The Ultimate Guide to Choosing a Medical Specialty

491 Pages·2003·4.72 MB·English

by  World Health Organization

a LANGE medical book
THE ULTIMATE GUIDE TO
CHOOSING
A MEDICAL
SPECIALTY
Brian Freeman, MD
Resident in Anesthesiology and Critical Care
University of Chicago Hospitals
Chicago, Illinois
And Associate Authors
Lange Medical Books/McGraw-Hill
Medical Publishing Division
New York Chicago San Francisco Lisbon London
Madrid Mexico City Milan New Delhi San Juan
Seoul Singapore Sydney Toronto
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DOI: 10.1036/0071457135
For Rebecca
Without you, this book would never have been conceived. You are my
inspiration—each and every day—for all that I do and all that I hope to
achieve. Thank you for your love, for your never-ending support and
devotion, and for always being there with a soft “pet” whenever I need
one. I am yours forever.
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Contents
Internet Resources Guide . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Inside Front Cover
Authors. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . xi
Preface. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . xv
Part 1. Planning Your Medical Career
1. Choosing a Specialty: The Most Difficult Decision of Your Career 3
2. The Specialization of Medicine . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
3. Ten Factors to Consider in Specialty Selection . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23
4. Personality Assessment: Are You My Type? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35
5. Finding the Perfect Specialty . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45
6. Special Considerations for Women . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 59
7. Combined Residency Programs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 71
8. Options for the Undecided Medical Student . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 81
9. Applying for Residency: An Overview of the Match Process . . . . . 87
10. Love and Medicine: The Couples Match . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 109
11. Top Secret! The Ultimate Guide to a Successful Match . . . . . . . . 119
12. Your Medical Career Beyond Residency . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 137
Part 2. Specialty Profiles
13. Anesthesiology . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 151
Brian Freeman, MD
14. Dermatology . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 169
Amy J. Farmer, MD
15. Emergency Medicine . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 181
Jeremy Graff, MD
v
vi CONTENTS
16. Family Practice . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 199
Michael Mendoza, MD, MPH, and Lisa Vargish, MD, MS
17. General Surgery . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 213
Danagra Georgia Ikossi, MD and Jonathan Long Le, MD
18. Internal Medicine . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 229
Jennifer Lamb, MD and Ian Tong, MD
19. Neurology . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 251
Tomasz Zabiega, MD
20. Neurosurgery . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 267
M. Jafer Ali, MD
21. Obstetrics & Gynecology . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 281
Kelly Oberia Elmore, MD, LT, MC, USNR
22. Ophthalmology . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 295
Andrew Schwartz, MD
23. Orthopedic Surgery . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 309
John C. Langland, MD
24. Otolaryngology . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 321
Daniel J. Lee, MD
25. Pathology . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 333
Lisa Yerian, MD
26. Pediatrics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 349
Aaron J. Miller, MD
27. Physical Medicine & Rehabilitation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 367
Vicki Anderson, MD, MBA
28. Plastic Surgery . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 383
Gregory H. Borschel, MD
29. Psychiatry . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 397
Kathleen Ang-Lee, MD
30. Radiation Oncology . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 413
Stephanie E. Weiss, MD
CONTENTS vii
31. Radiology . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 429
Derek Fimmen, MD
32. Urology . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 443
Jane Lewis, MD
Index . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .457
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Authors
M. Jafer Ali, MD
Resident in Neurosurgery, Department of Neurosurgery, University of
Michigan Hospital, Ann Arbor, Michigan
[email protected]
Neurosurgery
Vicki Anderson, MD, MBA
Resident, McGaw Medical Center of Northwestern University, Rehabilitation
Institute of Chicago, Chicago, Illinois
[email protected]
Physical Medicine & Rehabilitation
Kathleen Ang-Lee, MD
Resident, Department of Psychiatry, University of Washington Medical Center,
Seattle, Washington
[email protected]
Psychiatry
Gregory H. Borschel, MD
The Ethel C. Coller Research Fellow, Department of Surgery; Plastic Surgery
Resident, Section of Plastic Surgery, University of Michigan Medical School,
Ann Arbor, Michigan
[email protected]
Plastic Surgery
Kelly Oberia Elmore, MD, LT, MC, USNR
Resident, Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Naval Medical Center,
San Diego, California
[email protected]
Obstetrics & Gynecology
Amy J. Farmer, MD
Resident, Division of Dermatology, University of Chicago Hospitals, Chicago,
Illinois
[email protected]
Dermatology
ix
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