Me on a random Tuesday bc I chose a lifestyle specialty

MY BIGGEST ADVICE FOR MEDICAL STUDENTS PICKING A SPECIALTY: One thing I wish more med students heard is you’re not just choosing what kind of doctor you want to be. You’re choosing what you want your average Tuesday to look like. Obviously, enjoying the medicine matters. But something I learned is that enjoying a rotation/your attendings/your team (vibes) and enjoying the actual LIFE that comes with a specialty can be two very different things. When you’re deciding, don’t only ask yourself, “Do I find this interesting?” Ask yourself: What time do I want to wake up most days? What time do I want to come home? Do I want nights, weekends, holidays, or call? How important is schedule predictability to me? Do I love emergencies and unpredictability, or do I prefer knowing what my day will look like? Do I want to be able to leave work at work? Would I be happy seeing the bread and butter cases of the specialty? Do I want the option to work 3 or 4 days a week someday? How important are travel, family, hobbies, friendships, side projects? Or am I okay with continuing to make some of those sacrifices for a specialty? And probably the BIGGEST thing I learned… look at the lives of the attendings, not just how much you enjoy the rotation (bc it’s sooo easy to be swayed by good vibe attendings and residents). But what you really need to be asking is, are these people happy bc of they love what they do? Look at the people who are 10 or 20 years ahead of you. What time do they arrive? What time do they leave? How often are they called after hours? Can they take vacations? Do they seem like they still enjoy their work? Do they have time for the things you want outside of medicine? And then ask yourself: Would I actually want their life? Because the coolest case you saw is one afternoon. Residency is a few years. Your actual career could be 30+ years of random Tuesdays. I think sometimes in medicine we get so focused on what sounds impressive, what’s competitive, what other people think we “should” do, what rotations you enjoyed just cuz you vibed with the team and they were nice to you, or what proves how hardworking we are that we forget we’re allowed to ask, “Will this career let me have the life I want?” And that is a VERY valid question. Wanting flexibility doesn’t mean you’re lazy. Wanting weekends doesn’t mean you’re less passionate. Wanting to travel or spend time with your family doesn’t mean you care less about your patients. Your career is allowed to be an important, meaningful part of your life without becoming your entire life. 🫶🏽 My recommendation is to sit down before choosing and write out your top 5 priorities for your life, not your career. Family? Travel? Income? Flexibility? Predictable hours? Procedures? Surgical? Clinic time? Academic medicine? Geographic flexibility? Entrepreneurship? Time for hobbies? There is no right answer. But you need to know your answer. Then look at the specialties you’re considering and ask which one gives you the best chance of building that life. Of course, there are always tradeoffs. “Lifestyle specialty” does NOT mean “no work.” Two physicians in the exact same specialty can have completely different lives depending on their practice setting, location, call schedule, compensation goals, and how they structure their careers. But choosing lifestyle intentionally isn’t being lazy or less passionate about medicine. You worked way too hard to become a doctor to build a life you never have time to enjoy. So choose something you find interesting. Choose something meaningful. Choose something that fits your strengths. But also choose with your future self in mind. Anywayyyyy… sorry for the rant, but also maybe choose derm cuz it’s amazing okay byeeeee #medtok #medstudent #medicalstudent #residency #residentdoctor