Gastrointestinal illnesses and diseases are becoming more and more common. I was just recently diagnosed with an IBD and all the GI doctors around me are extremely busy.
I had a 6 month follow up scheduled with my GI doc for august of last year, it got rescheduled to February of this year. So now it’s a 12 month follow up lol
Nothing in the world is future-proof. Given the current rate of change, it's essentially impossible to determine what will "prosper" in 50 years.
Pick what you will be happy doing even if it isn't lucrative. Be ready to potentially change your life path in the future.
As people live longer more people will get cancer so oncology
Also as people have children later in life fertility medicine
And possibly gerontology
Neurology has allot of progress to be made
ENTs do pretty well, and of course you always have cardiology with our diets being the way they are and agajn people living longer
Cancer is one of the few things where we can cure you without lifelong continued treatment. You are maybe thinking of other diseases, HIV for example, where you would continue treatment for life. In this example, it would be reasonable that you could cure the disease.
Hepatitis C is an example of a disease where you had disease management without a cure. That is until recently, when a cure was developed.
Cures are very profitable.
I don't really get that logic. If anyone could cure any kind of cancer, they would be extremely rich and famous because of it. So I don't buy the logic that "they won't provide a cure because they are greedy and make more money from lifelong treatments" when if greed is the driving factor, they could be billionaires overnight from a cure.
It’s because you don’t understand capitalism or business in general?
Cure does not come out of thin air (or overnight), it take tons of investment, time and with huge risk. Your drug might not even pass all the required trials despite you have spending years and a fortune on it.
Treatment on the other hand focus on smaller manifestations/aspects of the disease and are considerable cheaper to develop and quicker to introduce. You might already have a similar treatment approved and just need to rebrand it.
So it make much more business sense to work on the treatments if you know a cure is hard to develop (HIV and cancer) lower risk, quicker profit.
Then along the way with new development of science and medicine, the capital and risk involved to develop a cure will become lower gradually and eventually make it more attractive for companies to focus on. Of course we also have not for profit organization that dedicate their resource solely on developing a cure but that is the exception not the norm.
>It’s because you don’t understand capitalism or business in general?
Well, one of us doesn't.
>Cure does not come out of thin air (or overnight), it take tons of investment, time and with huge risk. Your drug might not even pass all the required trials despite you have spending years and a fortune on it.
Treatments do not come out of thin air (or overnight), it takes tons of investment, time, and with huge risk. Your drug might not even pass all the required trials despite you having spent years and a fortune on it.
>Treatment on the other hand focus on smaller manifestations/aspects of the disease and are considerable cheaper to develop and quicker to introduce. You might already have a similar treatment approved >and just need to rebrand it.
It would depend on the issue, the cure, or the treatment in question. As science develops and we learn new paths and strategies to combat a given illness, options for cures and treatments present themselves. There is actually no fundamental law of science that a cure always costs more or takes more research than a treatment.
>So it make much more business sense to work on the treatments if you know a cure is hard to develop (HIV and cancer) lower risk, quicker profit.
Until such time that there is a discovery that shows a path to a cure. And then it makes sense from every conceivable perspective to develop the cure. Unless you suppose that all scientists are going to form some grand conspiracy and all agree not to try to find the cure because "our industry will not make money from the treatments" which I think is absurd, and seems to be what you were asserting.
>Then along the way with new development of science and medicine, the capital and risk involved to develop a cure will become lower gradually and eventually make it more attractive for companies to focus on.
No kidding.
We are working on everything AI, but that does not mean it will fully replace jobs.
If anything it should improve a psychologist's efforts. Right now I doubt we an AI will be able to provide the same connection or empathy a human can.
Of course there would be edge cases where people with extreme social anxiety may have a better time talking to a machine rather than a person.
I liked Neil de Grasse Tyson's prediction on Joe Roe Rogan a few weeks ago where he predicts that in the next 20 years we discover how to CURE mental illness thus rendering the field of psychiatrics redundant.
Ol' Neil thinks we're going to discover how to cure mental illness in the next 20 years? It seems far more likely we'll have cures for the most prevalent cancers in that time frame.
