Yeah psych is a great specialty but I have this little "nagging" voice that keeps saying well why did you not do then a doctorate level training in psychology? also I have this issue with how little respect psychiatrists get...I know this should not be an issue but it is, and from talking to many psych residents then repeteadly tell me to consider this. Some end up switching specialties because of this. Any thoughts?

Funny you should bring up the question about going to grad school for a PhD. I recently posted in my blog about this question. Here's part of the post:
Regarding the respect psychiatrists get, I have had mostly positive responses from attendings and residents that have asked what specialty I was interested in. I have also had residents from other specialties say that they had to decide between psych and what they were doing. Some of them wished they would have done psych. Our school has a great psych residency that is well known. Also, there have been some very prominent, nationally known surgeons from here that committed suicide in the past decade.

I also really don't care what other people think about the specialty I choose. I just want to do what I will still be happy with twenty years from now.

Ok, that was long and rambling, I am sorry.

Let me clarify on the surgeons committing suicide thing. It really made a lot of people (faculty, residents, etc) realize that seeking help for mental illness is important. It raised awareness.

Thanks crabbygirl! I will keep plugging away to figure this out..It is just not enough time! I am done with rotations in March and then have a three month research hiatus.

It's true that some docs look down on psych, but I think that's true for other specialties as well. People seem to have critical things to say about a lot of specialties and how they aren't really good doctors... like that OBs are half-assed surgeons, ER docs are just glorified triage nurses who just call someone else to actually treat the patient, PM&R docs are flunkies who weren't smart enough to do something else, etc, etc, etc. I think it comes down to how important that prestige is to you personally. Some people will be really bothered by their colleagues thinking things like that about them, and other people don't care.

Psych is still on my list of possible specialties. I haven't rotated through it yet, but I am looking forward to it. I don't think the lack of prestige would keep me away, but I do think I might miss the physicality of most other specialties. It would be weird not to do hardly any physical exam.

Yeah, I love a lot of things about psych but I also love a lot of things about other specialties too! It is just so very hard to make a good sound choice...this is why a lot of interns end up switching...it is a large percentage too. I do enjoy doing "things with my hands" so procedures have always interested me. I think that GI would be a good fit *but* it is not an easy fellowship to get into. I also enjoyed family medicine but cannot stand the peds part...any ideas? I am also 40 and will be 42 by the time I graduate...so I am looking at that as well...aghghghgh

I am still trying to figure out what specialty to go into. It's reassuring that most of my class hasn't picked anything, but I definitely thought I would know by now.

I loved Peds, especially the developmental part.

I loved Psych, especially outpatient.

I'm now on IM and like how internists think. I also like the primary care part.

Ob wasn't a good fit. Other ones that have been "ruled out" include ED and radiology. I still have surgery, but I don't think that will float my boat. It's a hard decision!

Halfway through 3rd year I still don't know what I want to be when I grow up!!

Peds was fun but not nearly as much fun as I'd thought it would be.
Surgery was awesome, hated the hours.
Medicine seems enjoyable and the residents seem very sharp, but man, the rounding (and call)...
Family medicine - really enjoyed it so far but the patients haven't been as diverse as I'd expected (mostly DM and HTN).

I've been waiting for an "Aha!" moment, or at least a strong gut feeling, but so far I'm at a loss. I agree, it is a hard decision!

I'm with you about the "Aha!" moment!...

I just decided not to "re-take" *$%^$ Step 1 tomorrow after 6 wks of studying for it. I had a flu-like illness for the first half of this week, and it totally threw me off. To make things worse, I took off my first block to study as I had organized a conference in May... and now I'm screwed.

I thought I'd love peds but I hated one of the hospitals I was stuck in. I loved IM despite preconceptions that I wouldn't. And that's all I've done so far. Psych starts Monday, and I'm looking forward to it, but I have to take Step 1 somewhere during psych, which takes all of the fun out of it. Surgery is after that, and I'm sort of dreading it because my anatomy knowledge is so poor... I'd wanted to be a surgeon because I'm good with my hands and worked in research w/ surgeons, but now I'm just scared. Oh well. And then I do OB when the rest of my colleagues are starting the first block of 4th yr...

I think everything suffered because although I'm smart, I've found it really hard to learn everything I need to and be a good mother. I've done what I can to be a good mother throughout, and that's left being a good med student with the short end of the stick, I guess...

Assuming I can make it through this year and pass Step 1, I'll be 36 when I graduate... then what? Child and adolescent psych? Surgical gyn-onc? Geriatrics? Psychiatric oncology? PM&R? dunno... for anyone interested in psych, check out www.PsychSIGN.org -- it's a newish group for med students interested in psychiatry.

There's a huge shortage of child and adolescent psychiatrists out there, so if you dig it, go for it!

Well although I did "consider" ob/gyn (what ever posessed me) due to the gyn and gyn surg, now after being in l&d, there is NO way! these are the most malignant people I have met. There is a lot of unprofessional behavior, horrible attitudes, and the list goes on. The malpractice is ALWAYS an issue and no matter what they are planning this comes up, "what if". No way I want to spend my life worrying about getting sued....so that boils down to FM or IM. Although I loved psych there is not enough to *do* procedure wise and I would miss that.