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medical specialty choice?

How do I know what specialty to pick if I would like to study medicine

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Paul’s Answer

You do not need to pick a specialty before you begin to study medicine. It actually makes more sense to start medical school before you choose a specialty, because you cannot know what will capture your interest until you get some experience. My suggestion is that you go to medical school with an open mind, and take advantage of as many opportunities as you can to get exposure to different specialties. If you follow this path, you will almost certainly find that over time you will find yourself drawn to one area of interest over all the others. This makes it easy to pick the proper direction. If you come close to graduation without having made your mind up, and if you have no desire to do surgery of some sort, then following the path of general internal medicine would be your best bet. However, I must tell you that with more than 40 years in medical practice, I have never met a person who had trouble choosing a specialty. So, I wish you the best of luck and advise you not to worry even a little bit about this.

Paul S. Treuhaft, MD, MA
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Kathleen’s Answer

Hello! I admire your desire to study medicine. It's a wide and rewarding field. There are a lot of required studies before you need to decide on a specialty and you may find yourself leaning toward a certain area as you begin those studies. Take some time to think about what you like to do, where you may have certain talents, interests, and abilities and let those guide you. As a young child, I was intrigued by all the variety of life. I Ioved to catch tadpoles and watch them become frogs, to identify birds and bugs and other critters. When I got to biology classes I was hooked! I loved experiments in chemistry. When I began to see how everything in the human body works together and how important the balance of everything is, I determined that the laboratory was my spot and I loved it for over 40 years! I never had a problem finding a job when we moved, the work-life balance was great and the work rewarding. But that's my story. You will discover your own! Best to you,
Kathie Rezek
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Michael’s Answer

I fully agree with Dr. Paul S. Treuhaft, MD, MA above. I had the opportunity recently to attend a surgical residency faculty meeting where we were shown some very interesting data out of McGill University Medical School. Over 85% of admitted medical students that they followed changed their minds regarding specialty training between entering medical school and the start of year 4 when applying for the match.

There is really not a good way for a high school or college student to obtain enough knowledge of over 130 medical specialties and make a determination of their future prior to being exposed to the core medical school rotations and a few of the elective rotations.

Good luck on your journey! If you are like many students, you will get excited about each core rotation you do, then move on to the next exciting specialty.
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