“Keep your minds open,” the dean announced at M3 orientation, “maybe you’ve always dreamed of becoming an orthopedic surgeon but will fall in love with psychiatry.” As freshly minted third year medical students with wrinkle free and yet to be coffee/pen/bodily fluid stained short white coats we entered clinical rotations much like undifferentiated cells, eager to be shaped and influenced as we transformed into the future physicians we were to become. However, for many students, choosing a specialty is not as easy as dreaming and falling in love. There is a fine line three quarters into M3 year when the reaction to uncertainty about choosing a specialty changes from a response of “you’ve got time” to a reaction that may make you feel like somehow over a few short months you became defective. In the midst of the uncertainty and doubt you then receive an email that it’s time to schedule your fourth year electives and are advised to “choose them wisely” as you are reminded that residency applications will be due just three months into the year. If that story sounds all too familiar of you anticipate that this could happen to you, don’t panic, you’re not alone, let’s get through this together.
