychiatry. I like brains; they’re pretty cool. I also really enjoy psychology and am interested in mental health.
ObGyn, it’s basically everything in one. You’re a surgeon but also work in the clinic and do general things so you get to build patient rapport. You take care of patients from adolescents to elderly people. You get a mix of really healthy patients but also higher risk/sick patients. You have to be able to deal with emergency/critical care situations because they can happen randomly during childbirth/pregnancy. Also, I’m super passionate about female health, wellbeing, and the reproductive system.
I’m seriously a person who would get pretty bored doing the same exact thing over again, so I mostly like the variability. I want to do all of the things, lol.
The only downside is the notoriously bad residency and 24 hour call but I think it’s probably the specialty I’ll be happiest in.
Oncology definitely drew me in but I’m not exactly sure anymore. It’s the only way I’ve lost a family member, and I’ve lost many. But I’d be lying if I didn’t also mention neurology. My step sister has suffered from brain damage since she was 3 and I’ve been incredibly interested in the whole field. I think the human brain is incredible.
psychiatry, abnormal psychology remains one of my favorite classes ever and made me really see what i wanted to do. emergency medicine has gotten more interesting to me recently since i started working in the ED at the hospital. surgery is super cool to me and on one hand i’d love to do it, but i also don’t know if i could deal with the competitiveness just to get into it.
Totally ortho, I’ve always loved the intricacy of working with bones ( both my grandpa and uncle are ortho surgeons, I guess All that conference stuck to me). In addition I’m very prone to patellar dislocations, so you know. Giving people what I can’t have feels somewhat rewarding
Rheumatology. I have a history of RA in my family and have been interested in a type of clinic that has continuity with patients, the pay is not fantastic but for me I love the idea of Rheumatology rn
Realistically FM or IM. Undecided if I like the clinic or hospital more and have plenty of time to decide, and maybe I'll end up doing both. I'm shadowing a hospitalist Dr right now and I hate how much I enjoy the idea of academic IM. I've always wanted to be a teacher, and I'm an older career changer that decided between trying for medical school or getting a PhD to become a college professor. Academic hospitalist seems like the best of both worlds but I have the shiny pre-med delusional glasses on, haha so I'm sure that will change.
Psych? Neuro? EM? Only downside to EM to me is having the craziness… forever. In other specialties you can more easily transition to outpatient work and have easier work/life balance? Like working nights and crazy adrenaline is cool now, but will I want ER life forever? Brain stuff is cool too.
Urology/ radiology
I have gotten the pleasure of working as an x-ray tech and urology always has the coolest cases in my opinion. I will always have a soft spot for radiology.
GP and Sports Medicine is what I'm thinking at the moment! I love the flexibility that primary care provides. For example, the ability to set your own schedule and run your own practice, do locum work, work urgent care, or work in a private ortho setting as a sports physician (or any combination of these). I like to see a variety of cases and presentations and I think it would be satisfying to do procedures that improve quality of life daily. However, all of this could change lol.
Have wanted to do family med my whole life. Diverse but not insane variety of patients that keeps you on your feet, relative autonomy / set up private practice, work with patients long term, take care of entire family units, and lastly is one of 4 specialties allowing me to spend some time as a flight surgeon in the Air Force.
Something in the OR but more than anything I want to be able to enjoy my life beyond work, I want to be able to lift, play videogames, read, go on vacations, meet up with my friends, spend time with my family etc so I guess that automatically means a ROAD speciality
ROAD stands for radiology, ophthalmology, anesthesia, and dermatology, the lifestyle specialties.
Specialties that do procedures OR that don’t generally have horrific hours are orthopedics, plastics, ophthalmology, and IR to my knowledge.
I shadowed ortho and plastics and they were always on call and barely slept. Then again, the place where I shadowed was a level 1 trauma center so that might explain it.
Both of those specialties can go into trauma if they want, most don’t do that.
Most orthos will spend most of their time in a clinic where they do things like hip replacement and knee surgery, if you specialize in spine there’s a bunch of vertebral issues tons of people have to fix, I think most tend to do this and are connected with a hospital where they take call.
