Other Specialties

Now that all my classmates and I find ourselves heading down separate pathways for residency, it is easy for us to discount the specialties we're not entering. After all, each specialty has its stereotypes, and we'd like to think that our specialty is the ideal. But the truth is, I'm so impressed by the talents and skill sets of practitioners in other fields. Psychiatrists have far more patience than I do and identify subtleties in conversation that pass me by; emergency medicine doctors have such quick reflexes in treating life-threatening conditions of all kinds; orthopedic surgeons understand bones. I'm amazed by the diverse goals of my classmates, and I know they will accomplish things that I could never have done. And though I still think anesthesia is the coolest field, I know it cannot exist in a vacuum and I thoroughly appreciate all the other different specialties out there.