I have nothing against primary doctors. Family physicians and front-line health care workers are important. They are severely understaffed. The shortage is a real concern. But the more I think about what I want as a career, what type of a balanced life I want to live and what type of things interest me in medicine, the more it seems as if becoming a specialist is for me.

While looking at how doctors choose their residency, I came upon a survey published in the CMAJ.

And don’t get me wrong, it’s not the prestige and money that’s attracting me to choosing a specialty. I think it’s the academic challenge and ability to pursue intellectual interests is what appeals to me. I love teaching, I have tutored and taught science classes for the last 4-5 years. I enjoy research, as long as I get a fair bit of autonomy and responsibility.

Finally, I love academia. I’m pretty certain I want to pursue academic medicine, practice in a university-hospital setting, have teaching hours. If I didn’t pursue medicine, graduate school would have been my next choice.

I guess I still haven’t gotten any closer to deciding on what specialty I would like. More to come, as I find out myself.