One thing that you really need to ask yourself when choosing a specialty is what kind of lifestyle do you want. Do you want your life to revolve around your work? Or do you want your work to be a piece of your life? How many hours during the week do you want to spend doing work vs doing other things? Everything is about compromise.
I will say, however, that you can make pretty much any specialty what you want it to be. You can work part-time, just do clinic, just do hospital shift work, or do it all and take call. What you can’t make what you want: residency. Residency will be tough for any specialty, but some are particularly bad. And that is 3-7 years of your life (plus fellowship if that is what you choose).
When I first started medical school I was pre-burnout. I thought that if I loved a specialty, I wouldn’t mind working 100+ hours per week. Maybe some people think that, but I learned quickly that I do want a life outside of medicine. The specialty I am going into is known for having one of the worst lifestyles, but I have a plan to make it a good lifestyle after residency. That is the key though, after residency. We’ll see how residency goes! But just something to think about as you all choose a specialty.
