Specialty choices

Just curious--

I am wondering what specialties your SO thought they would like to go into when they FIRST began Med school and then if they actually went with that choice or changed their minds. My dh is a 1st yr med student and of course, THINKS he's knows he wants to go into ER medicine but has not done any rotations yet. He feels like that would be a great fit for his personality. He used to work at the Donor Network of AZ on the eye and tissue recovery team. The hours were horrible in my opinion and I think I have a LITTLE taste of on call hours. (no laughing at me and my first year self ) I remember going into my OB to be examined in my 37th week of preganancy while he worked there and my Dr. asking me if dh was in town b/c I was already dilated to a 3. (Of course, no he was not in town and of course it was still 2 weeks before we had the baby. ) Also, he was a certified EMT and had a few chances to work at the ER and loved his experiences. He may hate that rotation when he gets to it. Anyway, I would love to hear everyone's experiences whether a 1st yr student or REAL DR! LOL

Jessica

Hi Jessica,

Great question! My BF has, for the most part, remained consistent with his "original" specialty choice. When I met him (right after his 1st yr. of med school), he was vacillating between Pediatrics & Neurology. After having done rotations in both during his 3rd year, he opted for Neuro. Right now, he is applying for Neuro residencies; and perhaps down the road, he will pursue a fellowship in Pediatric Neuro.

As for his friends, it's been half and half. Some of them have remained true to their original choices, while others have done 180's (i.e. Family Med to Neurosurgery).

TTYL

Dures

[DCJenn]

My husband wanted to do nearly everything- except surgery, he's NOT a morning person, which apparently is part of the job description. By thrid year he was really thinking about FP. then he did his peds rotation and that was all she wrote. (now, I personally believe this sudden shange came about because he was in Hawaii for that rotation- flirting with nurses (it was before my time) and having a lovely little vacation!).

Fast forward to residency- he spent the first year and a half thinking he wanted to do an adolescent medicine fellowship- and but I knew he'd be miserable. Then he briefly considered peds cardiology but decided he wanted to have more of a life- and then BAM, he did his neuro rotation and remembered why he loved it during med school and has since applied for the peds neuro fellowship.

It's funny how we end up choosing out careers. I was a Social Work major 1) because I was actually interested but 2) and equally important- it had the least amount of math requirements!

Jenn

Thank you Dures and Jenn for your replies. Keep them coming everyone!

My DH was never exactly sure what he wanted to do...originally he decided in his third year he wanted to do ENT...for a few months we were telling people (usu. non-medical) who asked...then he decided he didn't want to do a surgical specialty and chose medicine instead. He had to change his whole schedule because it was so ENT focused. He's happy with his choice. For him, hours and having a home life was one of his key factors, so originally ENT seemed the best of the surgical specialties.

Best thing to do is keep an open mind....you never know what you're going to love/hate.

[houseelf]

Before med school (and before me ), my dh thought that he wanted to do Obstetrics. But surgery really piqued his interest after gross anatomy and his clinical obstetrics class dealt with some really sad and difficult socioeconomic factors.

I really can't see him as anything other than a surgeon, however.

Kelly

[mommax3]

At the beginning of med school, he was wide open. As he went along, he focused more on primary care specialties, (family medicine, peds, and OB/GYN) and when he came home from his first day of his OB rotation third year, I knew from looking at him that his mind was made up, so I kissed my hopes of a family-friendly specialty good-bye. He liked the mix of surgery and medicine and he loves delivering babies. He still thought about family medicine right up until the last second, but opted for OB instead. It does fit him -- he doesn't like to sit still, he doesn't require much sleep, and he deals well with women in a non-threatening way.

My husband is a first year med student and he really thinks he wants to do some type of surgery. He has always been interested in surgery but after gross antomy he really became more interested in surgery. He is thinking maybe trauma surgery or general surgery. Since he is in the Airforce and surgery is the most deployable type of Doctor, I want him ot be something like a ped. Oh well, I am sure he will find out a lot once he does his rounds.
lauren

[Michele]

Russ wanted to do Neurosurgery before he started med school. He majored in Behavioral Neuroscience. Then he actually started med school and is now considering Reproductive Endocrinology. A 180? But he has 3 and a half more years to go, so I'm sure he'll change his mind yet again! I also started vet school determined to be a dog and cat vet. Maybe also open a salon/day spa for pets...did I mention I'm from Boca? And now I'm considering Pathology, and I just aced my last Radiology test...hmm... My biggest goal is for us to go to the same town for residencies...with only 27 vet schools, it's going to be tough. We have 3 years to figure it out though.

