The Ultimate Guide To Choosing a Medical Specialty [Paperback]

Brian Freeman (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 007141052X | ISBN-13: 978-0071410526 | Publication Date: December 19, 2003 | Edition: 1

The first medical specialty selection guide written by residents for students! Provides an inside look at the issues surrounding medical specialty selection, blending first-hand knowledge with useful facts and statistics, such as salary information, employment data, and match statistics. Focuses on all the major specialties and features firsthand portrayals of each by current residents. Also includes a guide to personality characteristics that are predominate with practitioners of each specialty.

“A terrific mixture of objective information as well as factual data make this book an easy, informative, and interesting read.”
--Review from a 4th year Medical Student

Editorial Reviews

From the Back Cover

ATTENTION MEDICAL STUDENTS:
DON’T CHOOSE YOUR SPECIALTY WITHOUT READING THIS BOOK!

Finally! Someone who conquered the obstacle course himself writes the essential book to help you answer the most urgent question of your career — what specialty? Brian Freeman knows the anxiety of that all-important choice. He knows what information you need to choose the specialty that’s just right for you and that will make all you’ve invested in medical school --- and all that you will invest in your residency training — pay off.

AVOID AGONIZING UNCERTAINTY AND THE WRONG CHOICE
Dr. Freeman’s The Ultimate Guide to Choosing a Medical Specialty delivers a user-friendly, anxiety-calming mix of real-life answers—insights from his own personal experiences, candid reports from current residents in each specialty, and a wealth of hard-dug research. The Ultimate Guide to Choosing a Medical Specialty brings you—
*All the information the author—a recent medical school graduate—wishes he had when choosing his specialty
*“Vital Signs,” detailing each specialty’s average salary, type of practice, hours worked per week, job satisfaction rankings, match statistics, and much more
*Detailed reports “from the trenches” on the excitement, challenges, and rhythm of their lives from current residents in the twenty major medical specialties
*“The Inside Scoop,” exposing specialties’ lifestyle realities, training requirements, and predominant personality types
*Answers to the question: “Does personality really matter?”
*Specialty-specific tips to enhance your chances for acceptance in your chosen field
*What to do if you still can’t decide
*Bonus— a complete Internet resources guide, advice for women and couples, and much more

THE PERFECT GUIDE FOR BEFORE, DURING, AND END OF MEDICAL SCHOOL

About the Author

Brian S. Freeman, University of Chicago, Pritzker School of Medicine, Chicago, IL

Product Details

• Paperback: 385 pages
• Publisher: McGraw-Hill Medical; 1 edition (December 19, 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 007141052X
• ISBN-13: 978-0071410526
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 6.5 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.3 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (16 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #928,073 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

27 of 27 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Keep a few things in mind when you read this book, October 8, 2010

By 

James M (Chicago, IL) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Ultimate Guide to Choosing a Medical Specialty, Second Edition (Paperback)

It is an informative book. Students will learn a lot from reading this book. But the authors for each specialty are merely telling you the positive aspects of their specialty. Students still should seek more information about some of the issues why you may not want to choose a specific specialty. For an example, in Ob/Gyn the author for that section addresses males in the specialty as 'still having a role' in ob/gyn. True. But, in many, many metropolitan areas males ob/gyns struggle to find jobs. You'll not find information like that in this book. Pathology section doesn't mention how for the past 10 year or so the job market has really suffered. Because the duration of residency has decreased from 5 years to 4 years many residents are not equipped to function fully as an attending. Hence many employers seek out applicants with a fellowship in a subspecialty. This has created a huge demand for fellowship training which is very limited in number in comparison to the number of residents seeking fellowships. It, as I've been told, is one of the few physician specialty where you are not really guaranteed a position after residency. But the book doesn't tell you things like that. Anesthesiology section doesn't paint the real picture of the power struggle between CRNAs taking over MD anesthesiologists' jobs. Rather it more or less states how they all need to work together. In the meanwhile Colorado has just become the 16th state to allow CRNAs to practice without the supervision of an MD. So, use this book as a book that tends to advertise each specialty without informing you on issues that may cause you not to choose a certain specialty.

36 of 38 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars You must pick this up!, January 5, 2004

By 

Michael T. (California) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Ultimate Guide To Choosing a Medical Specialty (Paperback)

I'm a third-year medical student, and I've been worrying for some time now about how I'd decide what specialty to go into. Of course, nothing substitutes for some good, old-fashioned soul-searching, but Dr. Freeman's book will certainly kick your inner dialogue into gear.

What impressed me most about this book was the quality of information--everything was accurate, up-to-date, and written in an engaging way. I learned many things about each of the specialties I am consdering that I'd never read anywhere else. I also appreciated the fact that each specialty chapter is written by someone who's actually "been there, done that"--they're all written by residents.

Overall, I highly recommend this book to any medical student who is pondering what specialty to choose.

23 of 24 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Must Read for Every Medical Student, December 11, 2004

By 

John Vickery (Memphis, TN United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Ultimate Guide To Choosing a Medical Specialty (Paperback)

I read this book during my second year of med school and found it to be an invaluable resource. The Ultimate Guide to Choosing a Medical Specialty is divided into two parts. The first has general information about specialties and the Match along with strategies to approach both. The information on the NRPM alone is reason enough to buy the book. After reading Part One, I had a much better understanding of how to plan for residency while still in the early stages of medical school. The second part of the book profiles individual types of residencies. Each chapter is written by a resident or practicing physician in that area. They provide a glimpse into what it is like in those specialties. Each chapter focuses on personalities, scientific interests, lifestyles, and the residency experience. The book even provides details and statistics covering match percentages, employment data, average weekly work hours, and median compensations. The only valuable piece of information that it does not provide are average GPAs and USMLE scores for the specialties. It also briefly covers fellowships for each residency. The specialty chapters are in alphabetical order for easy reference. Although it does not cover every single possible specialty and subspecialty out there, it comes close and definitely includes all the major ones. Whether decided on a specialty or not, this book is perfect for anyone at any stage of medical school or pre-medical education. The earlier one reads this book, the better.