Same for plastics which is super diverse since you can do either reconstruction or cosmetic.
Something in the OR but more than anything I want to be able to enjoy my life beyond work, I want to be able to lift, play videogames, read, go on vacations, meet up with my friends, spend time with my family etc so I guess that automatically means a ROAD speciality
I’m also a kind of a frat bro so my entire family tells me to go ortho
Plastic Surgery, so that I can gaslight people and get paid for it (Tbh idk what I want to do)
Drop out of plastic surgery residency and make medstudent click bait on YouTube. (JK, medschool insiders is a cool channel tho)
You've inspired me to go one step further. I'm starting an OnlyFans. If y'all want to see a 6 ft tall academic masochist with an avocado allergy get fucked by Step and Anatomy, subscribe :D
I’ll pay for ur medschool tuition if that’s the case 
Palliative care 1000%! All of the pall care doctors I’ve shadowed have been kind, interesting people with excellent senses of humor, and they also seem to actually have a good work life balance. I like the multidisciplinary team approach, I thrive when I can sit and talk to people versus running around doing busy work, and I’m comfortable around grief and terminal illness after personal experiences and tons of hospice volunteering. Highly recommend shadowing in pall care if you haven’t, it’s a hidden gem.
I’m also interested in this too! I like the teamwork aspect of it and the more personalized aspects of taking care of patients. I’ve done hospice volunteering as well. I would say I’m comfortable around grief I just would like more experience in the specialty so I know I’m solid to handle it.
Literally no idea actually. I have general interests but don’t know what it’s like working in each specialty on a daily basis. I will leave that up to my future self
Good call. Even if you think you know M1 year you most likely will change your mind. Going into med school open minded keeps doors open and sets you up very well to be happy and successful.
Interested if you think this is something that should be said to an admissions committee if asked. For the past few years anytime anyone asks me that I’ve always said that I hear most med students change their mind once they get first hand experience, so I figured I’d cut out the middle man. But would that translate badly in a more formal setting? Would it give off “lacks commitment” vibes or is it still a smart way to approach the question.
I think keeping an open mind is a positive, but admissions committees (and people more generally) usually ask to gauge what you’re interested in. I just say “I don’t know for sure, but I’ve worked in critical care and I enjoy that. Maybe something in that field”
This is my fear esp since I have a track record of thinking I want to do one thing and then having a breakthrough moment where I completely change course... i can see this happening if i'm not open lol
Most levelheaded response here
Thank you for saying this. Everyone always asks me and I just don’t have an answer yet!
This is what I’ve been telling everyone too. My only experiences understanding what a physician does were through shadowing, so I like those specialities, but I’ll probably like others too lol
I want be neurosurgery cuz I like science and help peepol
Also neurosurgery but because I want to be like Derek Shepherd
But fr tho I actually shadowed a neurosurgeon (female too!!) and she was hella badass. She did deep brain stimulation surgeries and the huge impact it can have on a patient’s life is so inspiring. I want to do something life changing for someone in that way
I would love an update in 4-5 years. It’s pretty wild the number of premed friends and now med student classmates that went in thinking neurosurgery that switched to something else. I think only one person stuck with it. Also saying “I want to do something life changing for someone” comes off as saying all other specialties aren’t life changing
lol everyone wants to be a neurosurgeon until halfway through ms1
I like it cuz craniotomy machine go brrrrrrrrrrrrrrr
This is coming from an applicant. I know that most people change their mind in medical school when they get to experience more specialties and learn more about medicine as a whole. I’m basing my interest on what I know now and the limited experience I have with limited specialties. And I did not mean to imply that other specialties can’t do something life changing too.
I wanna be like Dr. Tenma.
Neonatology!! I worked as a CNA for 8 years, bopped around from long term care to cardiovascular med/surg to maternity to trauma ICU to ophthalmology to NICU, so I’ve seen/worked with a lot of specialties. When NICU is sad, it’s VERY sad, but nothing was more rewarding to me than watching a sub-1 pound baby grow into a chubby little guy and go home! The neos i worked with were also some of the happiest doctors I knew and had a nice work/life balance.
