It’s day 3 since I started my 30 posts in 30 days challenge and I’m already behind pace since this is my second post.. oh well, just gotta double up one of the days!

Last night I was having dinner with a fellow medical student and friend of mine from undergad, and one of the concepts that came up in the discussion was the question of whether a “perfect specialty” exists. To clarify, I’m not talking about one particular specialty being better than the others or being particularly “perfect”. Rather, we were asking whether the concept of a “perfect specialty” really exists for every single medical student out there. That is, can I really expect to fall in love with some specialty and find everything I have ever wanted in a career and perhaps life in general?

I think a lot of us come into medicine hoping to find that “perfect” specialty for ourselves – one that will constantly challenge us and make us excited to get up in the morning to go to work. While it is certainly possible for this to exist for some people, I think in reality this is true for extremely few people, and I think the majority of doctors will find some but not complete life satisfaction in their medical practice – and I think that’s okay, and it’s not something to be ashamed of or worried about.

Not all doctors have the same personality, values, and life goals. For some of us, we will find everything we could ever want in life in medicine. For others, who have extremely diverse tastes and interests, we may seek to find other venues to satisfy those interests, and I think it is not only fine, but actually good and healthy to explore those paths outside of medicine.

For me I enjoy program development, entrepreneurship, speaking, mentoring, writing, etc. – many things that a doctor doesn’t explicitly do, and activities that I would like to pursue on the side. Not doing these things would make me less happy and so I hope to pursue them on top of being a doctor, and I don’t think there’s anything wrong with that.

I don’t expect my happiness to come purely from medicine and I don’t expect to like all aspects of medicine. As long as you meet your professional obligations I think you should explore your options and engage yourself in activities you find challenging, stimulating, and enjoyable, even if they are outside medicine. Don’t be afraid to keep being yourself and doing what makes you happy!