Once you are done with the hassle and the ultimate jubilation of applying to a credible medical school, you must be thinking – what’s next? What type of doctor should I actually be? While it’s only natural to feel overwhelmed by the wide array of choices out there, your personality traits and unique interests, not to mention the type of person you are, should greatly affect your choice. Here are a few specialties that you can consider based on your disposition:
Anesthesiologist
An anesthesiologist is a doctor who gives a patient medication so they do not feel pain when they are undergoing surgery. The day-to-day life of an anesthesiologist involves researching, meeting with patients or assisting surgeons during operations. Before a procedure, they may be required to study a patient’s chart and medical history, discuss risk factors with their care team and decide on the proper means and dose of sedation. One minute, you can be doing an epidural, the next minute you can be in the ER.
If you thrive on challenges, a career as an anesthesiologist will suit you perfectly. Considering the challenging and variable nature of the job, anesthesiologists need to be mature, strong, responsible, trustworthy, resourceful, level-headed, empathic, helpful, compassionate, constructive, ethical and principled individuals.
Pediatrician
Pediatricians help infants, children and adolescents stay healthy by providing preventive care services and are focused on preventing, detecting, and managing physical, behavioral and developmental issues that affect children. Seeing how concerned parents can be about the health and well-being of their little ones, so in times of sickness or emergency, they will want to find a pediatrician they can trust.
If you are someone who is caring and listening, capable of establishing a solid, trusting relationship with children and their families, exhibit an exorbitant amount of patience when dealing with kids, communicate with children in a non-threatening and kind-hearted way, and genuinely care about little ones, this career will be highly rewarding for you. The best pediatricians are simultaneously empathetic and persuasive, as well as observant, intelligent, persistent, level-headed, and resourceful when diagnosing and treating injuries and illnesses.
Cardiologist
Cardiologists treat and diagnose diseases and defects of the cardiovascular system, including the blood vessels, heart, and the circulation of blood through the body.
If you prefer to work in a slower paced environment with more time for contemplation; are efficient, logical, level-headed, and strategic; notice the big picture in life and see how everything connects together; are a valuable verbal communicator; consider yourself capable of making decisions in an impersonal way; and prefer to have step-by-step, detailed instructions; this field is perfect for you.
Psychiatrist
The primary concern of a psychiatrist is to deal with the treatment, diagnoses, and prevention of emotional and mental disorders.
If you tend to think things through inside your head, imagine the possibility of how things could be, value forgiveness and harmony, are construed as an empathetic, intuitive, and considerate person, love to improvise and make things on the go, and thrive on concepts and notions for their own sake, you should really consider getting in to psychiatry.
General practice
You should look into Specializing in family practice if you love to work in a fast-paced environment, pay attention to concrete details and facts, could be described as warm and emphatic, seek to be helpful and please others, and respect deadlines and rules.
OBGYN
Two separate fields, gynecology and obstetrics, are perfectly blended into one to provide comprehensive health care to women. The obstetrician is basically charged with pregnancies, while the gynecologists treat and diagnose diseases and disorders of the female reproductive tract. This field allows you to concentrate on both areas simultaneously.
If you often think out loud and tend to work out ideas with others, prefer ideas with practical implications, love to take care of people, base your decisions on personal values, are considerate of how others are affected by your decisions, are seen as a trustworthy, flexible, and reliable person, and are spontaneous and love to delve in new situations and surprises, this field is a god-sent for you.
Neurologist
This specialty is concerned with the treatment and diagnoses of the disorders of the nervous system – peripheral nerves, the spinal cord, and the brain, and certain other pain problems and muscle disorders.
If you are considered reserved, precise, logical, intellectual, imaginative, flexible, perceptive, and someone who makes decisions using logical reasoning, this field would suit you well.
Emergency Medicine
Working in the emergency room is not for the faint-hearted. If you are someone who thrives in fast-paced, multitasking work environments and can handle patients who are panicked, disoriented, or in severe pain with calmness and level headedness, this career is right for you. It takes a great amount of effort to stay poised, in the midst of the most strenuous situations. Physicians who love to work in challenging situation, think on their feet, do not find the constant movement draining, and do not hesitate to administer life-or-death procedures can train for this role.