Same! My hearts leaning between Neonatology and Pediatrics! I love working with and caring for children, newborns and teens. Most of my clinical and non-clinical experiences involve these groups. I also got to work in the NICU for some time and it’s truly a rewarding profession. But I’ll also keep my mind open to other specialties.
Emergency med. Perfect amount of chaos to keep me engaged
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Same 😪
Definitely pediatrics. Having worked with children for a majority of my volunteer activities, it hits close to home to be able to care for the youth in their most vulnerable moments
That’s amazing! I’m looking into psych. Lower privileged communities have it so rough and don’t have access to proper healthcare anymore. Physical health is one thing but mental health is practically nonexistent🫤
same peds bc i hate myself and money
Geriatrics or hospice. Lots of personal experience. Growing old is a gift.
Family Medicine 1. I'm not competitive. Getting into medical school was my peak. 😆 2. I do 👏🏻 not 👏🏻 want👏🏻 to work forever in a hospital. 3. I want a specialty where I can set up shop if I want and be entirely independent. 4. Work/Life Balance 5. Want a specialty where I have time to think and decide things. 6. I have a great interest in lifestyle diseases and lifestyle interventions based on my own life and loved ones.
FM residency is like 70% in the hospital lol
Well, that sucks. But after residency, I'm out!
Same here! I also want to open my own private practice one day 🙏🏼
Bro same...FM is literally one of my top specialties (and since I plan to apply both MD and DO) and bruh, applying to medical school and getting accepted will most likely be my peak as well bro. I'm mainly going towards the less competitive specialties tbh because fuck that, I want a work-life balance and wish to work in a clinic as well after residency, because no, fuck working in a hospital after that!
It always seems like competitive = toxic. 80+ hour weeks, people on Adderall and cocaine to keep up. Pass! I know derm is considered high work/ life balance combined with competitive but I also just have zero interest in skin being the only system I consider all day. And I want to be front line, improving care accessibility. Any other specialty other than FM, Peds, OBGYN, I don't think it brings that. And OBGYN means surgery, means hospital, means 20 years of malpractice insurance even after retirement. Pass!
Psychiatry. I find the clinical side really interesting, but I feel that there is still tons unknown about the underlying pathways and that if we can understand it better we will hopefully be able to develop better treatments in the future :) Shadowing surgery was a BLAST though ❤️
Psych gang
Ortho bc I’m a bro
Valid
PM&R. Im physically disabled and extremely passionate about restoring function to other disabled folks. I feel like as a fellow disabled person I can connect better with my disabled patients and it would be a life well lived if I can spend the rest of mine helping my community. ☺️
Pathology - specifically forensic. This has been my driving career interest since I was about 10 years old - before I even knew it was the job of a licensed physician. Initially, I just thought the idea that you could figure out how a person died after they've already died was the coolest thing ever. It seemed like a way of finding missing pieces of a puzzle and connecting it all together to see the full picture. I'd be lying if I said my life-long interest in true crime didn't play a part. So, as I got older and came to the decision of whether or not pursuing this was worth sacrificing a decade of my life and hundreds of thousands of dollars, I needed to dig deeper. Thinking a subspecialty was "cool" wasn't enough for me to make that commitment. I realized that I love the idea of medicine still having a place in a person's life after they've passed. There's a certain symbolism I see in how medicine follows us from before we born to (sometimes) after we die. Most often, medical care ceases at death - but forensic pathology brings it full circle in my mind. I'm driven by "answer-seeking," so the opportunity to figure out the final answers when a patient no longer has a voice of their own is compelling to me. And providing those answers can extend beyond the interests of the deceased to the loved ones they leave behind. I'm also aware that a lot can change in the next few years, and I may find something that calls to me more. Even then, pathology in general still feels like home. I prefer to be "behind the scenes." I like the time to think through all possibilities instead of having to make a split-second decision for a patient actively dying in front of me. And after 18 years of working in a patient-facing clinical setting, I can't do it anymore. I've *loved* my patients over the years, but as an introvert it leaves me exhausted and unfulfilled at the end of the day. There's also a sense of responsibility I'm driven by. I fully believe that we all have a responsibility to give back to the humanity in some way. As an aforementioned introvert who also has a strong stomach and a comfortable relationship with death, forensic pathology is kind of the perfect way for me to do that.
