Question about the type of medicine I should go into?

Question

I am torn between going into forsenic pathology or tramua surgery. Surgeons make more in general then regualr attending doctors do plus I like the fact that you don't have to deal with b.s like people coming to you for stupid stuff like the cold or a headache (E.R. doctors do) but the resdiency is longer and by the time I finish a average resdiency 4 years I'll be 31-32 ! any med students, or MD's out there? please give me some advice.

Answer 1

Pick something you really enjoy doing for long hours and many years. I'm not sure where you are in training. I chose Internal Medicine because I prefer consulting/diagnosing disease, and I knew I would not enjoy leaning over an operating table for hours each day. (Also, I'm probably not good enough with my hands - surgery is a true skill.)
Then I went on for Oncology and Hematology finishing with three specialties by age 30.
Seeing good people with cancer and leukemia 24/7 for years on end was NOT a sustainable life for me, so I chose badly.
I hope you make a better decision for yourself. I hope you don't decide entirely based on money making, but that does seem common these days. I know that many of you younger docs have huge college debts to pay off.
There are always a few problems dealing with some people whether you work at a restaurant or in a hospital. If you truly cannot tolerate handling difficult people, pathology might be a better personal career for you.
Remember to consider the long haul. I did not, so I retired early. Some medical specialties have a high burn out rate.
Best of Luck in your career. I thought the personal rewards of helping people outweighed the money aspects.

Answer 2

If you aren't a medical student, then this is a moot point. You don't even need to THINK about specialization until you are ready to apply for a residency position. It's not like college where you need to pick a major.

Once you start your clinical rotations, you'll soon figure out whether you are more surgical or more medical. That will help guide you toward what you want to do. Your last 2 years of medical school are spent in clinical rotations, so you'll get plenty of experience in different areas. You'll figure out what works for you and what doesn't.

No matter what specialty you choose, you'll have your share of "stupid stuff". If you think trauma surg doesn't have that, you're sadly mistaken.

Answer 3

Go into forsenic pathology as you seem not to be able to deal with stupid people and the last thing a patient needs is a uncaring stupid doctor!!!!!!!!!!!! Catch criminals and deal with dead people. They are not stupid, just dead.