Just curious! What specialty/specialties hold an attraction for you and why?
For me, it’s Psychiatry and Cardiology, and to a lesser extent, OB/Gyn. Psychiatry is something I’ve been interested in since I was about 10 years old – my undergrad major is Psychology. Medicine is fascinating to me, which is why I decided against a PhD in Clinical Psychology.
Cardiology because I’ve always been interested in the heart, and its workings. I think I would enjoy the “technical” aspects of the job.
OB/Gyn because I think I would really enjoy working with moms and babies. Ever since I had my two, I’ve been really passionate about birthing, breastfeeding, attachment, etc. 
So now it’s your turn to share! 
Emergency Medicine. I have always been fascinated with the work done in an ER. Sure it’s fast paced and stressful, but I supose that my Law Enforcement background makes me prone to that type of work.
My secondary option is Internal Medicine. I like to help people and watch their progression. I also think that healing one’s spiritual stability is just as improtant as healing their physical body.
I would suggest reading Intern Blues if your interested in OB/GYN. This book shows you the unattractive side of the specialty. You have premies, still-borns and the like. For me it would be very difficult to work in an envrionment like that. But you have the happy moments too.
For me personally it would be cardiology all the way!
If I could do anything I wanted to I’d totally be an EP (electrophysiologist…which is a fellowship following cardiology). I have a personal interest/attachment to that specialty. Since it takes forever and a day for the training though, I don’t feel like it’s feasible for me. My other choices are anesthesiology or radiation oncology. I’m also really interested in radiology (again with a fellowship in something more “exciting” than just reading films all day…I love procedures!) but have been told that’s not an option for me since I have a pacemaker. I even tried to get myself enrolled in a clinical trial involving fiber optic pacemaker devices just so I’d be able to be around MRI’s but they didn’t take me. 
Ah well…maybe by the time I get to my residency days they’ll be available and I can swap mine out.
Might be in the minority here, but just good old family practice for me.
I also think OBGYN would be difficult, personally. Both of my children were born early from placenta abruption. It was very difficult being in the NICU, and I’m not sure I would fare well.
I am interested in family practice, specifically working with under-served communities in rural areas, and dermatology. I know, totally opposite ends of the spectrum. But those are my two favorites, as of right now.
- maddux31 Said:
I would suggest reading Intern Blues if your interested in OB/GYN. This book shows you the unattractive side of the specialty. You have premies, still-borns and the like. For me it would be very difficult to work in an envrionment like that. But you have the happy moments too.
For me personally it would be cardiology all the way!
The individuals in that book were in their peds internship though. OBGyn just catches them, then they hand them off to the poor sleep deprived peds residents lol.
All that to say, after reading said book, yeah, I still am interested in pediatrics,with OBGYN a close second. I want to be able to work with the breastfeeding dyad. Pediatrics however, may come in handy when it comes to my ADD tendancies and getting bored easily. If I have patients ranging from newborn to 18 it's anyone's guess what will be waiting for me in an exam room each appointment. That's very appealing to me.
I’m a future Pathologist!!! But then you probably could have guessed that!
As an OB/Gyn, you’re probably going to do very little working with the mother/child pair (or the infant, really). As soon as the baby’s born, it’s handed off to the pediatricians, really. The realization that OB/gyn wasn’t for me came as soon as I realized that I was much more interested in the baby that had just been born than I was in the mother.
In any case, I am in the process of applying for EM residencies. I really loved surgery, but I just can’t see doing 5-6 years of a surgical residency.
I am interested in OB/GYN Surgeon. I like the idea of the challenge of two or more patients. I will be job shadowing an OB in October and hopefully will have more insight on it. From there, I am trying to leave options open for medical school. I might be more inspired by another specialty or even Family Practice. I could really like ER for the different situations. I job shadowed at a small hospital. It was very slow with a lot of time on your hands. Still it was interesting and no follow up care. The doctor I shadowed did not like follow up care and he was great at surgery. So, ER was just right for him.