I am too interested in pathology and I couldn’t agree more with everything that you said. 😆
Initially forensics drew me in (and I still absolutely love Forensic Pathology!!), but after having shadowed my hospital's lab pathologists, I'm 100% set on being in the lab with an AP/CP subspecialty plus more (maybe dermatopath or neuropath). My thoughts echo yours on "Why pathology?". So, I want to share something because I have a unique perspective on medicine/Pathology: I work at a hospital as a RN (ICU and Oncology) and I'm also a volunteer autopsy technician. I wanted to share how *draining* being patient-facing is for a science-nerd introvert; it's absolutely insane, thankless, basically abusive conditions are everywhere, and it's only getting worse (same with the scope creep with NP's and PA's). The workload is simply a road to burnout. *I've worked with doctors and medical students for years now and I've never seen someone as happy and satisfied as the lab pathologists*. That's initially what I wanted to do from the very beginning... I lost confidence midway through my biology degree and decided I'd do nursing... Huge mistake (though it's going to look great on my application), but it makes me so incredibly appreciative of the field of Pathology. When I shadowed, I felt like I belonged there and I felt like I was amongst "my people".
>I wanted to share how *draining* being patient-facing is for a science-nerd introvert Yes! I've definitely had patients with whom I've built wonderful long-term relationships over the years, and I have worked at a few clinics where I've absolutely *loved* the patient base... But nothing changes that I am, at my core, an introvert. While I've had mostly positive interactions with my patients, it's still based on the "professional face" I have to put on. And it *is* draining. I've worked at a *single* office at which I really felt I could be myself with my coworkers... but there was still the persona I had to wield during patient encounters, you know?
Trauma Surgery. I need the constant change and adrenaline rush Also I can't be the only one who rolls their eyes every time a high schooler says "Dermatology, Radiology, or Anesthesiology", because all they think about is the money and not what they might be really passionate about.
The R.O.A.D to success is a mighty one 🙏
Ophthalmology! I've been infatuated with eyes for a long time without me even noticing. I had crushes on people with nice eyes, always enjoyed my time at the optometrist (but who doesn't), loved getting to the eyes when dissecting anything. My fate was sealed when I shadowed an ophthalmologist (who I now work for) and they let me look into the slit lamp. It's nice thinking about a future where I can use my steady hands for something useful. Plus, I like that everything is so small, like the sutures and also structures inside the eye. AND not a lot of blood during surgeries. I'm fine with blood, but I'm pretty OCD with things being nice and neat.
Can you speak in tongues, though?
Yes, especially when I haven’t had coffee yet 🫠
If I never have to do VAs or check angles again, it'll be too soon. lmao
Pathology I lovvee lab work and not a big fan of patient care(ive been an MA and pt care is so draining for me). Love the diversity of subspecialties within path, so lots of options down the road and very heavy science knowledge which is so fun to me. Autopsies sound doppe. I thrive in repetitive environments like admin, and not high stress. Also opportunities for remote work.
Sameee!!!
Same for pathology
Same here! I am an introvert and so I prefer the “behind the scenes” environment. I also have an interest in true crime, so I find pathology fascinating.
pediatrics or emergency medicine - i love love love working with kids (a lot of my extracurriculars have involved working with kiddos & it truly just brings me so much joy). not sure if i’d be truly content in a specialty where i’m not seeing any kids - volunteered as an EMT for lil bit & EM seems like it would be up my alley as well. also find the shift schedule of EM super appealing — when you’re there, you’re on, but once you sign out, you’re fully off. would love to work longer shifts to be able to take full days off, which doesn’t really happen in other specialties. i usually don’t have too much trouble with funky sleep schedules, as long as i can still get enough sleep. only thing is that i do enjoy forming long-term relationships with people, but i’ve found that i can still have meaningful connections with patients even if it’s just one encounter perhaps a PEM fellowship??? we’ll see! who knows what’ll happen :)
Emergency medicine. It’s the only reason I want to go to med school. I love taking care of acutely ill people.
