Make the Decision

Choose Your Specialty
Find the medical specialty that's the best fit for you
- Understand Yourself
  - About
    How to approach learning who you are and why this awareness is crucial to making satisfying career decisions
  - CiM Assessments
    Complete self-assessments to explore your interests, values, skills, and personality
  - Assessments Dashboard
    View your assessment results to get a more complete picture of how you fit within the field of medicine
- Explore Options
  - Gathering Information
    What information to gather and how to evaluate it
  - Gaining Experience
    How to gain educational and clinical experiences to explore career options
  - Medical Specialties
    Browse more than 120 specialty and subspecialty programs
  - Other Practice Options
    Career options other than traditional clinical practice
  - Clinical and Research Opportunities
    A database of summer and year-round programs
- Make the Decision
  - About
    Factors to consider when evaluating your career options
  - Decision Making Strategies
    How to process the information you've gathered, narrow your options, and arrive at a confident decision
  - Reflections from Others
    How others approached and made their specialty choice
Prepare for Residency
Find and successfully match into the residency program that meets your career goals
- Residency Programs
  - Search Programs
    Profiles for more than 9,000 accredited residency and fellowship programs
  - Researching Programs
    Identify what you want from your training and find programs where you’re likely to fit
  - Residency Preference Exercise
    Capture and map your preferences to programs to find the best fit
- Residency Application
  - Applying
    Write a personal statement and CV, obtain letters of recommendation, and prepare a strong application.
  - Interviewing
    Secure enough interviews and present your best self on the interview trail
- The Match
  - Match Process
    Navigate the various matching programs and maximize your likelihood of matching
  - Rank Order List
    Strategically craft your final list of residency programs to help ensure you match
- Transition to Residency
  - Transition to Internship
    Progressing from medical school to day one of residency training
Shape Your Career
Consider practice options and maximize your career
- Practice
  - Patient Care
    Consider providing direct patient care
  - Research
    Consider conducting clinical or behavioral research
  - Teaching
    Consider teaching medical students, residents, or fellows
  - Administration
    Consider managing groups of people or entire organizations
  - Setting
    The types and locations of organizations where physicians practice
- Professional Development
  - Networking
    The importance of networking and recommended techniques
  - Switching Specialties
    How to switch specialties during or after residency
  - Licensing Exams
    Learn about board exams and their impact on your career decisions
- Alternative Careers
  - Public Health and Service
    Physician opportunities in public health and service
  - Public Policy and Government
    Physician opportunities in public policy and government
  - Communication and Journalism
    Physician opportunities in communications and journalism
  - Informatics
    Physician opportunities in informatics
  - Pharmaceutical Research
    Physician opportunities in the pharmaceutical industry
  - Consulting
    Opportunities for physician consultants

With all the information you’ll have gathered about yourself and your options, you should be well equipped to choose your specialty with confidence. However, that doesn’t mean your final decision will be easy. It requires that you compile all you’ve learned and seriously analyze where you best fit. You’ll need to prioritize your personal characteristics as well as your career goals and assess how well the specialties you’re considering meet those needs.

About

You have completed the Careers in Medicine self-assessments and better understand yourself. You've explored specialties and practice settings and narrowed your options. It's time to bring it all together to choose your specialty(ies) and make a plan for applying for residency.
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Decision Making Strategies

The "specialty fairy" will not bop you on the head with the perfect specialty choice for you. You must actively engage in the process. At this point, you're best situated for this major decision if you thoroughly understand yourself and your career options.
Learn more
Reflections from Others

You can take any of various approaches to making decisions. Learn how others approached their specialty choice, processed the information they had gathered, and ultimately made a specialty decision and plan for applying to residency.
Learn more

View my Assessments

Take self-assessments and view your results to get a more complete picture of how you fit within the field of medicine.

Assessments Dashboard

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