<p>I understand what the acronym stands for, but I do not understand why these specialties are that prestigious/good. Dermatology seems sort of undesirable to me while neurology seems to be the most prestigious. Any clarifications?</p>
<p>Also,
To be a doctor in a hospital does one need a prestigious medical school degree?</p>
<p>Several of the ROAD residencies are difficult to attain because 1) their are very few residency spots available in any given year, and 2) the lifestyle of the specialist is highly desired. Supply and demand thus dictates that the residency programs have their choice of who to take, and can thus take the top students. It then becomes "prestigious" because of the students who get the positions. In somewhat of a vicious cycle, the competition gets ratcheted up to its current levels.</p>
<p>Neurology has long been plagued by the rap that it can diagnose diseases but never do anything about them. While that is changing, the field is not at the level of say cardiology for being able to fix things. Neurosurgery gets a lot of people the wrong way because of the length of the training and high demand on physical skill that not everyone possesses. Plus there are many, many people who end up HATING neuroanatomy and neuroscience sections of their first year. While it's still certainly tough to get a neurosurgery or neurology residency, the competition is less intense because of these things and compared to a couple of the ROAD residencies, a less attractive lifestyle.</p>
<p>As for your second question..."be a doctor in a hospital" is...ummm...vague. So that said - no. My point is 3-fold: 1) depending on the hospital there could be hundreds of doctors that work there - from radiologists or pathologists with no real patients of their own, to hospitalists whose job is to keep watch over patients of other doctors while their in the hospital, to surgeons who use the hospital OR's and other specialists as well... Or if youre in a small town, maybe 4. 2) every doctor that's working in an outpatient clinic is going to have privileges to admit their patients and have them treated at one or more hospitals in the nearby area. When they have patients in the hospital, they have to round and keep tabs on what's going on with their patients, so they'll technically be a doctor in a hospital.
3) because of 1+2...an MD from anywhere (with the appropriate training) is all the prestige you need to work in a hospital.</p>
<p>I feel like dermatology is desireable because of your standard hours, no risk of emergencies late at night, etc.</p>
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I feel like dermatology is desireable because of your standard hours, no risk of emergencies late at night, etc.
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<p>....and high income.</p>
<p>From my understanding ROAD is an acronym for radiologist, ophthalmologist, anesthesiologist, and dermatology. They were the specialties that had a high income for less work then specialties like surgery. Radiology is debatable since radiation oncology is harder to get into and pays more. </p>
<p>Which specialty has the lowest malpractice insurance as well....</p>
<p>Thanks a lot for the replies</p>