CELP CareerMed CELP CareerMed 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 CELP CareerMed Copyright © 2004 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. Manufactured in the United States of America. Except as permitted under the United States Copyright Act of 1976, no part of this publication may be reproduced or distributed in any form or by any means, or stored in a database or retrieval system, without the prior written permission of the publisher. 0-07-145713-5 The material in this eBook also appears in the print version of this title: 0-07-141052-X. All trademarks are trademarks of their respective owners. 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DOI: 10.1036/0071457135 CELP CareerMed 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. CELP CareerMed This page intentionally left blank. CELP For more information about this title, click here CareerMed 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 CELP CareerMed 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 CELP CareerMed CONTENTS vii 31. Radiology . 429 Derek Fimmen, MD 32. Urology . 443 Jane Lewis, MD Index . .457 CELP CareerMed This page intentionally left blank. CELP CareerMed 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 Copyright © 2004 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. Click here for terms of use. CELP CareerMed x AUTHORS Derek Fimmen, MD Resident, Department of Radiology, University of Chicago Hospitals, Chicago, Illinois dlfi[email protected] Radiology Brian Freeman, MD Resident in Anesthesiology and Critical Care, University of Chicago Hospitals, Chicago, Illinois [email protected] Choosing a Specialty: The Most Difficult Decision of Your Career; The Specialization of Medicine; Ten Factors to Consider in Specialty Selection; Personality Assessment: Are You My Type?; Finding the Perfect Specialty; Special Considerations for Women; Combined Residency Programs; Options for the Undecided Medical Student; Applying for Residency: An Overview of the Match Process; Love and Medicine: The Couples Match; Top Secret! The Ultimate Guide to a Successful Match; Your Medical Career Beyond Residency; Anesthesiology Jeremy Graff, MD Resident, Department of Emergency Medicine, Alameda County Medical Center, Highland Hospital, Oakland, California [email protected] Emergency Medicine Danagra Georgia Ikossi, MD Resident in General Surgery, Department of Surgery, Stanford University Medical Center, Stanford, California [email protected] General Surgery Jennifer Lamb, MD Resident, Department of Internal Medicine, Stanford University Hospitals, Stanford, California [email protected] Internal Medicine John C. Langland, MD Orthopedic Surgeon, Steindler Orthopedic Clinic, Iowa City, Iowa Orthopedic Surgery CELP CareerMed AUTHORS xi Jonathan Long Le, MD Resident in Plastic Surgery, Department of Plastic Surgery, University of California, San Francisco [email protected] General Surgery Daniel J. Lee, MD Assistant Professor, University of Massachusetts Medical School; Director, The Sounds of Life Center, UMass Memorial Medical Center, Worcester, Massachusetts; Lecturer, Department of Otology and Laryngology, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts; Research Associate, Eaton-Peabody Laboratory, Massachusetts Eye and Ear Infirmary, Boston, Massachusetts [email protected] Otolaryngology Jane Lewis, MD Resident in Urology, Harvard Program in Urology, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts [email protected] Urology Michael Mendoza, MD, MPH Resident, Family Practice Residency Program, University of California, San Francisco and San Francisco General Hospital [email protected] Family Practice Aaron J. Miller, MD Attending Pediatrician, Jacobi Medical Center, Bronx, New York [email protected] Pediatrics Andrew Schwartz, MD Resident Physician,