<p>So I overheard some med students talking one day about the different fields they could enter and the pros and cons of each. (forgive my typos) Like anesthesiologist have a dull life, surgeons dont get 9-5 days. Some have to go into private practice (pros and cons of that) So my question is this: Is there a website or something that gets in depth into the pros/cons of each field? Or do u guys know of any yourselves?</p>
<p>Don't worry about your field until your in med school. Most people change their minds during med school repeatedly. All you have to know is whether or not you like medicine, specialty isn't important.</p>
<p>well, yeah, but isn't it good to have a focus early on to keep you driven??? like...."let me get through this horribly difficult orgo class so I can be the surgeon I always dreamed to be." Medicine is just so general. sorry, though, I don't know of any good sites but I am sure that they are out there. do a search by typing in a bunch of specialties and some kind of page should come up.</p>
<p>UVa has a java based "speciality aptitude test" at <a href="http://www.med-ed.virginia.edu/specialties/%5B/url%5D">www.med-ed.virginia.edu/specialties/</a></p>
<p>There are many variables to consider including:
clinic based vs. hospitial based,
hospital tied or not (anesthesiology, pathology, neonatologist, intensivist),
generalist or specialist,
short term vs. long term interaction,
"cognitive" vs. "procedural,"
call intensity,
uncertainty tolerance,
litigation tolerance,
crisis tolerance,
duration and intensity of training,
anticipated compensation 4 to 14 years from now.</p>
<p>Most medical students base their specialty selection on clinical experience during the third and fourth years of medical school, influence of mentors, or lifelong wish.</p>
<p>Talking to and shadowing a physician who has been in practice 5 to 10 years is probably the most useful thing you can do.</p>
<p>Good luck</p>
<p>There are books that explain the pros and cons of each specialty. I just browsed through one at the Medical section at my bookstore last week! I think it was either one of these books:</p>
<p>I'm pretty sure they may be websites also but from my perspective they don't go into as much detail. I had to do research on a medical specialty of my choice at school a couple weeks ago and had to find what was good/bad about the job, and the websites I found usually didn't explain that aspect.</p>