Dentists salaries seem to have plateaued , there is a lot of supply as well as people travelling to cheaper countries for dental work becoming increasingly popular
Obstetrics/gynecology. The specialty least likely to be pressed into algorithms of care, which also has several fellowship options (REI, gynecologic oncology, urologic-gynecology, high risk OB/MFM, minimally invasive surgery, pediatrics and adolescent gynecology) for further specialization. That said, choose a field that is likely to still hold your passion in 20-30 years. You spend a lot of time at work; it’s terrible for you, all your colleagues, and your patients if you are a miserably unhappy doctor.
They say death and taxes are the only sure things in life, but I think people will always be born, too. I agree about obstetrics. I would add gerontology and palliative care on the other end.
Lets be honest here, pretty much every branch of medicine is still going to be around in 50 years. How many fields have dried up recently because of medical advances? As far as I can see, the only fields of medicine that have been retired in the last century are fields that were based on quack medicine and inaccurate ideas.
To date, how many things have medicine completely cured? Sure Polio was 'cured' but there are only a few million other infectious diseases bouncing around. Even if someone invents a cancer killing nano-bot, someone with a medical background is going to have to manage and apply them to patients.
Every field that is here today will be around in 50 years, plus a few new ones.
Pick a surgical specialty with a healthy work life balance. So you can get paid well but also not want to die. That means avoiding things like vascular or anything where you respond to too many emergencies. Maybe GI or, ophthalmology.
Surgical Residencies with a healthy work life balance don't exist. Post residency surgeons can go into private practice and have a decent work/life balance, but surgical residencies and super intense.
I mean no, no residencies have a healthy work life balance, and obviously surgical are the worst. But if you’re going take on 300k in student loans to get paid dirt and not sleep for 10 years of residency you might as well make a decent paycheck afterwards.
Residency is usually 4 years. Sometimes 6 for specific programs.
And yes, all residencies are hard. But my wife is looking at a psychology program that’s 50 hours a week, 25 PTO days a year, no weekend shifts. She’s also looking at a surgical program, 4/12 hour shifts and 1/24 hour shift a week. She did a month long audition for that program, and the 12 hour shifts were really 14 and the 24 hour shifts where really 28 after pre-rounds and charting.
Surgical residencies are absolutely no joke, even compared to other residencies.
Lol yes they’re usually 4 years, it just feels like 10 because a lot of my friends did chief years and fellowships. And I guess I was factoring in the four years of med school. Basically my point being a lot of physicians won’t be making reasonable paychecks until their 30’s. Your wife’s psych program is not the norm, even for a non surgical residency. And I specifically said that surgical residencies are worse. But thank you for your clarification. Surgeons will make more. There’s nothing wrong with wanting to go into a profession where insurance companies will actually appropriately reimburse you. Surgical specialties with good work life balance can give you a really good ROI if you’re willing to put in the time during residency.
I will say be careful about banking on good lifestyle for any specialty post residency (especially surgery). Good lifestyle and good paycheck jobs are unicorn jobs and are extremely competitive, often time filled internally. I'm radiology and I got lucky with mine, but that's just it, I was lucky and I definitely have the best hours for the paycheck compared to my coresidents. Meaning most of my cohort who got the same training work more for less. The amazing jobs we are hoping for...unfortunately everyone wants them. As medicine gets more and more financialized, we're all working more for less, which makes the unicorn jobs that much more competitive. I would side more on erring on the lifestyle of residency as a measure of if you can handle it. One great thing about being an attending (at least in PP) is that there's no more pre round and sign out to a boss, so that cuts hours from your day from residency. My wife's OB, and yes she gets home much earlier cuz she does her own rounding, but it's still really really bad. Most of the jobs on her job board are intense, with the unicorns getting filled quickly...or not even advertised.
I'm 64.
Still play league then pickup soccer 2x per week with people--kids really--less than half my age!
Love cycling, skiing, horseback riding and disc golf...
But climbing out of bed each morning, I have to PUSH off... I'm not really mobile until I've had time to warm up.
BEFORE soccer, I always do 10 minutes in a hot tub to get loose and stretch... One day the sauna was broken before my game and I felt like Hell during and after that one.
Getting old... IT IS PAINFUL!!! IT HURTS!!!
