What is the best advice/method for a medical student to choose a specialty?

I like to keep things simple, so here's the one rule I'd stick with: do whatever makes you happy every day you do it. Seriously, it's that easy. When you wake up and think, "YESSSS, I GET TO DO MORE [insert specialty here] TODAY!", that's it, you're done, you've found the right one, congrats. Things that everyone swills around in the ole noggin when they really shouldn't: Money. Let's be real: if you're an MD, chances are you're going to be all right financially in the long run if you're smart about paying off debts as soon as possible and not making foolish decisions with your purchasing power. Sure, you may never be "rich", in the millionaire sense, and you might not be able to send 4 kids to private school, but realistically, if you live within your means, you'll be fine. Plenty of people in America make do with far less than what you'll be making--practice frugality. Lifestyle. For the love of all that is good, do not pick based on lifestyle. Chances are high you will end up miserable and wondering what you could've been. Field's reputation for tough hours. Residency is a tough time for the grand majority of MDs in training. That won't necessarily be the case once you finish residency. Once you're attending-level, realize that it can be within your domain to scale your hours as desired, depending on how smart you were with your contract. Prestige. Look, neurosurgery sounds uber-cool, but it takes a special type to spend 7 years in a tough residency with extremely high divorce rates. Similarly, while family medicine isn't prestigious anymore, the people who do that need a special type of patience and connecting love for their community. Things everyone should swill around in the ole noggin, but often don't: Colleagues. These are the people you will train with, the people who will train and mentor you, the people you will work with shoulder to shoulder. Can you stand them? Better yet, do you want to hang out with them when work is over and chat about everything under the sun? Academic vs. private/community. Two very, very different beasts. Some fields are geared a bit more for one vs. the other simply due to their nature, while others are a little more evenly balanced. This depends a lot on the specific residency program you end up in as well, but it's worth thinking about. For instance, practicing ENT in the community with common procedures is a very different feel from ENT in a large academic center with rare conditions and research projects. Fellowships. It's worth considering some of the options available for expanding your experience and really developing a niche that suits your interests. If you're interested in urology, what do you think of doing a minimally invasive surgery fellowship? For ob/gyn, would you consider a fellowship in reproductive endocrinology/infertility? For emergency medicine, how about an ultrasound fellowship? Etc. Field's reputation for tough hours. While the above is true, residency is still going to take a toll on your relationships. Think about the ones that are valuable to you, and how compatible they are with the training hours. If your spouse is completely against you going into X specialty because you've got 4 kids at home and the thought of Q3 call is terrifying, things need to be sorted out (in more ways than one). Will add more to the lists if I think of anything.This answer is not a substitute for professional medical advic...

Usually med students will have some idea of what field they want to go into following the 2nd year of classwork and some pre clinical preceptorships.  I would advise students to select that specific rotation (surgery/medicine/radiology, etc.) late in the 3rd year/early 4th after some other clinical exposure. At that time of the maturation process, they are just better students than someone that's fresh out of the classroom and that simple timing is going to make their performance much better and help in getting important letters of recommendation. You hear about how it's a little scary to be a patient in a teaching hospital in July and it's somewhat true. Even the nurses are a little anxious.  Everyone is newly promoted. Interns are just starting. Residents were interns the month before, and the 3rd year med students are just out of the classroom. It's amazing what a year of seasoning does for everyone because the learning curve is very steep. By the end of spring, everyone is a pro and the professors and staff are much more relaxed and trusting.   How to you pick a field in medicine? You have to pick something you like and that you love. And I mean love because you are going to have to be reading in your spare time all your career, and go to endless meetings to keep up and take review courses. If you don't do that, you won't be any good and it shows.   Many students are influenced by great professors. No surprise . there. How do student's want to be a rectal surgeon or specialize in bariatric surgery (operations to help obese people loose weight) or a psychiatrist? Often it's because they had a professor that was really skilled as a physician, very passionate about the field, had very grateful patients, was a really standup person, and all this made an imprint. Many students want to emulate their most outstanding professors.   That's why I went into oncology. I always get the "Why did you pick THAT field?" I had great professors during training that made a lasting impression on me and inspired me to become an oncologist.   LIfe style is not so much a factor because you always have the option of getting into a work situation that suits your needs. There's always tension between income and lifestyle but you almost always can find a work situation that will suit you. For example if you really value more free time, there are situations where you could make less income but have more protected time even if you are a neurosurgeon. This could be in a university or a large HMO.   At the end of the day, you have to really really like what you do. Because it shows in how you interact with patients, staff, and other doctors. It's very obvious when a doctor doesn't like his/her job and carries over on performance that is noticed by others. And choosing a residency and then changing minds is not a fatal mistake. I know a number of physicians that switched in midstream to another fiield.This answer is not a substitute for professional medical advic...

