Endocrinology

Endocrinology is a clinic-based specialty. Each day, we see a wide variety of outpatients, from diabetics managing insulin pumps to patients after pituitary surgeries to women with hypothyroidism planning pregnancy. Several things are immediately apparent. Endocrine problems cover every organ system; here is a specialty where the review of systems matters. The patient population is very different than the standard hospital patient population; the prototypic endocrine patient is a young woman. It's a heavily laboratory-based specialty, and we titrate our medications based on blood tests. The pace is fast and in general, patients are not sick.

In the afternoons, we field hospital consults for problems from diabetic management to hormone replacement to questions of adrenal insufficiency. At Stanford, even endocrinology is subdivided and we have attendings who specialize in diabetes management, cystic fibrosis, and neuro-endocrinology. As a result, I get to learn from a wide variety of specialists on their particular area of interest.