Questions to ask yourself • What do I enjoy doing? • What is important to me? • What energizes me? • What do I do well? • Where do I feel most at home? • What made me want to practice medicine in the first place? Do I value... • Autonomy • Continuity of care • Innovative thinking • Intellectual challenge • Pressure • Responsibility • Sense of accomplishment Nature of the work • What systems, diseases, patient types, and procedures are part of this specialty? • What kind of relationships do physicians in these specialties have with their patients? • Do they work with a variety of common medical problems, or singular, specialized problems? • In what settings are these specialties practiced? • Do they regularly work with consultants, referral specialists or allied health professionals? • Does the work involve regular manual or mechanical activities? • Does the work involve an intellectual component? Characteristics of physicians in the specialty • What values, interests, skills, and personality types are common to physicians in this specialty? • Is this field diverse in ways that matter to me? • Training/Residency requirements • How long is the training for this career path? • How competitive is this option, and can I compete (grades, USMLE scores, etc.)? • What are the options for fellowship or subspecialty training? Lifestyle and salary • What is the average number of work hours per week? • What is the on-call schedule like? • What can I expect in terms of salary? Issues facing professionals in the field • What are the hot topics? • What research questions are being studied? • How interesting are these issues to me? • Is there an expectation of growth or decline in the need for physicians in this specialty area? Questions to ask a specialist • How / why did you choose this specialty? • What do you find most rewarding about your work? • What are the biggest challenges? • How much balance do you have between your career and personal life? • What attributes are important in anyone considering this specialty? • Knowing what you do now, would you choose this specialty again? source
