Choosing a specialty is so hard!!!!

It really rustles my Jimmies that cardioplumers get so much more than ID drs and orthopods more than pretty much everyone else.
Each physician is as important as another. Why does the banded pay for FYs stop later on? Surely being paid based on experience and not the field would be fairer!

Hospital medicine and indeed ID has by far been my favourite choice in terms of interest but there's a huge cloud raining over that in terms of lifestyle (read: compensation and working hours) and then on top of that my recent surgical rotation was actually enjoyable and I have started looking at neuro as an option when that was never a decision to be made when I started - I even used to smile smugly to myself at the people who had decided at 6 to be a neurosurgeon.

What to do :frown:

(edited 9 years ago)

Reply 1

Helenia

Erm, which system are you talking about? In the NHS people are paid based on their level of experience, not their field. And banding continues right through training. Any discrepancies in income are primarily down to the amount of private work someone does.

Reply 2

Jimmy Rustles

Original post by Helenia

I'm studying in the UK but am a dual citizen of the US/UK. Hoping to match over there with good USMLE scores so was talking about that system sorry. I've been up most of the night revising/stressing so wasn't clear :redface:

I want to move back because my family lives in the states... Staying with the NHS is something to think about, I guess.

Thank you. I think I was so focused on moving back over that I forgot the obvious option!

Reply 3

Jimmy Rustles

Actually feeling pretty darn stupid right now lol

Reply 4

Blatant Troll

Original post by Jimmy Rustles

The potential upshot in certain specialties is much greater in the US, so I understand the angst. But you'll earn a decent salary whatever you do. And if you don't do what you enjoy (and perhaps even what you're good at), then that's a whole career of rustled jimmies.

Case in point: Dermatologists make a shed load of money/hour over there, and derm is the most competitive specialty (perhaps mutually exclusive - benefit of the doubt given...). But personally I wouldn't wish 40 years of derm upon my worst enemy.

Reply 5

nexttime

At the levels we're talking about, the money probably won't actually make much difference to your quality of life. I'd suggest not letting pay differences influence you too much.

Reply 6

belis

You will end up working long hours so make sure you pick up something that you actually enjoy and are good at at. I don't think take home salary should be the top of the list when it comes to making this decision.

Reply 7

Alphaglot

Don't forget that malpractice insurance over there takes quite a big chunk out of what you earn. I believe that it's especially the case in surgical specialties where the risk is probably higher.

Contrary to lots of med students, I can understand how tough surgery vs medicine is. Some see it as a black and white distinction but I found it hard too. Definitely if you go the Acute Medicine route (ACCS) then a lot of procedural and high stakes medicine is open to you and I believe it can be used in lieu of CMT for Infectious Diseases, Nephrology, Cardiology and other traditionally medical specialties where acute conditions are more prominent. It also means that you are less likely to have to deal with chronic illness which is a bonus! :tongue:

Good luck, whatever you decide. Given your medical degree is from the UK and you want a fair pay relative to your peers I think staying here might be a good decision as long as you don't get homesick.