As published in the American Journal of Medicine by Dalen et al., “By 2015, 88% of those completing a 3-year residency in internal medicine entered a medical subspecialty, leaving only 12% to practice general internal medicine.”
Advantages of specialization
The clear advantage of pursuing a specialization is gaining authority in your field. The era we live in is so fast-paced and highly competitive, so it is natural for patients to expect a higher degree of competence in their doctors. Pursuing added training can guarantee you this. Becoming a specialist offers you an even more lucrative position and opportunities than a generalist in whatever field you want to pursue, whether in the academe, clinical practice, research, or all of the above.
Disadvantage of specialization
The dissuading con to pursuing specialty training is lost time. Specialization would entail two more years on top of 4 years spent in undergraduate school, 4 years in medical school, and 3-4 years spent during residency training. However, this long-term investment would result in lifelong rewards, and remember, everything that is worthwhile does take time.