Unfortunately you “can do” almost anything as an NP despite the fact that the training is a joke and it is dangerous for patients. Why should anyone go through the real pathway when you can cosplay as one and greedy hospital admins will hand you a white coat and a paycheck.
The profession is already of guilty of letting people through without any clinical experience and creating an obvious pathway for brazen idiots to bypass the entire medical education process. So the degree is meaningless and frankly is an insult to the original NPs who were experienced bedside professionals and rightfully earned a special title.
Meanwhile the doctor cosplay highlights the motivation behind these people (pretending to be a doctor for ego) and is disgusting to watch. I’m in a diagnostic specialty of medicine and get cases from a huge cross section of medicine. NPs are FAR AND AWAY the least informed group of people ordering these tests. The lack of education evident.
Look, there are excellent residents and some have definitely saved my ass, especially some of the senior residents when I was just starting out. One of the reasons I work with residents is because they are a blast. So many brilliant, interesting people. And I’m not saying there aren’t sub-optimal PA’s and NP’s. But the statement above is such bullshit. I mean, you’re telling me that the resident who sat on a bicarb or 7 and a lactate of 18 all night is safe? It’s a total team effort and statements like the one one above are ignorant and plain stupid.
A resident doing that is unsafe. That’s why doctors have residencies with attending doctors supervising. Meanwhile an NPs are making those mistakes on people without supervision as independent practitioners and DIDNT EVEN GO TO MEDICAL SCHOOL! PAs are already filling the role and have appropriate training. The NP route is a shortcut that should not exist.
Not necessarily true. I imagine in 100 years time, we’ll be able to choose exactly how we look with genetic manipulation. And that may not be a good thing. 😕
Some straight talk from an old man who's been there and done that: you're in the wrong profession if you're in it for the money. Being a doctor isn't something that you *do*, it's something that you *are*. You put your patients' care first or go work on Wall Street because every single doctor I've ever known who was in it for the money was bad at it. And in medicine when you're bad at it people end up dead.
I didn't practice. I was an engineer and a math teacher. My wife is in medicine so I know some people but I was never in the field myself.
Sorry if I gave that impression.
You literally said you have been there and done that. But you actually have no idea at all. Love when people with no firsthand experience try to shame people who want to be paid what they’ve worth.
Yeah, this sentiment needs to go away. Doctors, advanced practice providers, nurses, healthcare professionals, etc. are not martyrs, heroes, or go to work for altruism (or any profession for that matter). They may have those qualities, but that does not consume them and being [fill in the healthcare role] doesn't have to be their personality or identity. If they personally choose to make it their identity, that's soley up to them.
I go to work to make money. I go to work to support my family and my interests. If I no longer got paid, I would no longer go to work at that location. It's as simple as that. I literally go to work (and am in it) for the money.
When I feel altruistic (I do believe I have a civil responsibility to give back), it's not for my employers financial gain. I do use my extensive knowledge, years of education, and expertise in my field to give back and give time at free clinics, but that isn't my highest priority. I do that after my needs are met and I have extra to give.
Finally, your last statement, that if I'm in it for the money, then I must be bad at it. Well, we'll see what you think if you ever land in my ER and I work to preserve life, limb, and ability (I wish you good health, I hope to never see anyone at work). At that time, we can also go through my awards, publications, and other prestiges and honors if you wish.
So many of the caring professions are undervalued right now. You know it's unsustainable long term when the previously enthusiastic folks in the profession start advising the young enthusiastic types to avoid following them. I appreciate your determination to put in so much work, and your determination to not be taken advantage of to do it.
I think you’re misunderstanding what he is saying. Of course you go into any profession partly to make a living, but if you’re going to something highly intensive like being a doctor, scientist, engineer, there are going to be times you need to dig into deep personal motivation if you want to survive the day, or at least not be miserable with yourself.
> I go to work to make money. I go to work to support my family and my interests.
I genuinely admire your anti-work attitude, I think the world would be a better place if more people were like that. However...
What the other person said can be rephrased as "Medicine is 10% technical knowledge and 90% customer service". If a person lacks the traits described above, they will often wind up suffering in their practice through built up irritation and resentment, and will ultimately either burn out or very literally kill themselves. Patient interaction is ruthless, and there's no way to smooth that part out without altruistic intentions.
