i think i’ve done the University of Virginia’s Medical Specialty Aptitude Test before back in year 1, but unfortunately i didn’t save a copy of the results. because i just saw it on Jeff’s blog, i thought i’ll give it another go, this time keeping a record of what came up, and perhaps we’ll see if things change in 2 years’ time.

Rank	Specialty	Score
1	pathology	40
2	rheumatology	40
3	hematology	40
4	endocrinology	39
5	nephrology	39
6	dermatology	39
7	neurology	39
8	occupational med	39
9	physical med & rehabilitation	39
10	pediatrics	39

ah-ha. note that no surgery came up in the top 10? lol. in fact, the first hint of surgery was plastic surgery which came in at 19th.

so, pathology eh. honestly i’ve always had an interest in forensics, probably further intrigued by TV dramas on the subject. yet i know it’s such a niche that it would be almost impossible to turn that into a career in Singapore. what murder cases, they perhaps only exist in TV dramas. i have had people telling me that working with dead people is morbid, and that i should be trying to save people from dying instead. however, i’ve always thought it amazing to be able to find out the time of death, the cause of death, etc etc; it’s as though the dead could, in a way, speak for themselves.

of course, there’s much more to pathology than just forensics. my path tutor has been a great inspiration – she is indeed one awesome lady. having seen her trying to come up with a provisional diagnosis while the patient was still in the OT with her head open made me realise how challenging pathology can be in urgent situations like these. but still, i can’t really imagine myself working alone in the labs, looking under microscopes, and having little, if not close to none, opportunity for patient contact.

rheumatology had been interesting. i quite enjoyed that rotation and i learnt more about it than i did in the past 2 pre-clinical years. neurology was good as well, where i got confused yet intrigued with the body’s complicated electrical system. i thought endocrinology was alright, while dermatology had been the most boring rotation to date. renal and haematology coming up later this semester, so we’ll see how i go with those. and paediatrics next year, i can hardly wait :))

at the end of the day, of course, there are still so many more rotations to go through in the remaining 2.5 years. i’m not ruling out anything yet. not even surgery. lol.