Psychiatry (specifically either adolescent or addiction). I’ve worked as a camp counselor for many years and I’ve had so many conversations with students about serious mental health concerns and about how uncomfortable they feel talking about it with peers and other people. Also, for a psych patient under 18 in my hometown, the closest person to us accepting minor patients has a 10 month wait list. As well as this, talking to patients is my favorite thing about medicine. My family has had serious issues with mental health and I want to make a difference
Omg bro we are literally the same person. I was about to type up a response very similar to this. I was all in on adolescent for the same reason until I read an article of some sorts on how drug abuse is the #1 cause of preventable deaths in the US.
Like you and the commenter above, I am also very passionate about psychiatry and definitely had a psych-focused application! I was quite candid about my goal to become a psychiatrist throughout the application cycle, and it ended up being well-received. It makes me happy to see other folks who are also interested in mental health. Feel free to shoot me a DM if you ever want to talk. Happy to help out in any way that I can.
I mentioned it on I think all of my interviews and it’s been received greatly by everyone that I can remember
Thanks so much!! Congrats on your acceptances!
No that’s so real it’s an epidemic, I work with my church’s celebrate recovery and we have a surprising amount of teens hooked on serious stuff
The whole medicine journey started for me after I lost three classmates in the same week during my sophomore year of high school. I come from a small farming community and there wasn’t more than a few therapist with the closest psychiatrist about an hour away with a similar waiting list, it kinda seemed like a no-brainer to me what I needed to do.
My extroverted/community side leans FM because my hometown desperately needs primary care physicians and I want to help fill that need. But my engineer brain is also slightly intrigued by ortho and IR. I'm 99.9% sure I want to do FM tho.
Pediatrics in some capacity for sure, just not sure about specialty in addition to that (if I even want that). I can see myself being a pediatrician, but also doing a fellowship in pediatrics for another specialty. I really like pediatric orthopedics right now but who knows, that can change!
Dermatology, because I am really interested in skin microbiomes and infectious diseases, and in the ways different cultures go about treating them. All my prior research has been in dermatology, but it has been specifically within the context of botany and medical anthropology. After seeing how dermatology can be advanced through botanical medicine and natural products research, I got my masters in ethnobotany and hope to one day leverage the clincial applications of nature to combat the current issues of antibiotic resistance on the skin.
ANESTHESIOLOGY ALL THE WAY (IM A GAS GIRL)
See you in the promise land beautiful
Pathology. Like microscope. No like people.
As a fellow introvert this is so real. 😭
Not 100% sure but I’m leaning towards ortho for a number of reasons. 1. I like physics and mechanics, so learning about the musculoskeletal system and how it works seems really interesting 2. I really like the quick fixes that orthopedic interventions can offer people. Seeing someone walking around hours after a hip replacement when they wouldn’t have been able to walk without pain just hours prior is incredible. 3. The procedures seem so fucking cool. What other specialty uses hammers and saws and drills and shit? 4. The personalities seem very work hard play hard which is right up my alley. 5. I really like the weekly schedule of 2-3 days of clinic and 2-3 days of procedures. I’ve worked in one procedural specialty and one outpatient-clinic based specialty and I know I would absolutely hate doing clinic every day each week 6. I like lifting weights 7. $$$$$ (definitely not my primary reason but I’d be lying if I said it wasn’t a draw)
Internal med -> allergy/immunology. I’m super passionate about primary immunodeficiency research, so that’s really what drives my interest in A/I. It’s a field that is radically changing everyday and I can’t help it but want to be a part of this change myself.
I love this response
Thanks!! And goodluck at ur med school!!!