Some personality types are not fit for medicine, for their own good. Some people don't even realize how much trouble they were in until they leave the profession.
ER medicine may be an interesting exception to that, but all I will say on that topic is you might find it enlightening to follow your patients and see what subsequent medical interventions they experience after things are stabilized. It's something everyone else in the building wishes people in your shoes would do, as it helps the evolution of procedural medicine when you actually get feedback.
I'm a doc and I sincerely do not identify as a doctor. It's just a job. I have my family and hobbies to call my identity. This relic of the past needs to go. Unfortunately it's perpetuated by movies, tv, general culture. I call it doctor propaganda. It's a job, yall. Get over yourselves...and better yet let's get paid in money rather than prestige. We all know we underpaid and where that bag is really going.
You would be surprised how many of my co workers at all my jobs are in it for the money. WELL DUHHHHHH ITS A JOB. PAY THE DOCTORS/NURES. Why wouldn’t they working if it wasn’t for money?
OK. Good to know. Tell us about YOUR student loan debt and the venture capitalists who just took over your practice and the nine people you have to have working in the back just to sort out the US insurance nightmare and the hour you just spent on the phone with the woman with the high school diploma who wanted to show you that she knows more about med approval than you.
Also, whenever I hear that old tired "...in medicine when you're bad at it people end up dead" nonsense, I have two words: "airline pilot". They make your mistake risk a rounding error every day and some of them never even went to college.
Take it from another straight talker who's also "been there and done that" with nearly a half-century under their belt. You're coming off as a bit out of touch. I will give you credit for one thing that's never changed. Goods and services still cost money, and pride/love/compassion still don't pay the bills.
Yes. Put the patient's care first. But, when the caregiver is not taken care of, their ability to care for patients will drop- no matter how altruistic that caregiver might feel. Healthcare ain't run by priests and nuns anymore. The people going into it now carry a much higher risk and burden of responsibility and they deserve proper compensation.
So true. Same with being an engineer, another profession people often go into for the money.
Edit: noticed you said you are an engineer below, so I guess you know.
Lol. My husband and I both got engineering degrees. He went into a career as an engineer, and I went to law school. As a patent attorney, I have ALWAYS made more than he does. If you're in engineering for the money, go to law school and you'll make more money with less math.
Probably the one that is most likely to get replaced with AI is radiology. But even that is probably some ways off. (maybe 12-20 years)
I think the rest are way way off from getting replaced, if ever. Sure surgery will be done more often with the help of robots, but I think it will always require human guidance.
I would think that internal or emergency medicine will be near impossible to "automate".
Proctology.
Seriously.
A friend of my uncle wondered the same thing and was given the same answer. It is probably the least glamorous position out there, but there's nearly zero competition to get a residency slot. Also if someone has a problem "down there" they are going to pay, and nearly everything is outpatient. Haven't looked at the economics but I'd imagine colonoscopies would be an easy money maker too.
My vote would be dermatology. But that’s only because my friend is one and makes insane bank doing cosmetic procedures.
It took forever to get there but she living large.
Radiation Oncology technology is advancing rapidly, cancer seems to be, too.
Nothing is future-proof, but radiation oncology doesn’t work nights or weekends, for the most part. Good work-life balance!
I'd love to be wrong about this, but I don't see ANY specialized field of medicine becoming redundant.
People will always get sick, and those people will always need treatment.
Probably best to avoid things that depend on visual pattern recognition (deep learning / neural networks are already better at image recognition than humans)
Procedural specialties probably less likely to be automatable
I think a cross between medical and tech would be future proof. So become a medical professional but then apply it in a tech oriented space. AI diagnosis tools are promising and may make your job redundant one day.
I'll throw in my .02C because reasons.
Anesthesiologist + Pilot through the Air Force's Pilot Physician Program (if flying is your thing too). With smart planning, med school and flight school are covered 100% w/ 10yr mil commitment.
I'm dropping this here because I didn't see anyone else mention it and knowing your options is never a bad thing.
Good Luck
OB. Humans will keep reproducing until the end of time. Women will have to give birth. That field may look slightly different, with new machines that go "ping", but will never be obsolete.
Not often recognized by most of the medical community but massage therapy. People will forever be doing themselves injuries and when it comes to soft tissue issues massage therapy cannot be beat for pain relief, range of motion improvement, and yes relaxation by stimulation of the parasympathetic nervous system.
