I get this question a lot

I get this question a lot. What made me decide to switch into dermatology from plastics? I actually came into medical school 100% set on plastics. I've always been more of like a visual learner and a little bit artistic. I was really lucky because I rotated plastics early on in my third year. And there was like a few things missing for me. One, I realized I needed more clinic time and more interaction with patients day-to-day, which if you're a surgeon, you know that's such an uncommon thing to say. Usually surgeons are all about the OR. And for me, I felt like I wanted a little bit more of a mix of OR and clinic time. And there was also one specific day that the plastic surgeon that I was with was doing like laser, wide local excision, keloid and a little bit smaller, quicker procedures that I felt like I was seeing a lot more patients. I remember that day so specifically. I was like, wait, I think this is maybe more dermatology than plastic. So then after that, I shadowed in derm clinics and I remember just being like, this is it. Like, what was I even thinking? To me, it was like way more artistic and way more visually stimulating. Obviously, you're seeing more lesions. And it was just like everything I was looking for, like a perfect mix of clinic, procedures, and my surgical interests. I actually still think I'm going to be a surgeon, so I still think I'm going to go into most surgery. So I still think I'm going to be a surgeon, but it's just like so much more tailored to what I loved in medicine. And it was kind of a no-brainer after that. I do not regret my path. I think going so hard into plastics, I created great relationships with my PIs. I was really scared to tell my mentors about my change in decision, but they were super supportive, wrote me fabulous letters. And it just made me realize that dermatology was a better fit for me.