Currently Empty: $0.00
If you’ve found yourself having a hard time deciding on a specialty, you’re not alone. I find myself to be an indecisive person, often nitpicking the pros and cons of each of my choices. My girlfriend (fortunately…or unfortunately) can attest to this, as planning a date night at a restaurant often turns into a long-winded discussion about the peculiarities of each place.
Naturally, when I started medical school, I was very unsure how I envisioned my future specialty to be. I often said to others, “How could I figure out what I want to do for the rest of my life if I barely have any exposure to many of the specialties out there?” During my pre-clinical years, I compiled a list of possible specialties based on my interests and attributes (and some specialty surveys, including the ones on Student Doctor Network and AAMC), but ultimately, what provided insight was being honest with myself. I became fixated on the idea of practicing in a particular specialty and strayed away from how I fit into that specialty and what I found to be most meaningful in medicine.
As a third-year medical student currently on my Internal Medicine rotation, I find myself becoming more interested in this specialty every day. Here are the two main considerations I am weighing:
- Internal Medicine is the specialty that aligns with what I envisioned medicine to be.
Each specialty offers unique aspects that may align more closely with what you envision. That’s completely okay! Internal Medicine is a broad specialty composed of other specialties, and this variety appeals to me. At the end of the day, I want to be a physician who can address all the health-related concerns of a patient (acute, long-term, and preventive measures), and in case I need support, I am happy to know that I can consult other physicians in their respective specialties for their recommendations and establish a plan from there.
- Internal Medicine offers flexibility in career paths (inpatient vs. outpatient, various fellowships, etc.).
As someone who has trouble making up my mind, oftentimes the easiest solution for me is…why not keep my options open? Internal Medicine not only placates my strong desire to serve as the primary physician for patients but also provides many different opportunities in case I want to specialize and pursue a more procedure-oriented practice (like cardiology or gastroenterology). After finishing residency, I can also practice as a hospitalist, work in an outpatient clinic, or keep training to pursue a subspecialty.
Ultimately, we are all on our own path to figuring out what we want, and each of our priorities will be different. Some may also feel strongly towards only one specialty, and others may feel comfortable with many different specialties. My biggest advice is to keep an open mind (even for those who feel certain) and enter each third-year rotation with the mindset of becoming a provider in that specialty.
Third-year rotations, though challenging, are immensely helpful in providing exposure to fields that may not have been considered previously. A caveat when basing decisions on third-year rotations: be sure that your judgment focuses on the diagnoses/treatments involved in the specialty, more so than how you felt about the team you worked with. Another thing to keep in mind is that the specialty itself may have more to offer than what you experienced in the rotation.
If, like me, you find yourself indecisive, general starting points include:
- Primary care vs. specialty care
- Procedure vs. non-procedure
- Patient interaction (what patient population and level of interaction)
- Desired lifestyle
- Day-to-day activities
Knowing which characteristics are “must have” vs. “nice to have” vs. “absolutely not” can also help stratify the right specialty for you. For example, I was also previously considering ophthalmology. Though ophthalmology is amazing and awesome in its own right, I realized I was not a fit for ophthalmology after weighing these factors. Of note, for those considering a more competitive specialty, it is important to start seeking exposure and building connections early to build a solid foundation for residency applications.
To all my fellow medical students, take some time to reflect on how far you’ve come and what specifically you want to prioritize in your future—and best of luck to you!