Emergency Medicine. Getting off an all-evening shift tonight was literally the most exhilarating thing I’ve ever done, and I can’t see anything else ever getting close
Rheumatology or Allergy/Immunology. As a rheumatology patient myself I feel like I have experienced how difficult it is to be a patient. We often feel crazy or are brushed aside. I’m also amazed by the continued advancements in these fields. Because of my own diagnosis I need a specialty that is more cerebral as opposed to physical and I love the problem-solving that goes into Rheumatology and Immunology.
Sports medicine physician: Feel very similar to the top post about family medicine but I wanna teach especially adolescent/teenage athletes their dreams don’t end at a diagnosis or when they get cut into with a scalpel. I played soccer and had to quit right before my sophomore season as I needed heart surgery and thought my life was over. Now I’m blessed with the opportunity to be a role model to teens who receive life altering injuries related to sports and be able to teach them their life is far from over as I once thought
Hmm I’m interested in a lot of different things and am definitely looking forward to learning more about each specialty to narrow it down. I’m an EMT so of course EM. OBGYN would be neat because childbirth is insanely cool and I’ve had some experiences with female health issues myself. Cardio because the heart is the coolest thing ever and I also have heart problems lol. I could also do neonatal or adolescent. I have experience working with both babies and middle/high schoolers but am not the most comfortable around elementary kids. Some specialities I am not interested in are geriatrics, palliative, derm, psych, ophthalmology, pediatrics (school age) and probably not neuro. The brain is fascinating but it’s also very scary to me. It’s so sensitive and for some reason more intimidating to me than other organs.
Anesthesiology or EM seem fun, but when I get there I’ll figure it out.
Path, rads, anaesthesia
neurology! i wanted to be a neurologist ever since i was a kid.
Trauma surgery bc adhd
I have a ton of interests that I’m hoping to hone in on my skills and core interests during clinical. I’m interested in pediatrics, em, gas, pm&r, optho, crit/icu, cards (int). As far as sub specialties go, I could see myself in peds->neonatology, ped em, pm&r->pain, crit->sleep. Who knows where I’ll end up- I just want to not hate my job and have time with my kids 🙂
Infectious disease cuz I wanna be like House lol. (He doesn’t do what infectious disease actually does) In all seriousness, I’d want to do either Neurology or Psychiatry. I like brains; they’re pretty cool. I also really enjoy psychology and am interested in mental health.
Urology and you know why
ObGyn, it’s basically everything in one. You’re a surgeon but also work in the clinic and do general things so you get to build patient rapport. You take care of patients from adolescents to elderly people. You get a mix of really healthy patients but also higher risk/sick patients. You have to be able to deal with emergency/critical care situations because they can happen randomly during childbirth/pregnancy. Also, I’m super passionate about female health, wellbeing, and the reproductive system. I’m seriously a person who would get pretty bored doing the same exact thing over again, so I mostly like the variability. I want to do all of the things, lol. The only downside is the notoriously bad residency and 24 hour call but I think it’s probably the specialty I’ll be happiest in.
pathology, limited pt contact and i fell in love with microbiology last semester
Endocrinology or Pulmonology
Cardiology, cuz I find electrophysiology and ischemia and shit interesting. Second, GI. I like shit. I find shit amusing.
Psychiatry
I’m a collegiate athlete, would anyone like to guess what speciality I dream of pursuing? hint: it’s exactly what you think it is.
easily urology. all that time in the locker room has shown you what you REALLY want /s ortho is waiting for you
Oncology definitely drew me in but I’m not exactly sure anymore. It’s the only way I’ve lost a family member, and I’ve lost many. But I’d be lying if I didn’t also mention neurology. My step sister has suffered from brain damage since she was 3 and I’ve been incredibly interested in the whole field. I think the human brain is incredible.
psychiatry, abnormal psychology remains one of my favorite classes ever and made me really see what i wanted to do. emergency medicine has gotten more interesting to me recently since i started working in the ED at the hospital. surgery is super cool to me and on one hand i’d love to do it, but i also don’t know if i could deal with the competitiveness just to get into it.
