But I'm an indecisive Libran!

I stole this idea from Polly, Miss-G-, and yay...

It's a list of possible medical specialties, and my current level of interest in them as a career. In Australia, you really don't need to make a decision about your career path until resident year (i.e. second year out of uni), but it'd be nice to have some idea before then.

I should preface the list by pointing out that I'm in my early-to-mid 30s, want to have kids (no current prospects though), and don't want to still be training deep into my 40s.

Here goes...

• Surgery: No - long and boring and repetitive.


• Emergency: An outside chance, but probably ruled out from a lifestyle perspective.


• Cardiology, Respiratory, Neurology, Gastroenterology, Endocrinology, Oncology, Immunology, other -ologies: I don't have the motivation for the long physician's training program, plus none of these really grab me.


• Haematology: Blood is a wonderful thing, but not as a career for me.


• Orthopaedics: You mean carpentry? Um, no.


• Obstetrics & Gynaecology: I have some interest in this, but enough to sustain a career? I think not.


• GP: Currently second on the list. Good lifestyle.


• Dermatology: Not really interested in skin.


• Ophthalmology: Very interested in eyes, but this is down the list due to the pain involved in getting onto the program in the first place.


• Paediatrics: I agree with yay - could do GP training then sub-specialise in kids.


• Anaesthetics: Currently top of the list - can't really explain why I'm interested in it, but I enjoyed my rotation, and am planning to do an elective in it. Very very good from a lifestyle point of view. Actually it might be something to do with my anal retentiveness - I do like how organised everything is. Like these wonderful stickers:







• Radiology: My cousin is a radiologist, and I respect his career choice. But I find radiology to be a tad dull.


• Pathology: God no.


• Intensive care: I don't think so.


• Palliative care: Requires physician's training, so no.


• Psychiatry: With my psychology degree, I have some interest in this, but not enough to push me into doing it as a career. Like paeds, I could do GP training, then sub-specialise in psych if I really wanted to.

I wonder how much this will change in a year's time...