Top Tips for Picking your Medical Specialty

Are you considering medical school? Do you know what area of medicine you'd like to call your specialty? Do you have a few specialties in mind, and don't know how to decide which one is "the one"? Perhaps, you know your calling is to become a doctor, but you have no idea what area of medicine you'd like to specialize in. If you're in any of these categories, or somewhere in between, you're not alone, and Trinity is here to help.

The best way to figure out what you're good at, or what you don't like is to gain experience in a particular area. The same is true with medicine and the various specialties surrounding the various complex fields.

A medical specialty focuses on a defined group of patients, diseases, skills, or philosophy. Some examples include children (pediatrics), cancer (oncology), laboratory medicine (pathology), or primary care (family medicine). After medical school, you can continue to further your education in a specialty of medicine by completing a multiple-year residency to become a medical specialist in a particular field.

To help determine what medical specialty aligns best, you’ll want to know what areas of scientific and clinical interests you find most interesting and intriguing. It’s also important to know what your particular specialty will mean for you as a future physician.

Perhaps you prefer a specialty that’s more procedure-oriented, or places an emphasis on patient relationships and clinical reasoning? If you’ve answered yes, some examples to consider include; Surgical-> orthopedics, plastics, Neurosurgery Mixed-> ear nose and throat (ENT), obstetrics and gynecology, or internal medicine, to name a few.

Maybe your personality is better suited to interpersonal skills, and fostering relationships. Internal and family medicine offer long-term patient relationships and may be a good overall match, for a long-lasting, rewarding medical carrier.

Another angle to consider is what kind of hours are you willing to work. Are you willing to work weekends, being on call up to what percentage of the time? Specialties like Dermatology, Radiology, Pathology, Anesthesia, and Neurology tend to allow the doctor a better work/life balance.

Trinity gives you the opportunity to gain clinical experience starting in your first term. This early clinical exposure is an advantage, giving you the chance to see, and participate in a variety of medical specialties as you continue through your 3rd and 4th years of medical school and match into your residency.

Here’s our formula for your success.

Trinity School of Medicine recognizes the importance of early clinical training; that's why we begin clinical training in the very first term. With a long-standing partnership with Milton Cato Memorial Hospital, a 230-bed teaching hospital, coupled with serving at several local community health clinics, our students are exposed to invaluable early clinical experience from the start. Trinity students participate in weekly rotations at Milton Cato, with robust early clinical training that isn't available at a U.S. medical school. This unique opportunity allows you to gain clinical practice and experience with some of the medical specialties firsthand. Shadowing, participating in research, volunteering at a clinic, and other hands-on experiences help Trinity students formulate an idea of possible specialty options before going into clerkships, even if they have not pinned down the exact one just yet.

During 3rd and 4th year Trinity offers you a choice of completing your clerkships (rotations) at one of our two U.S. clinical campuses. Mid-Atlantic Campus, Baltimore, Maryland, and our Southeast campus, Warner Robins, Georgia. On either campus, you will complete a full 48 weeks of core rotations at our affiliated hospitals and clinics, where we've removed the waiting for rotation slots 'to open' and eliminated any waiting between rotations.

To make sure you have a smooth experience, we offer an On-site Senior Associate Dean of Clinical Clerkships. Our clinical Deans have a vast knowledge of clinical education. They are resources that are in place to help Trinity students get the most out of their clerkships, and to help prepare the students for the upcoming residency match process. Core clinical clerkships include; 12-weeks of Internal Medicine, 12 weeks of Surgery, 6 weeks Pediatrics, 6-weeks Obstetrics, and Gynecology, 6 weeks of Family Medicine, and 6 weeks of Psychiatry.

Trinity keeps you at one location for all of your clinical rotations. Once you've decided on which campus to complete your 48 weeks of rotations, you will stay in that area (Baltimore, Maryland, or Warner Robins, Georgia) for the duration of your clerkship. There are so many advantages of having this kind of stationary position during your rotations. You get to stay (live) in one location for the duration of your clinical rotations. You become a part of the medical community. In contrast, other programs have you moving, sometimes hundreds of miles (or more) every 6 to 12 weeks until you've completed 48 weeks of clinical rotations. Not Trinity. We've eliminated this exhaustive and stressful way of "doing it."

Additionally, we offer an extensive list of fourth-year specialty elective rotations that are available in both locations, giving the student a better likelihood of finishing on time, while staying on track with your all-important residency match cycle.

Trinity's progressive approach is a part of who we are. We've become a favorite choice for many up-and-coming doctors, for countless reasons. Trinity holds the highest level of accreditation CAAM-HP, maintains a small student-to-faculty ratio, and bolsters an impressive 86% match rate. Trinity also continues to offer a high-quality medical education that allows successful graduates to obtain residency or be licensed in all 50 states, Canada, India, and many other countries.

Trinity School of Medicine provides students the opportunity to continue pursuing their dream of becoming a physician. Through rigorous academics, a supportive environment, world-class partnerships, and personal attention, we graduate, match, and deliver skilled, compassionate, and successful physicians throughout the world.

If you are ready to take the next step in your medical education, you can be sure Trinity is the one school that will invest personally and professionally in you with your success as its core mission.