Although many medical students have an idea of what they are interested in early on in medical school, its very important to keep an open mind as you go thru your rotations. If you speak to physicians you will hear that many ended up choosing fields that were not their initial interest during the first few years of medical school. I agree with that the primary factor is happiness and fulfillment. Choose a specialty that you find interesting and makes you happy. Do not let other people's expectations of you guide your decision. This is a personal choice and only you know what really inspires you. There are also the nitty gritty details to consider such as lifestyle, academics vs. private practice, etc. If you are interested in a flexible work schedule and maybe the option of working part-time or balancing clinical work with research or other interests make sure you are well-informed about which fields give you that flexibility.

1. Go to the library- leaf through journals from various specialties 2. Attend career panel discussions- many medical schools already have these. If yours does not, sees about setting one up 3. Spend time out in the field- shadow practitioners, even if only for a couple of days At some point you'll need to rank your priorities. Probably the most basic of choices is between surgical and non-surgical specialties. If you can make that choice you'll have taken a big step forward. Beyond that what's your priority? Hospital based? Limited patient contact? Kids or adults? Minimal or no emergency call? Relatively healthy patients? Procedures available? Research options? Super specialization? Duration and intensity of training? Solo or group practice? And remember, when you have access to practitioners ask lots of questions. Be polite but be a snoop.

Pay attention to residents, fellows and attendings when you are doing your rounds. General surgery made me so excited that I got up earlier than I should have (I LOVE sleeping), went to school earlier and got into an OR. I did not leave until the last elective surgery of that day was done. That sometimes meant 14 hours. And normally I am obliged to be there from 8 am to 6 pm. I loved GS so much and my love for GS was noticed so much that when the verbal exam time came, nobody wanted to ask me a question because they thought I would answer the question and then talk some more. And they were right to think so. Then, later that same year, I was on-call student (meaning I had to be there for the whole day). If I am remembering correctly, I saw the head of general surgery at the hospital at 4 pm. Yep, 3 or 4 pm. Even the on-call doctors were taking naps and the poor guy had to be there. In my hospital, being the head of the department meant that you get to leave at 5 pm and nobody would ask a question. Besides that, this particular surgeon made my hospital the 2nd best liver transplant center in the world. But he was there. I went to ask him why he was there. He said that's the life of a general surgeon. That moment, I thought "Wow, maybe I need to think something else than GS". Then I asked the residents how their lives are. GS residents were too busy to answer. They loved surgeries, but they were miserable. You had to see them.So, observe the doctors while you can. For me, emergency department was a very good opportunity to see who has the most work. Because of the consults, you got to see who was called in most. And man... The orthopedics resident came down to the ER so many times that I thought I was doing my ortho rounds. See what they actually do, see how busy they really are, participate in what they are doing and see it for yourself.

I would approach this the same way you approach diagnosis:-What is the best/worst but rare thing that you could face?-What is the most common thing you'd do most of the time?I think most of the other answers have addressed many issues regarding practice, however, most of those issues are not necessarily tied to a speciality, and it is possible somewhat to choose a place of practice that better suits you (for issues of money, colleagues, work schedule, etc).Ask around to see what is the worst thing that could happen in a specialty?  If dealing with major trauma or people on the verge of dying is too stressful, then don't do emergency medicine or critical care.  If doing 16 hour surgeries is not your thing, then don't do neurosurgery.Consider what the most common thing in a specialty is, and if you'd get bored doing it all your life, the so called bread and butter of the specialty.  Don't be an urologist if you don't want to look into people's bladders all day.  Don't go into anesthesia if you don't like to wake up at all hours of the night to do epidurals. If you can deal with both situations, the day to day, and the most intense cases, you've got a winner!Good luck, it's a very exciting time in your career...

Medicine is a wonderful field because everybody can find a specialty that appeals to their personal strength and talent. Physicians who enjoy working with their hands can become surgeons, those who like direct interaction with their patients will become GPs or internists, those who cannot stand the sight of blood can become psychiatrists and even those who want to avoid any discussion or social contact with their patients can become successful in their field ...as pathologists. As you go through your training certain specialties will appeal to you more than others and you will master them better, and this is how you will come to choose your practice area.

The primary factor is happiness and fulfillment. Choose a specialty that you find interesting and makes you happy. Do not let other people's expectations of you guide your decision. This is a personal choice and only you know what really inspires you. You can consider any specialization like  Psychiatry,  Forensic Medicine, Pharmacology, Microbiology, ENT, Pathology or  Physiology as per ur interest. Go for the good university to pursue such specializations. One of my friends has recently joined Santosh University. It is one of the best private medical and dental university and has won award too for being the best medical university.  You may also check this out university on FB, you can talk to its current students  on its official FB page, they may also guide you with the best possible advices.

As a medical student, I chose psychiatry because I believe that in my country, mental health must be entertained and as a psychology graduate, I have known how important mental health is.