Second only to “Shouldn’t You Know That?” , I’m constantly asked “ What kind of doctor are you going to be? ” (I guess most people don’t realize you don’t have to officially “choose” until the end of third year.)

Who knows. Maybe it’s one of those “it just feels right” things. Maybe several of them will “feel right.” Only time will tell. Right now, I’m very public health oriented, very focused on trying to the type of doctor that the country needs. I can’t find the statistics right now, but I believe we churn out more specialists than we do primary care (internists, pediatricians, family practitioners) docs–leaving us specialist-heavy, even when most health care systems require primary care doctors (for us, they act as HMO gatekeepers). So maybe I should do primary care.

But on the other hand, if I turn out not to be happy with primary care, then I can’t exactly choose something I won’t enjoy for the rest of my life. Everything in moderation usually fits the bill for me pretty well–maybe something in between would be better? Some primary care work and some speciality? Or some teaching? Or public health? Or health policy?

On your third hand, my parents will be aging quickly (about a year per year), we’re due for a squaring of the population pyramid , and we’re fairly low on gerontologists…

On your fourth hand, I’m pretty sure that my dad (psychiatrist) has brought me up in such a way that I could do psychiatry, too.

I guess this is one of those questions like “What’s your major?” that’s more for small talk than anything, and you can only wait, shadow, and volunteer to try to get a better sense.

UPDATE: Maybe if I’m lucky, I’ll like Emergency Medicine . And if I’m extra lucky, I’ll get to do a Powerpoint presentation on boners .

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