Medical Specialties
It's that time of life where I must look deep into my soul and decide what I want to do with my life. Yes, it's time for me to decide on a medical specialty. More specifically, it's time for me to decide what kind of residency program to pursue; the decision of whether to subspecialize within that specialty can be made later. But switching from one residency to another is extremely difficult and potentially expensive, and the alternative option of the chronically indecisive would be to apply for an additional residency after completion of the one you thought you wanted to do. So, while this decision isn't absolutely irreversible, it certainly is a major career decision that must be made ideally by July and certainly before September.
Fortunately, just like selecting an undergraduate major, there are a couple specialties that match my interests, career goals, lifestyle preferences, and personality much better than others. You might say that the specialty chose me as much as the other way around. So, while the following list may look confusing, it whittles itself down once you get to know the specialties a little more.
A little introduction to the system. After medical school (4 years) comes residency. These tend to be 3-5 years in length. After residency, you are a licensed physician and may go into practice. An increasing number of physicians, however, choose to subspecialize, which requires a fellowship (1-3 years) that is completed after finishing residency. For example, a general internal medicine doctor may go into practice after a 3 year Internal Medicine residency, while a gastroenterologist will complete that 3 year Internal Medicine residency, followed by a 3 year Gastroenterology fellowship. If you want to super-subspecialize, you may tack on additional fellowships; a person interested in only fixing congenital heart defects in children might want to complete a 5 year General Surgery residency, then pursue fellowships in Cardiothoracic Surgery and Pediatric Surgery.
As a result of this drive toward super-specialization, a number of subspecialties have splintered off from their General branches to offer entrance-level training straight out of medical school. This has happened more in Surgical subspecialties, due to the length of training and competitiveness of the field. So, back in the day you would do a residency in Surgery then a fellowship in Neurosurgery; now, Neurosurgery is its own residency one does in lieu of Surgery. The only Medicine subspecialty to branch off like this is Neurology; all other Medicine subspecialties require fellowships after an Internal Medicine residency. More on this confusing paragraph in a future post.
Anyhow. I like lists and informational organization. Here are the most popular residencies available to students out of medical school. Since there are a ton of medical subspecialties out there, I will discuss those in a later post where I will unveil my specialty choice, the reason behind the decision, and a brief description of what those kinds of doctors actually do.
Anesthesiology
Dermatology
Emergency Medicine
Family Medicine
Internal Medicine
Neurology
Neurological Surgery (Neurosurgery)
Obstetrics & Gynecology
Ophthalmology
Orthopaedic Surgery
Otoloaryngology/Head and Neck Surgery
Pathology
Pediatrics
Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation
Plastic Surgery
Psychiatry
Radiation Oncology
Radiology
Surgery
Urology
Fortunately, just like selecting an undergraduate major, there are a couple specialties that match my interests, career goals, lifestyle preferences, and personality much better than others. You might say that the specialty chose me as much as the other way around. So, while the following list may look confusing, it whittles itself down once you get to know the specialties a little more.
A little introduction to the system. After medical school (4 years) comes residency. These tend to be 3-5 years in length. After residency, you are a licensed physician and may go into practice. An increasing number of physicians, however, choose to subspecialize, which requires a fellowship (1-3 years) that is completed after finishing residency. For example, a general internal medicine doctor may go into practice after a 3 year Internal Medicine residency, while a gastroenterologist will complete that 3 year Internal Medicine residency, followed by a 3 year Gastroenterology fellowship. If you want to super-subspecialize, you may tack on additional fellowships; a person interested in only fixing congenital heart defects in children might want to complete a 5 year General Surgery residency, then pursue fellowships in Cardiothoracic Surgery and Pediatric Surgery.
As a result of this drive toward super-specialization, a number of subspecialties have splintered off from their General branches to offer entrance-level training straight out of medical school. This has happened more in Surgical subspecialties, due to the length of training and competitiveness of the field. So, back in the day you would do a residency in Surgery then a fellowship in Neurosurgery; now, Neurosurgery is its own residency one does in lieu of Surgery. The only Medicine subspecialty to branch off like this is Neurology; all other Medicine subspecialties require fellowships after an Internal Medicine residency. More on this confusing paragraph in a future post.
Anyhow. I like lists and informational organization. Here are the most popular residencies available to students out of medical school. Since there are a ton of medical subspecialties out there, I will discuss those in a later post where I will unveil my specialty choice, the reason behind the decision, and a brief description of what those kinds of doctors actually do.
Anesthesiology
Dermatology
Emergency Medicine
Family Medicine
Internal Medicine
Neurology
Neurological Surgery (Neurosurgery)
Obstetrics & Gynecology
Ophthalmology
Orthopaedic Surgery
Otoloaryngology/Head and Neck Surgery
Pathology
Pediatrics
Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation
Plastic Surgery
Psychiatry
Radiation Oncology
Radiology
Surgery
Urology