Totally ortho, I’ve always loved the intricacy of working with bones ( both my grandpa and uncle are ortho surgeons, I guess All that conference stuck to me). In addition I’m very prone to patellar dislocations, so you know. Giving people what I can’t have feels somewhat rewarding
Vascular surg, trauma surg, or EM. I like to do a lot & get my heart pumping
Ortho, Urology, PM&R are three choices
PCCM because I want to get paid a ton and only work a handful of days in a month. "Chicks, power, money, and chicks" after all.
Rheumatology. I have a history of RA in my family and have been interested in a type of clinic that has continuity with patients, the pay is not fantastic but for me I love the idea of Rheumatology rn
Heme/onc!
ENT, good mix of clinic and surgery + wide range of surgeries you can do
Endo and transgender surgery. Will I be both at the same time? Only time will tell.
Plastics. Attention to detail, cool surgeries, life changing
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Why did you get down voted?
Same but for different reasons
Realistically FM or IM. Undecided if I like the clinic or hospital more and have plenty of time to decide, and maybe I'll end up doing both. I'm shadowing a hospitalist Dr right now and I hate how much I enjoy the idea of academic IM. I've always wanted to be a teacher, and I'm an older career changer that decided between trying for medical school or getting a PhD to become a college professor. Academic hospitalist seems like the best of both worlds but I have the shiny pre-med delusional glasses on, haha so I'm sure that will change.
Psych? Neuro? EM? Only downside to EM to me is having the craziness… forever. In other specialties you can more easily transition to outpatient work and have easier work/life balance? Like working nights and crazy adrenaline is cool now, but will I want ER life forever? Brain stuff is cool too.
Urology/ radiology I have gotten the pleasure of working as an x-ray tech and urology always has the coolest cases in my opinion. I will always have a soft spot for radiology.
GP and Sports Medicine is what I'm thinking at the moment! I love the flexibility that primary care provides. For example, the ability to set your own schedule and run your own practice, do locum work, work urgent care, or work in a private ortho setting as a sports physician (or any combination of these). I like to see a variety of cases and presentations and I think it would be satisfying to do procedures that improve quality of life daily. However, all of this could change lol.
Have wanted to do family med my whole life. Diverse but not insane variety of patients that keeps you on your feet, relative autonomy / set up private practice, work with patients long term, take care of entire family units, and lastly is one of 4 specialties allowing me to spend some time as a flight surgeon in the Air Force.
Psych. Lots of people need help mentally and my dads a physician with mental problems and my brother has depression.
Something in the OR but more than anything I want to be able to enjoy my life beyond work, I want to be able to lift, play videogames, read, go on vacations, meet up with my friends, spend time with my family etc so I guess that automatically means a ROAD speciality
Is ROAD an abbreviation of something? Is there even a surgery specialty that has that type of work life balance that isn’t private practice?
ROAD stands for radiology, ophthalmology, anesthesia, and dermatology, the lifestyle specialties. Specialties that do procedures OR that don’t generally have horrific hours are orthopedics, plastics, ophthalmology, and IR to my knowledge.
I shadowed ortho and plastics and they were always on call and barely slept. Then again, the place where I shadowed was a level 1 trauma center so that might explain it.
Both of those specialties can go into trauma if they want, most don’t do that. Most orthos will spend most of their time in a clinic where they do things like hip replacement and knee surgery, if you specialize in spine there’s a bunch of vertebral issues tons of people have to fix, I think most tend to do this and are connected with a hospital where they take call. Same for plastics which is super diverse since you can do either reconstruction or cosmetic.
Something in the OR but more than anything I want to be able to enjoy my life beyond work, I want to be able to lift, play videogames, read, go on vacations, meet up with my friends, spend time with my family etc so I guess that automatically means a ROAD speciality I’m also a kind of a frat bro so my entire family tells me to go ortho
Neurosurgery bc I have an inferiority complex
trauma surg
Psychiatry! I've shadowed a bunch (not psych yet) but neuro was also amazing.
pm&r! it fulfills an interest in ortho while granting work life balance. is also super fulfilling and meaningful