The thought of choosing a medical speciality can seem like a daunting task but it’s a key step in your journey as a doctor and one that requires a lot of thought. It is a combination of your different experiences throughout your medical career. But what exactly does choosing a medical speciality mean and what does it involve?
In this guide, I’ll explain some of the potential specialities available to medicine students and what the process for specialisation looks like.
Written by Ayma Ahmed
What Medical specialities are there?
There are an array of specialities in medicine that you can choose from. Here are some of them:
Anesthesiology
These doctors help support patients during their surgical procedures, providing pain and care throughout their time before, after and during surgery.
Dermatology
These doctors deal with diseases of the skin, nails and hair.
Oncology
This is a speciality that focuses on cancer and its treatments.
Neurology
A branch of medicine that deals with disorders of the nervous system, including those of the brain and spinal cord.
Paediatrics
Doctors in this speciality provide care to children and infants.
Urology
Doctors in this speciality will treat patients in relation to the urinary tract system.
Orthopaedics
These doctors treat conditions of the musculoskeletal system.
This is just a short list of all the specialities available out there, and within each of these broader specialities, there are possibilities of more specific areas of practice – for example, paediatric oncologists who specialise in the treatment of cancer in children.
Beyond that, specialities don’t even need to involve becoming a doctor. The fields of research and development also have many paths for specialisation, so there really is a route to suit everyone!
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How To Choose A Medical Speciality
Your journey to choosing a speciality starts as a medical student. Within your clinical years at medical school, you will be exposed to a number of different specialities from obstetrics and gynaecology to paediatrics.
This is a great time to get a feel of what you enjoy and what you don’t, you don’t need to have a complete idea of what exactly you desire to specialise in, but rather start to explore the possibilities of a medical degree.
It’s not just in placements where you can become exposed to these specialities, but also through your extracurriculars. Many medical schools will have a range of societies for each speciality, which will allow you to be exposed to the range out there. This could be through external conferences, competitions or society-run events.
Specialities After Graduation
Once you have graduated and started working as an FY1 and FY2 Junior Doctor, you will further be exposed to a range of specialities through your rotations.
In both FY1 and FY2 you will have 3 rotations a year which each will expose to a range of specialities. This will further aid you in your journey to selecting one, being hands-on and seeing what life is like in each speciality. It is within your FY2 year that you are asked to select a medical speciality that you would like to embark on.
The path beyond here will differ from person to person. However, those who choose to specialise as a GP will train for 3 years. For others, it varies from 5 to 8 years.
What to consider when choosing a speciality
There are a number of factors that will affect your decision about your speciality. Some of these include:
Length of training
Each speciality will have different lengths of training, with some requiring a shorter time frame to complete. As stated, GP speciality training lasts for 3 years, compared to the six years that paediatrics requires for you to get trained.
Nature of the work
Some routes may require much more hands-on work, such as surgical specialities whereas others may not, such as psychiatry.
Work-life balance
Depending on you and your external commitments such as family life and hobbies, the value of this may vary. For example, different specialities may have different working hours and lengths of shifts.
Enjoyment
Whenever you are selecting a speciality, it is integral you take into consideration your passion and love for it. Specialty training can be difficult at times so choosing something you enjoy is important to take into account.
Patient demographics
As a doctor, you may have preferences for the demographic of the patient you supply care for. For example, if you love treating children paediatrics may be an ideal speciality.
That covers the basics of choosing your medical speciality. From here, it’s time to start researching the different options to see what might suit you. While you’ll be able to try out most specialities during your studies, starting to think about this now will help you be prepared for med school. Plus, your interests can make for interesting talking points during interviews.
I hope this guide has been helpful to you! If it has, we’ve got plenty more guides covering the whole medicine application process, so be sure to check them out! For more in-depth support, our Medicine Mastery Bundles offer everything you need to get your place at med school, including preparation materials, live courses and one-on-one teaching time with an expert medicine tutor. Discover our bundles today or book a free consultation with our friendly team.
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