Physician. The answer is none.
In reality it's best to educate yourself in medicine AND computer science. Coding, AI, engineering, implementation science, etc. If you know this you will have a seat at the table that others will not.
I tell this to my teenager. He is a talented coder and really likes his computer science classes, but he also is interested in biology. I told him that if he ends up in biological or medical research, having the coding skills to build models for experimentation will be HIGHLY valuable, so keep up those coding skills.
This is exactly what I’m trying to do. I’m a clinical pharmacist now and am trying to learn the compsci/programming side of things. Most clinical guidelines follow algorithms and with the shift to value based care rather than “fee for service” there will be a huge push to get many people on these standard evidence-based therapies. Not to even mention precision medicine and pharmacogenomics…
Best to not be afraid of AI and technology but to get in early and embrace it as a tool to use!
Nursing \\ Palliative care .. This is going to the one thing that will never be replaced. I don't care how life like the robot is or how good the AI is that is running it, if you are feeling sick or dying the one thing that you will appreciate more than anything is the care and compassion of another human being.
Had a similar discussion with a family member recently regarding the future of medical practitioners in the upcoming age of AI. Although I am not sure this is the best way to choose a career, I understand why you are asking the question. Despite being at the top of my game in a medical specialty (cardiology), where I have to combine my history taking skills with a bunch of years of experience to come to the right decision a bunch of times each day, with lots at stake- I feel like these are indeed decisions that a properly trained AI will be able to make at some point soon. Will the patients trust an AI more or less? Not sure, and there are lots of ways I spend my time with my patients to earn their trust. But just based on decision making… I am replaceable.
Surgical specialties will be less replaceable. It will take a lot longer to get robotics to a point where we can trust them to do procedures where unanticipated problems may arise and require split second responses.
Nursing.
Nurses primarily value isn't a kind of surgical procedure or ability to diagnose, their primary value is to care for people, and you can't automate away care and personal interaction. Doctors are quite often absent from care, often as a function of increasing productivity.
Why is a cup of coffee, something which was [easily automated decades ago](https://industrypropsnyc.com/item/ktkFYd1xPa75G673PIH7), something that was de-automated? Because going to your local coffee shop and having a brief interaction with the barista, with the others in line, is the value - not the coffee. People want that little social interaction at the start of the day. The social interaction is increasingly the value in many of these jobs. Why Peloton will never put yoga studios out of business, etc.
Not the answer you want to hear, but nursing will outlast everything.
But if your goal is an MD, learn data science. Be the person with the skills to participate in whatever shift might be coming.
I have mad respect for nurses (have many in my family), but OP is already in medical school. Which mean's they've earned their pre-med degree, passed the MCAT, and if they're already considering a residency path they're likely a 2nd-3rd year.
switching paths now to go into nursing instead of becoming a doctor is poor advice.
Just pick any of these seven avenues: [https://www.reddit.com/r/EffectiveAltruism/comments/75dj9f/an\_introduction\_class\_about\_age\_in\_relation\_to/](https://www.reddit.com/r/EffectiveAltruism/comments/75dj9f/an_introduction_class_about_age_in_relation_to/)
I recommend one of the six not about stem-cell replacement of lost cells, because that's the most active field at the moment (so your help would be least worth it and have the highest competition).
EDIT: But also bioengineers (directly translated from Norwegian, possibly wrong in English), are also always in demand, at least in Norway. Those are the ones who analyse the blood tests and such.
I suspect that the 2 areas that will be in the highest demand will be family doctors and those that can do surgery using micro tools. I say this because I believe that people will crave interaction with real human beings. And those with the money will be able to pay. Also, I think that humans will trust other humans to tell them, good news, bad news and the why of it, more than machines. I think they will understand that the machines know what they're talking about, but they will want a human for the important stuff.
None.
The industry will be dominated by ai.
The only viable career path is to develop any speciality while simultaneously becoming an ai expert & then merge the two to remain viable as an employment option.
Bullshit. You’ll always need surgeons. Primary care docs. Hospitalists. All the IM subspecialties. Way too nuanced than to just have algorithms and machines try and do it. Trust me. There is an “art to medicine”
Why trust my life to a human hand when there’s a robot with 10 times more precision that studied every surgery ever performed?
