Hey friends!
Thanks for stopping by my blog today. In this blog post, I share how I chose to train in Internal Medicine.
Here is a bit of background.
As far back as I can remember, as a young girl who had just finished secondary school in Western Nigeria, all I wanted was to end up in that profession my parents termed ‘noble’.
I was academically gifted. As you would expect, children like myself should end up becoming doctors. You should put that brain to use, they would say!
Finally, woohoo! I got admission to study medicine. My family was on cloud nine as I broke the news to them. It was a dream come true. Their joy knew no bounds!
Unbeknownst to me was the journey ahead: the myriads of exams, long hours of studying, and various life-defining choices that lay ahead of me.
It was helpful that in medical school, we rotated through different specialities. Some you spend sufficient time experiencing (e.g. Internal Medicine, Surgery, Community Medicine, Obstetrics and Gynaecology, and Paediatrics), and others you get exposed to just sparingly (e.g. Anaesthetics, Radiology, Ear, Nose and Throat(ENT), and Ophthalmology). This is based on my own experience.
And then congratulations! You have finally earned that medical degree!
Then you get bombarded by a barrage of questions about what speciality you would want to do.
There are different categories of young doctors: some people belong to the “lucky” group of people who know first-hand what branch of medicine they want to specialise in right from their first day in medical school, and some who develop an interest in their chosen speciality during medical school.
Then, there is a category of people like me—you enjoy bits and bits of everything, which could make your decision-making process more challenging.
I believe that this process can be made seamless if your medical school has dedicated career counselling in place.
My journey to Internal Medicine.
To jog your memory, especially if you are new to this blog, I graduated from medical school with 13 distinctions and 17 prizes. As you can imagine, this achievement of mine did not make my decision of a speciality choice any easier.
I have met people with a single distinction in a course who then decide to sub-specialise in that speciality. As a young doctor, I silently envied these people. They have it easy, I thought, so why couldn’t I?
My very close friend in medical school always knew he would do Primary Care Medicine. There was no ambiguity for him.
Well, as for me, I just enjoyed studying! Why couldn’t I decide?
This decision was nerve-wracking for me to say the least.
Internal Medicine was always an option on my list. Other specialities included Radiology, Ophthalmology, and a few others.
On moving to the UK and as I matured as a young person, I started to develop self-awareness and identify my priorities as an individual.
I started to identify my strengths and weaknesses. I was in tune with my core: what made me tick as an individual and a doctor.
I was also lucky to have joined a community of like-minded young early-career female physicians.
I remember we had various speciality webinars during which older colleagues would speak to us about their speciality, and we would get to ask them questions bothering on how they chose their speciality, the possibilities and opportunities their speciality offers, and their unique experience with combining work and life.
In retrospect, this was a huge opportunity that I would be ever grateful for.
I discovered I needed to choose a speciality that appeals to my strength. I enjoy being in an intellectually stimulating environment. I loved putting bits and bits of a patient’s history, examination and results of investigations together to arrive at a management plan.
Two specialities ranked top on my list: Internal Medicine and Radiology.
Starting my first job in the UK, I started with a surgical job which I did not despise as every experience counts. Then I proceeded to do a medicine job which I used to assess my interest in Internal Medicine.
While doing my surgical job, I sorted an opportunity to do a taster week in Radiology.
I was opportune to get exposure to both diagnostic and interventional Radiology. I ensured to engage almost every Consultant Radiologist I met, interviewing them about the reason for their choice.
In doing this, I realised there is no straightforward answer to this question. Every individual’s choice had a story behind them. In the end, this journey is a personalised one.
Then I started to build my portfolio. I immersed myself in the practice of Internal Medicine, aiming to learn the ropes and gauge how much I would enjoy being a physician.
I searched for Radiologists who are content creators on YouTube, for more information and context. I found channels by Dr Lasker and The Savvy Doctor very helpful.
The application period came. I made my applications with specific hopes of doing either Internal Medicine or Radiology.
I had to do an exam called MSRA for Radiology, which is usually defined as a rate-limiting step for applicants aiming for Radiology. Then got shortlisted for an interview which I passed. I, however, did not get an offer in the first round of offers.
I subsequently accepted training in Internal Medicine and am currently in my second year of training.
So far, I have enjoyed the intellectual challenge that Internal Medicine offers. The multidisciplinary nature gives a lot of opportunities for teamwork and acquiring excellent communication skills.
What I learnt from this experience.
- At the start of your career, it’s okay not to know which trajectory you want to toe. Life itself is a learning process.
- Hopefully, you would not stay in this zone for too long once you start to go through the process of self-discovery, understanding your personality and which area of medicine you would want to make an impact.
- Understanding your personality matters: Take a personality test. Who are you? What kind of job will suit your wiring as an individual?
- Speak to mentors: I cannot emphasise this enough. They make the journey seamless. They can also double as a coach.
- In 2020, my path crossed with the amazing head coach of EIM, with whom I journeyed through such a defining period in my life.
- From working through modules on career mapping to one-on-one sessions during which I would discuss my fears and aspirations. My mentor taught me that there is a purpose to my practice of medicine!
- It’s okay to switch specialities if you think the first one is not the right fit for you. I have seen people do this a lot. Check this Youtube channel out. In the end, if you choose to do clinical medicine, you would spend most of your career life as a Consultant. You don’t want to be miserable doing a job that does not suit you.
- Be open-minded to life and its opportunities. Life is for exploring. Don’t be rigid. Have fun while at it.
You made it to the end!
If you are at a phase in your medical career where you are unsure of what to do, I hope my experience will motivate you to be intentional about your choice and help you find joy while at it.
Thanks for reading this post. In my next, I’ll be giving more tips on how you can choose a speciality.
Care to share your journey to speciality training with me? Please comment below!
Yours,
Dr Aarin.