As a medical student, you are already learning to make difficult split-second decisions that can save a patient’s life. What you may not be prepared for is choosing a specialty that will impact the rest of your professional life. If you’re still trying to narrow it down, try these top five tips to help you decide.
Keep an Open Mind
Rachel Tobin Yale graduate and teaching professional, recommend you go into medical school with an open mind, even if you’re confident you’ve chosen your focus beforehand. In fact, you may have gone into medical school with the intent of practicing in a particular area of medicine from the outset. Even so, give yourself permission to be inspired by what you’re learning. As you progress through your classes or begin your clinical rotations, you may find interest in an area you previously dismissed.
Assess Your Ability
Students in medical school face intense pressure from family and friends to specialize in something that will make everyone proud, even if it isn’t what they do best. However, it’s paramount that you have an interest and aptitude for whatever you’ll be practicing for the whole of your career. The people in your life are important, but you’re the one that will be in the lab, office, hospital, or clinic day in and day out.
Explore Summer Internships
Summers offer the opportunity to dabble without making a lifelong commitment. For instance, if you’re inclined toward research, working in a lab during summer break will give you a good idea of what that professional environment is really like. As a bonus, you’ll acquire professional experience that will give you a competitive edge when applying for residency.
Shadow Other Specialists
Shadowing specialists in areas you’re considering can give you a firsthand glimpse into what their practice is like. For instance, you may have never heard of congenital cervicothoracic scoliosis before, but watching a pediatric orthopedic surgeon change the life of a child affected by it could cement your decision to follow suit.
Choose What’s Innovating
Modern medical technology is a double-edged sword when it comes to your career path. On one hand, techniques and survival rates improve with innovation, but it can mean skills you’ve acquired become obsolete. Set your sights on areas that are already innovating to stay ahead of the curve.
Choosing to take on the rigorous academic requirements and taxing schedule to become a physician comes from your passion for healing and helping. Remember that no matter which specialty you choose, you’re going to have the opportunity to change and save lives.