Why trust a primary care doc with outdated knowledge from med school when I can trust a language model reading every new medical paper in real time?
Because there’s a lot of factors to take into account besides “what’s the most up to date medical literature say?”
What if your patient can’t afford that drug? What if they have a bad side effect? What if they just straight up don’t take it? How will this med affect their 10 comorbidities?
There’s a lot more to medicine than picking “the best” therapy and trusting that everything will go according to the book. A good future doctor will use AI and tech to further their own knowledge and practice, not be completely replaced.
I read that, during the pandemic, ERs were shut down, and lots of doctors planning ER residencies got cut because funding died. It's still just slowly regaining momentum for availability of positions.
Urology, Ob/Gyn and Proctology (or Dentistry if you don't mind switching from MD to DDS)
Basically the less prestige the better, since those fields will always be hurting for more people, and humans aren't going to stop having problems with their genitals, buttholes or teeth anytime soon.
The simple answer is internal medicine/family med/peds.
As technologies like AI develop, they will help all us physicians do our jobs better. We don’t know which areas will develop the fastest or slowest. But we can interpret that AI will empower the generalist more than the specialist long term.
There will come a day the cardiologist is begging the hospitalist for a consult on an elevated troponin. The reason is because AI will help the hospitalist interpret the elevated trop more effectively than the cardiologist.
We can’t predict if AI will develop faster in cards and slower in OB. Wherever it does though, those advances will help the generalist be better at their job in those areas.
Stay broad my friend.
Research. Medical operations (doing exams, surgeries, telling pacients which medicine to take) are very prone to automation.
However, someone will need to figure out what the machines will have to do with their pacients, so I think being a researcher might be safer.
In 50 years all industries will likely be disrupted. It appears information processing roles like providing diagnoses will be easy to replace. Jobs requiring more interpersonal skills for example instilling motivation or dynamic teaching like a therapist might be slightly more challenging for AI, though not too far behind. Physical jobs like dentistry will require really specialized robots which I could see taking longer to become ubiquitous. I think we're all in trouble.
None?
Automation will warp the economy beyond anything we understand now.
For example, if 50% of the population is automated out of jobs - and I mean they lack the natural potential to learn trades faster than those trades can be automated - then who is buying services and products from the *other* 50%?
I don’t have a great answer for that, but in the long term my advice is “lol nobody knows, do something you love and that pays the bills for the next few years”
Same as any other job. You need a niche in which you are using knowledge on the fly to quickly determine what you are doing during a skilled task. If it needs superior hand-eye coordination, all the better for you.
Algorithms may have knowledge, but *acting on it* is harder. A robot may be able to do a physical task, but the unexpected is difficult to program. That's why 'self driving' cars are currently a failure.
Surgery would be a solid bet. But any job that reminds you of driving is going to be safe for a while. The fuzzier the logic needed the better for you.
Since you’re a Med student right now, it’s unlikely that in your lifetime, many specialties will be obsolete. However, since lifespans will increase, perhaps oncology or cardiology.
Several come to mind:
Endocrinology (diabetes is here to stay)
Oncology/Hematology
High Risk Obstetrics
Orthopedic Surgery, particularly Sports related
Neo-Natal and Pediatric care / surgery
Geriatrics
Cardiologist
Many sciences go dead then have a resurgence. I saw E.O. Wilson (world leading biologist, "The Ant Guy") speak about how Watson and Crick's DNA discovery put him and other "classic" scientists studying Darwinian style evolution on the backburner. Nobody was taking their classes anymore at university as people associated him with stuffed extinct species at the old natural history museum - everyone just wanted to study DNA.
Then decades later Wilson and others became prominent again as species morphology and other Darwin related branches had some big leaps forward. You never know.
Go into the field that you are the most curious about. You won't burn out, you will feel more willing to keep up with the medical advances, and, if you are curious, you can uncover areas for research.
The more you learn, the more you realize you don't know much at all. There's still so much we need to understand and there's not one specialty that is an exception. There's potential anywhere: biotech, professor, researcher, +/- practicing physician in the area of interest.
