For many third-year medical students, this is a tough time of year. Preparing an ERAS application can be daunting, but it’s even worse if you do not know what specialty you want to practice. Here’s a short piece I wrote with my colleague David Presser MD MPH called “Choosing a Specialty: The Generalist vs. The Early Committer.” And recently, I read a complementary, but non-medical, New York Times article called “You Don’t Want a Child Prodigy” that seems like a good follow up to our piece.
Blog Archives
Evidence-Based Decision Making Regarding Your Planned Specialty
For those first-, second-, and third-year medical students who are trying to pick a specialty, remember to start with the facts: The NRMP published Charting Outcomes of the Match to give applicants an idea of what characteristics successful 2018 Main Residency Match candidates had. While sobering (the mean Step 2 score for successful radiology U.S. senior applicants was 249), the information is valuable as you approach the decision-making process.
If you’re just starting medical school, you can strategically plan your candidacy for success. If you’re more senior, you can decide whether you have the characteristics necessary to pursue a successful Match process.
Yes, Sleep is a Medical Necessity
I found this short piece, “A Call for Sleep” to be an interesting and honest read. Throughout my life, I’ve had non medical people tell me that I should be used to a lack of sleep because of my training and night shifts (which I, thankfully, no longer do). If someone has fasted before, that doesn’t mean she doesn’t get hungry when she doesn’t eat!
For applicants, I’ll again say that it’s critical to consider lifestyle and priorities when choosing a specialty.
Medical Students: How Do you Select Your Specialty?
‘Tis the season: Yes, it’s time to make those final decisions about your future specialty. However, the way the medical education system is set up, it’s a very difficult and stressful choice to make. Here’s my Student Doctor Network article on how to choose your future career.
Tags: choosing a specialty, Medical Student, SDN
How and When to Choose your Specialty
Check out this featured Student Doctor Network piece by Dr. David Presser and me called Choosing a Specialty:The Generalist vs. the Early-Committer. It’s valuable for anyone in college through the third year of medical school (maybe more).
Dr. Finkel is a graduate of Stanford University and Harvard Medical School. On completing her residency at Harvard, she was asked to
stay on as faculty at Harvard Medical School and spent five years teaching at the world-renowned Massachusetts General Hospital.
She was appointed to the Assistant Residency Director position for the Harvard Affiliated
Emergency Medicine Residency where she reviewed countless applications, personal statements and resumes. Read more
