Careers in Medicine

Choosing a medical specialty is one of the most significant decisions a medical student will make, and residency positions are increasingly competitive. Careers in Medicine is designed to help medical students choose a specialty and residency program, successfully land a residency position, and plan their physician career.

Specialties

There are over 120 specialties and subspecialties for you to choose from on the AAMC Careers in Medicine website. The information found will help you identify which specialty appeals to your interest as you begin your career exploration process. Learn about salaries, training and residency tracks, competitiveness, workforce, and more.

Career Assessments

  • Interests Assessments (MSPI)

    This assessment is geared towards Medical Students in their 1st and 2nd year of Medical School. The Medical Specialty Preference Inventory assessment measures your interests based on things you like to do, and evaluates those interest to produce two types of scores: 1) specialty choice probabilities for 16 major medical specialties 2) Medical Interest Scales for 18 areas involving knowledge and information, services and procedures, and types of problems in medicine.

  • Values (PVIPS)

    This assessment is geared for Medical Students in their 1st and 2nd year of Medical School. The Physician Values in Practice Scale assessment measures things that are important to you based on six core values: Autonomy, Management, Prestige, Service, Lifestyle, and Scholarly Pursuits. This assessment will use your results and compare them to various environments and activities in medical practice, which will then help you determine how you want to practice medicine.

  • Roadblocks (SIS)

    This assessment is recommended for 2nd and 3rd year students. The Specialty Indecision Scale assessment helps students figure out how to overcome concerns or problems they may have with specialty choice. The results of your assessment will help provide you with a personalized look at where you are within the decision making process.

  • Skills (PSI)

    This assessment is geared for Medical Students in their 1st and 2nd year of Medical School. The Physician Skills Inventory allows you to identify transferrable skills which are developed capacities that, with practice, may be learned and mastered. There are three major transferrable skill areas found to be critical for all physicians: psychomotor, problem solving, and counseling skills.

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