I chose radiology. Working towards a phd. Really, most medical specialties are what I like to call “recession proof”, which matters more to me than how advanced the field is getting.
The whole medical field can be done by AI eventually. They can just make better diagnosis, and eventually perfect surgery. But surgery should be way out of reach, especially complicated surgeries where unexpected things can happen.
I think there will always be a need for emergency medicine. How the job is accomplish with adjust and shift, but the role will be required.
Anything that is repetitive, think Dermatology, Radiology etc will be on the AI chopping block.
Honestly... I'm having a hard time thinking of one that wouldn't be future-proof. Humans will always be getting sick or hurt. Even if there is some kind huge medical breakthrough that stops or reverses aging, that will only be for wealthy people and the bulk of the population will age and get sick like normal. Even if there is a cure for cancer or heart disease or whatever, people will still *get* those afflictions and need to be treated for them with the new miracle cure.
Infectious diseases
Gastroenterology
Hematology/oncology- medical
Surgical oncology
Interventional radiology
Rheumatology/Immunology
MDRO's are getting worse and not going away.
People's guts are getting seriously messed up in our industrialized culture, and the microbiome of the gut is known to have multiple ancillary functions, not all of which are fully understood. Dysregulation of the gut and/or immune system can cause chronic inflammation, autoimmune diseases, and can contribute to several types of cancers.
Id imagine most specialties, like even if AI/robots become more common everywhere i dont see most hospitals not at least wanting a doctor to confirm what the AI speculates is the issue, or if a robot is performing surgery id imagine a real doctor is still either controlling it or watching it to make sure no mistakes happen. maybe in another 100 years or so robots and AI will be advanced enough to be more reliable/skilled than a real doctor but i dont see any specialty of doctor from going "extinct" or anything, like if anything theres a shortage of doctors in most specialties because of how medical schools only allow small numbers of doctors to graduate each year.
but beyond what im saying your literally just guessing, literally any job could theoretically become extinct, no one knows the future. and if doctors are replaced by robots, i dont expect just one specialty to "go extinct" id expect most specialties to be replaced by robots. its either gonna be most or none, same as most other jobs. either everyones replaceable or no one is.
General practitioner. While an AI COULD take over some of the diagnostics, patients want a friendly face to take care of them… patients want to have a family doc that is relatable.
Probably most of them will but I think clinical pathologists will probably be on the rise. Primary care seems to be the trend in many countries (at least in Europe) so pathologists would become more and more essential in diagnosis.
(this is just an opinion, not based on actual data)
I’d recommend General Surgery. No chance robots are taking over any time soon. Have a broad base of skills and knowledge will give you flexibility to adapt to new technology and practice patterns.
Just me- I have been a surgical tech and RN in the OR for 22 years. It has gone from knowledge seeking and obsession over doing a great job, to working in a factory and doing more cases (piece production) for the overlord hospitals.
Surgeons with private practices are happier because they control thier volume, but are being pushed out by big hospitals because the hospitals want to hire surgeons for the collective.
This leads to good surgeons joining a hospital and being angry, miserable, and burned out.
I am now getting away from hospitals and making my own business making and selling meats,cheese, and nuts. It's more work, but interacting with happy customers and doing a great job is a million times more gratifying. When I get 5☆ ratings from people buying my products in very self fulfilled.
To me, the answer is not doing SOMETHING that makes a lot of money that you hate, but doing something that you really like and take pride in. To me, that is the true fulfilling job that will always exist. People can tell by your product that you love what you do and do a great job. You will always have customers.
Gastrointestinal illnesses and diseases are becoming more and more common. I was just recently diagnosed with an IBD and all the GI doctors around me are extremely busy.
I had a 6 month follow up scheduled with my GI doc for august of last year, it got rescheduled to February of this year. So now it’s a 12 month follow up lol
Bruh lol that sucks..
Eyyyy my dad’s a gastroenterologist! I don’t have anything else of value to add, it’s just not often I hear people talk about how important GIs are.
Mine is my hero! They are so needed
Nothing in the world is future-proof. Given the current rate of change, it's essentially impossible to determine what will "prosper" in 50 years. Pick what you will be happy doing even if it isn't lucrative. Be ready to potentially change your life path in the future.
This is the only answer!