- Emergency! Said:
As an OB/Gyn, you're probably going to do very little working with the mother/child pair (or the infant, really). As soon as the baby's born, it's handed off to the pediatricians, really. The realization that OB/gyn wasn't for me came as soon as I realized that I was much more interested in the baby that had just been born than I was in the mother.
In any case, I am in the process of applying for EM residencies. I really loved surgery, but I just can't see doing 5-6 years of a surgical residency.
In any case, I am in the process of applying for EM residencies. I really loved surgery, but I just can't see doing 5-6 years of a surgical residency.
This is what nailed peds for me as well.
I am more interested in the mother, but I DO worry about the negative aspects of the job such as dead newborns, etc. I think what interests me most is being able to help moms with postpartum depression, and to help with bonding, etc. - I guess that would be more Psych than anything else!
I’m interested in psychosomatic medicine, sports medicine, oncology and general surgery. I am interested in how the mind and physical performance, illness, and recovery from illness are related. My cousin battled with leukemia, and I really feel drawn to oncology because of that. And, I also simply fascinated with surgery. I saw my first surgery a few months ago and was just transfixed.
Since I am already in the business of eyes Ophthalmology is very enticing for me, I would more than likely try and get a retina fellowship after residency. However, I am very interested in anesthesiology as well and always have been. I am trying to go in with an open mind to see what gets my juices flowing.
Pathology here!!!
(and if by some unfortunate chance that doesnt work out: internal med.)
Vascular surgery or neurosurgery. Both of those specialties fascinate me. Long residency, but absolutely worth it. Emergency Medicine would be facinating because of the variety.
Well I am currently an Opticianry student so I strongly believe that Ophthalmology is the best specialty for me. As a optician you basically learn to dispense prescriptions written by optometrist or ophthalmologist and what lens options would best suite the patient based on his/her daily activities. In class I learned bits and pieces of pharmacology and ocular diseases but not how to treat them (of course that is not part of an opticians practice). I feel so much more complete if I become a doctor in the optical industry.
I have worked in Labor and delivery, womens health clinics, and in a dermatology clinic as an RN for the last several years. I plan on going into OBGYN. My passion is in womens health. I LOVE empowering young women to make choices about their healthcare, makeing them feel capable of being a mother, and encouraging them to educate themselves about the process of labor and delivery. After all these years, I still get tears in my eyes when I hand a pt whom I have bonded with their new baby for the first time. The moment still gives me chills every single day. On the days when I have a pt who has had a fetal demise, my heart breaks for them, and for the unfairness of how certain people who would give anything for a baby struggle, and deal with loss, and others, who don’t care enough, have children with ease. I know that my part in those pt’s difficult and painful experience of loss, although heartbreaking for me too, is important, and necessary that I assist them toward the next step in their healing process. On my bad days, I feel good knowing that those pts are helped. When my MIL was diagnosed with brast cancer, it was her OBGYN who had to break the news to her, and her OBGYN, referred her to a wonderful oncologist who managed her treatment. My MIL still talks about how compassionate her OB was/is and is so grateful that she was there to tell her, her frightening diagnosis. I want to be able to make that difference on a broader scale then I can as a nurse, and thats why I plan on going into Obstetrics. Pretty much settled on that, even though the Derm lifestyle is darn nice!
Those of you interested in working with both mother and baby need to consider full-scope family practice. My very favorite parts of residency were when I caught the baby, completed the delivery process w/ mom while she got her first moments with the baby, and then once everything was settled down, I’d examine the newborn and point out all of his/her wonderful features to mom and dad. Then the next day would examine both mom and baby … and then see them both in the office.
As a strictly outpatient practitioner now, it’s really frustrating to me when only mom or only baby is my patient. The inevitable thrush in baby, or candidal breast infection in mom, is way more easily managed if I am doctor for both. Those of you hankering to get involved with the breastfeeding dyad… it’s FP you want really! 
FPs in my part of the country don’t deliver babies but it sure is done in lots of other parts of the U.S. and it is a real thrill, without a doubt the most fun thing I’ve done.
Mary
I would like to do forensc pathology