Clinical Rotation electives advice: Pediatric endocrinology

[eluch15]

My program allows two electives and I am not sure which ones I should choose since I am interested in 4 different electives. My question is should you pick something you might never have the chance to see again and have genuine interest in or something that will be more helpful in job searching and future practice? One option is pediatric endocrinology which I think is very interesting and will have more variety in cases, but is very specialized, thus it might not be helpful for my future job searching. On the other hand, I can choose general endocrinology, but I am afraid that I will get bored seeing mostly diabetes and thyroid cases. However, doing this rotation would help me in most future jobs since diabetes is such a common issue. Plus, a professor said that it is easier to find a job in endo compared to most other specialties. Another professor said I should only choose pediatric endocrinology as an elective unless I know 100% that I want to specialize in pediatric endocrinology. Any advice?

[ohiovolffemtp]

On 9/30/2021 at 12:19 PM, eluch15 said:

My program allows two electives and I am not sure which ones I should choose since I am interested in 4 different electives. My question is should you pick something you might never have the chance to see again and have genuine interest in or something that will be more helpful in job searching and future practice? One option is pediatric endocrinology which I think is very interesting and will have more variety in cases, but is very specialized, thus it might not be helpful for my future job searching. On the other hand, I can choose general endocrinology, but I am afraid that I will get bored seeing mostly diabetes and thyroid cases. However, doing this rotation would help me in most future jobs since diabetes is such a common issue. Plus, a professor said that it is easier to find a job in endo compared to most other specialties. Another professor said I should only choose pediatric endocrinology as an elective unless I know 100% that I want to specialize in pediatric endocrinology. Any advice?

My recommendation is to pick something that would be helpful in your job search and future practice, especially if it's in a geographic area in which you hope to live and work.  First, you'll get a feel for what life is like working in that area of medicine.  Secondly, you'll get a chance to make a good impression on practices in the area, which could lead to good references and possible job offers.