Refining "The List"

The AAMC lists approximately 120 medical specialties on their "Careers in Medicine" website (a great source of information for medical students and premeds, btw).  My medical school forces  provides each of its students the opportunity to create an account and take the personality surveys to determine what specialty might "fit" you best.  We have to do this once during the 2nd semster of M2 (i.e., "now") to help us choose our rotation schedule, and again at the end of 3rd year to help us determine what area to declare.

If you ask me, it would be a lot simpler just to take Fizzy's Medical Specialty Quiz over at Cartoon Guide to Becoming a Doctor.

I got:

Internal medicine is better than any of the specialties. When a patient comes in for a check-up, you can send them home with a clean bill of health. And when a patient comes in with high blood pressure, you can prescribe one of a wide variety of drugs, including beta-blockers, diuretics, and ACE inhibitors. And when a patient comes in with some other problem, you will be able to refer them to one of a long list of your colleagues.

Anyway.  As I go through this process of narrowing the list of areas in which I have potential interest, I will post short bits about many of the specialties listed on this page, and state what I view as pros or cons of that field.  I will try to include pictures whenever this doesn't interfere with my boards study schedule or general coursework.


Allergy and Immunology
Clinical and Laboratory Immunology


Anesthesiology
Critical Care Medicine
Pain Medicine
Pediatric Anesthesiology


Dermatology
Dermatopathology


Emergency Medicine
Medical Toxicology
Pediatric Emergency Medicine
Sports Medicine


Emergency Medicine/Family Medicine


Family Medicine
Geriatric Medicine
Sports Medicine


Family Medicine/Preventive Medicine


Internal Medicine
Cardiology
Clinical Electrophysiology
Critical Care Medicine
Endocrinology and Metabolism
Gastroenterology
Geriatric Medicine

Hematology and Oncology
Hospice and Palliative Medicine
Infectious Disease
Interventional Cardiology
Nephrology
Pulmonary Disease
Pulmonary Disease and Critical Care Medicine
Rheumatology
Sports Medicine
Transplant Hepatology


Internal Medicine/Pediatrics


Medical Genetics
Biochemical Genetics


Neurosurgery
Endovascular Surgical Neuroradiology


Neurology
Child Neurology
Clinical Neurophysiology
Neuromuscular Medicine
Pain Medicine


Nuclear Medicine


Obstetrics and Gynecology


Ophthalmology
Ophthalmic Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery


Orthopedic Surgery
Adult Reconstructive Orthopedics
Foot and Ankle Orthopedics
Hand Surgery
Musculoskeletal Oncology
Orthopedic Sports Medicine
Orthopedic Surgery of the Spine
Orthopedic Trauma
Pediatric Orthopedics


Otolaryngology
Otology-Neurotology
Pediatric Otolaryngology


Pain Medicine


Pathology 
Blood Banking/Transfusion Medicine
Chemical Pathology
Cytopathology
Forensic Pathology
Hematology
Medical Microbiology
Neuropathology
Pediatric Pathology
Selective Pathology


Pediatrics
Adolescent Medicine
Neonatal-Perinatal Medicine
Pediatric Cardiology
Pediatric Critical Care Medicine
Pediatric Emergency Medicine
Pediatric Endocrinology
Pediatric Gastroenterology
Pediatric Hematology/Oncology
Pediatric Infectious Diseases
Pediatric Nephrology
Pediatric Pulmonology
Pediatric Rheumatology
Pediatric Sports Medicine
Pediatric Transplant Hepatology


Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation
Neuromuscular Medicine
Pain Medicine
Spinal Cord Injury Medicine
Sports Medicine (PMand;R)


Plastic Surgery
Craniofacial Surgery
Hand Surgery


Preventive Medicine
Medical Toxicology


Psychiatry
Addiction Psychiatry
Child and Adolescent Psychiatry
Forensic Psychiatry
Geriatric Psychiatry
Pain Medicine


Public Health


Radiation Oncology


Radiology
Abdominal Radiology
Cardiothoracic Radiology
Endovascular Surgical Neuroradiology
Musculoskeletal Radiology
Neuroradiology
Nuclear Radiology
Pediatric Radiology
Vascular and Interventional Radiology


Sleep Medicine


Surgery
General
Colon and Rectal
Hand
Pediatric
Surgical Critical Care
Thoracic
Congenital Cardiac Surgery
Urology
Vascular


Urology
Pediatric Urology