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How to Choose a Medical Specialty
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The medical education system in the United States "tracks" medical students from the moment they sign on the dotted line for residency; therefore, this is the most crucial juncture in the career of a physician.
As an occupational physician and having been involved with impaired physicians--those doctors and surgeons that abuse substances, have neurological and/or psychiatric illness, and other problems that impair their ability to practice--carefully choosing a "calling" can have a profound impact on the life of the physician! Multiple studies have shown that enjoying one's vocation protects against a myriad of illnesses, e.g. substance abuse, heart disease, dementia, diabetes, and many others.
To this end Anita Taylor's book "How to Choose a Medical Specialty" is the most thorough insofar as Ms Taylor is an educator and does not bring any biases into which career path the reader should choose. All other comparable books like Iserson's or Freeman's skip or give short-shrift to the fundamental assumption of "Do you really want to be an X?..." Other commentators note that Ms Taylor's data discriminators are psychosocial, e.g. "time off", "pay attention to details", "be optimistic", and yet time-and-time again psychosocial factors are far more reliable as predictors to whether a worker will enjoy their vocation.
For REAL DATA on the specialties go to the source! I suggest the website of the American Board of Medical Specialties and the AMA GME Green Book. The Green Book is a little dense but it contains ALL THE RULES on what it takes to become a Board Certified X.
Also, remember that only the common specialties are going to receive attention. I very rarely see Occupational Medicine, Preventive Medicine, Public Health, Medical Genetics, Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Nuclear Medicine, or Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation reviewed. You might just like one of these specialties if you had only known about them before you got **trapped in a specialty that conflicts with your personality**. Remember, once you go into a specialty via a residency you must do ANOTHER RESIDENCY to change and get Board Certified in another specialty... OUCH! Try doing this at age 45 with kids! This is one reason some physicians have substance abuse and/or marital problems.
Finally, think carefully about what are the **essential functions** of the specialty you choose. Do you need color vision to be a Pathologist? Generally, YES... a Pathologist looks at COLORED SLIDES under a microscope. I have had to tell a Pathologist that this is a problem! Do you need depth perception to be a Surgeon? Hmmm... YES (just try cutting with one eye shut). Believe it or not many physicians go into specialties where they would have difficulty performing the essential functions of the specialty from the very beginning.
To steal a line from the Knight in Indiana Jones "...choose wisely, for while the true Grail will bring you life, the false Grail will take it from you."
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Recent reviews dinged this book for lacking specifics, not giving information. I personally found this book to be very useful in my search for a medical specialty. There were stats and numbers given on each specialty, so I'm not sure what people mean about lacking specifics. A unique value was the beginning section - very useful in giving exercises asking myself what kind of practice and values were important to me. The specialty that I ultimately chose, ophthalmology, was completely off my radar and would not have been discovered had I not used this book. Each specialty listed has a little "quiz" at the end where you rank items of importance (e.g., Opportunities to use my hands, Patient continuity, New technology), and then you get a personalized "score" for each specialty. Ophthalmology ranked among the very highest, to my great surprise. So, I tried a couple of rotations in ophthalmology as a medical student and really enjoyed it... and now am an ophthalmology resident - overworked and underpaid (which resident isn't), but quite happy with my choice!
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My roommates and I bought this book together looking for a comprehensive overview of each specialty-- typical practice settings, level of competitiveness (for residency spots, fellowship spots, and beyond), income, and future prospects/directions for each field. We wanted numbers with an objective interpretation. We couldn't find such information anywhere else, and, unfortunately, we didn't find it here either.This book is a hodgepodge of trite quotes and whatever the author found during a 15-minute search on Medline-- I know because I tried it myself, and I got the same handful of articles that she cites. The information she presents is often outdated or taken out of context, and is generally too vague and/or superficial to be of use in any case. I cannot imagine how anyone other than the author herself would rate this book highly. Save your money.I wish I could recommend some more useful resource, but I still haven't found it.
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I decided to give this book a chance, even though I was skeptical that someone who never went to medical school could give advice on choosing a specialty. Her book didn't tell me anything that I didn't already know. I wanted to learn about what really makes each medical specialty unique, but the "question and answer" format made each chapter almost identical. The answers were so vague and non-specific that you could apply them to almost any specialty. I finished each specialty chapter wondering "I forget - what specialty was I reading about again?" Definitely an over-rated book, but perhaps because there are no other books out there on this subject.
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Most medical students are hesitant to choose their medical specialty. No book until now has solved this dilemma in a proper way except this one! I was asking myself this question before graduation, and I saw this book at the Toronto Bookstore 2 years ago, but didn't want to buy it cuz one of my friends told me that there were many web sites which will help you choose your future specialty. Unfortunately, I didn't find a comprehensive book or at an article or a website about that. Then after graduation, I had the chance to visit Toronto Bookstore again and decided this time to buy it!Part I: The Challenge of Specialty Choice including (Planning your specialty choice, Finding a speciality that is right for you, Considering your options, Career planning in an uncertain world).Part II: The Specialties and Subspecialties including: Allergy and immunology, Anesthesiology, Colon and rectal surgery, Dermatology, Emergency medicine, Family medicine, Internal medicine (Cardiology, Endocrinology and metabolism, Gastroenterology, Hematology, Infectious diseases, Medical oncology, Nephrology, Pulmonary disease, Rheumatology), Medical genetics, Neurological surgery, Neurology, Nuclear medicine, Obstetric and gynecology, Ophthalmology, Orthopedic surgery, Otolaryngology - Head and nech surgery, Pathology, Pediatrics, Physical medicine and rehabilitation, Plastic surgery, Preventive medicine, Psychiatry, Radiation oncology, Diagnostic radiology, Thoracic surgery, Urology.A composite picture of each specialty is drawn in terms of (General information, Residency information, American Board of medical specialties certification, Supply and projections, Economic status and types of practice, Further information, Why choose this specialty, What do you like most about this specialty, What do you like least about this specialty, What is your typical daily schedule, What abilities and talents are important in this specialty, what personality traits best characterize this specialty, what advice would you give to medical students interested in this specialty, what are the future challenges to this specialty, Job values of this specialty)Part III: Emerging Specialty Areas including: (Addiction medicine, Administrative medicine, Adolescent medicine, Critical care medicine, Geriatric medicine, Hospice and palliative medicine, Sports medicine, Women's health).Part IV: Practice Options inlcuding (Clinical pathways, Non-clinical pathways, Geographic location).Part V: After You Have Chosen a Specialty including (Planning for residency, Military programs, The couples match, Shared-schedule residencies, What happens if you don't match, Changing specialties during residency and afterwards).Appendix which contains: Quesionnaire, First-year postgraduate positions offered through the National Resident Matching Program (NRMP), Residency competitiveness tables, Summary profile scores, Selected web sites.This book comes in 331 pages. I hope there will be an update for it since its last 3rd edition (1999). However, it is the MOST comprehensive and useful book for medical students. I sincerely advise every med student to buy it.Great work Dr. Anita Taylor. Keep up the good work!
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