The Half MD's specialty chooser

April 28, 2007 at 8:31 pm (Uncategorized)

One of the daunting tasks of going through medical school is picking a specialty that you believe you’ll be happy working in for the next 30 years. Many online quizzes attempt to point you in a direction to begin considering certain specialties. Here, I present my own, more realistic view of medical specialties.

1. How do you want to live?
A. In a mansion
B. In a suburban house
C. In a box

2. Your view of patients
A. I can’t get enough of them
B. I scream at their sight and run in the opposite direction

3. You are married to
A. Your spouse
B. Your pager

4. Your view of your children
A. I’m my kids’ mom
B. That’s what nannies are for

5. Your grades
A. AOA
B. Middle of the class
C. I make the top 50% possible

6. Your view of autonomy
A. I’m my own man
B. I work for the Man
C. I’m somebody’s bitch

7. Your view of procedures
A. Ewwweee… I can’t get that on my hands
B. If not for medicine, I would have become an auto mechanic

8. How did you get through med school?
A. Alcohol
B. Caffeine
C. Lexapro

Scorecard
1. A=2, B=1, C=0 (Money score)
2. A=1, B=0 (Patient contact score)
3. A=1, B=0 (Time score, add with question #4)
4. A=1, B=0 (Time score, add with question #3)
5. A=2, B=1, C=0 (Grades score)
6. A=2, B=1, C=0 (Autonomy score)
7. A=0, B=1 (Procedures score)
8. A=0, B=1, C=2 (Crazy score)

Next, use the chart below to line up your scores with your new specialty (opens in a new window):

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