Michele

[Phoebe]

My husband started out thinking about Family Practice and being on the side lines of a small town high school football team as the volunteer doc. He started his residency in pediatrics and fell in love with neonatology along with realizing he wouldn't be happy doing well child checks for the duration of his career. He loves the challenge and hands-on clinical aspect of neonatology and will finish his fellowship next June. If he didn't enter neonatology, it would have been Peds ER.

Jennifer

my husband started med school thinking family practice because he wanted a career that was family-friendly. BUT ... he hated it. He then did a complete turn around and decided on general surgery. He was so happy during his surgery rotations even with the long hours and I felt my heart sink. He was torn because he wanted to be with the family and have a rewarding career. He was planning on general surgery clear through September of his 4th year when he did a rotation at a hospital he was interested in. They even offered him a position outside of the match but ... he realized that he would have no life with us (for at least 5 years and we already had four children.) SO ... he decided that anesthesia would be a good fit for him.

It was the best decision he ever made! He is doing an anesthesia rotation now and absolutely loves it and I have seen him every night this month! It was a tough decision and I am glad he made it before the interviews started!

Robin

Well, DH is a foreign med grad and things work a little different overseas. He finished med school and then did a residency but it was a general residency of sorts and focused on Emergency Med. Then he was on a United Nations mission on the border between Iraq and Kuwait following the Gulf war (1996) for a year as a house officer. As there were folks there from all over, including the US, he was recommended for further training in the US as he wanted to do ER/Trauma. He came here, took the USMLE 1 and 2 and waited ... because of visa issues . We were married just after he finished Step 2 and he finally got a residency this year . But, in the process of getting married and settling down, he went from wanting ER to wanting Family Medicine and at one point I think he was considering Med/Peds. I think what finally made the decision was our "future" ... we want to live in a little town in the middle of no where ... so rural medicine was what he needed. His program is based in "medium" sized town of 55,000 and we envison living in a town of 10,000 or less, but he has clinic hours in a small town .

Family Medicine is as family friendly as you make it ... if they do OB and nursing home care, then it has some pretty long hours. The residency hasn't been bad though ... except for OB nights which were worse than the surgery and IM (cardiology and inf. disease) rotations for DH.

Aisha

[ErDrRon]

Re: Specialty choices

Just curious--

I am wondering what specialties your SO thought they would like to go into when they FIRST began Med school and then if they actually went with that choice or changed their minds. My dh is a 1st yr med student and of course, THINKS he's knows he wants to go into ER medicine but has not done any rotations yet. He feels like that would be a great fit for his personality. He used to work at the Donor Network of AZ on the eye and tissue recovery team. The hours were horrible in my opinion and I think I have a LITTLE taste of on call hours. (no laughing at me and my first year self ) I remember going into my OB to be examined in my 37th week of preganancy while he worked there and my Dr. asking me if dh was in town b/c I was already dilated to a 3. (Of course, no he was not in town and of course it was still 2 weeks before we had the baby. ) Also, he was a certified EMT and had a few chances to work at the ER and loved his experiences. He may hate that rotation when he gets to it. Anyway, I would love to hear everyone's experiences whether a 1st yr student or REAL DR! LOL

Jessica

Jessica,

As a practicing Emergency Physician, I'd be happy to you and/or your hubby about the 'real life' of an ER Doc.

Cheers!
Ron

[migirl]

My husband (now a urology PGY-1) went into medical school thinking that he would go into family practice but found that he didn't like it after all. He worked with a urologist during his first year and really liked urology for several reasons:
- relatively consistent hours (not many urologic emergencies!) provide for decent family life
- NO in-house call (home call instead!)

I think the rotations during 3rd & 4th years help a lot to get a good "feel" of what the specialties are like. Good luck to you.

~Jane

My husband, an Emergency Medicine attending fluctuated between Cardio-Thoracic Surgery and Emergency Medicine for about a year. He had an awesome experience at BAMC in San Antonio for 2 months and I thought he was sold. Then he did a couple of months at John Peter Smith in Fort Worth and did a turn around. I bet if he had done the CT rotation second I would be sitting at home alone right now as the wife of a fifth year surgery resident looking at 2-3 yrs (can't remember which) of fellowship instead of having DH home 12 days a month and knowing we won't ever have to go through all that again.

That said I think that timing of rotations, attitudes of your attendings, and over all experiencewith a particular rotation can make you change your mind pretty quick.


Trisha