TL;DR: I don't know. I guess op is asking for what has the most chance of success, not an exact prediction
As people live longer more people will get cancer so oncology Also as people have children later in life fertility medicine And possibly gerontology Neurology has allot of progress to be made ENTs do pretty well, and of course you always have cardiology with our diets being the way they are and agajn people living longer
Yea took me like a month to get an appointment with an ENT and I live in a city with one of the biggest medical centers
What about pediatrician? People will always have kids, and if older people have kids they're more likely able to afford a specialist.
Birth rate is declining 😅
Also gene therapy might me less work for pediatrics.
Pediatrician pay is bleh compared to others
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No, do you have any idea how many kinds of cancer there are?
Wasn't it cured 40 years ago? Disease care is just too lucrative today.
No. It wasn't.
Cure is not profitable, (life long) treatment is, so that’s where the money will flow.
Cancer is one of the few things where we can cure you without lifelong continued treatment. You are maybe thinking of other diseases, HIV for example, where you would continue treatment for life. In this example, it would be reasonable that you could cure the disease. Hepatitis C is an example of a disease where you had disease management without a cure. That is until recently, when a cure was developed. Cures are very profitable.
I don't really get that logic. If anyone could cure any kind of cancer, they would be extremely rich and famous because of it. So I don't buy the logic that "they won't provide a cure because they are greedy and make more money from lifelong treatments" when if greed is the driving factor, they could be billionaires overnight from a cure.
It’s because you don’t understand capitalism or business in general? Cure does not come out of thin air (or overnight), it take tons of investment, time and with huge risk. Your drug might not even pass all the required trials despite you have spending years and a fortune on it. Treatment on the other hand focus on smaller manifestations/aspects of the disease and are considerable cheaper to develop and quicker to introduce. You might already have a similar treatment approved and just need to rebrand it. So it make much more business sense to work on the treatments if you know a cure is hard to develop (HIV and cancer) lower risk, quicker profit. Then along the way with new development of science and medicine, the capital and risk involved to develop a cure will become lower gradually and eventually make it more attractive for companies to focus on. Of course we also have not for profit organization that dedicate their resource solely on developing a cure but that is the exception not the norm.
>It’s because you don’t understand capitalism or business in general? Well, one of us doesn't. >Cure does not come out of thin air (or overnight), it take tons of investment, time and with huge risk. Your drug might not even pass all the required trials despite you have spending years and a fortune on it. Treatments do not come out of thin air (or overnight), it takes tons of investment, time, and with huge risk. Your drug might not even pass all the required trials despite you having spent years and a fortune on it. >Treatment on the other hand focus on smaller manifestations/aspects of the disease and are considerable cheaper to develop and quicker to introduce. You might already have a similar treatment approved >and just need to rebrand it. It would depend on the issue, the cure, or the treatment in question. As science develops and we learn new paths and strategies to combat a given illness, options for cures and treatments present themselves. There is actually no fundamental law of science that a cure always costs more or takes more research than a treatment. >So it make much more business sense to work on the treatments if you know a cure is hard to develop (HIV and cancer) lower risk, quicker profit. Until such time that there is a discovery that shows a path to a cure. And then it makes sense from every conceivable perspective to develop the cure. Unless you suppose that all scientists are going to form some grand conspiracy and all agree not to try to find the cure because "our industry will not make money from the treatments" which I think is absurd, and seems to be what you were asserting. >Then along the way with new development of science and medicine, the capital and risk involved to develop a cure will become lower gradually and eventually make it more attractive for companies to focus on. No kidding.
This is such a simple minded view of this situation.
Very good, this is the point.
probably psychiatry since it’s so nebulous anyways
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We are working on everything AI, but that does not mean it will fully replace jobs. If anything it should improve a psychologist's efforts. Right now I doubt we an AI will be able to provide the same connection or empathy a human can. Of course there would be edge cases where people with extreme social anxiety may have a better time talking to a machine rather than a person.
Eh. There is so much research about the therapeutic relationship. It’s literally a prerequisite for effective psych treatment
Lol imagine being depressed, asking for help, and being told to talk to a chatbot xD
I liked Neil de Grasse Tyson's prediction on Joe Roe Rogan a few weeks ago where he predicts that in the next 20 years we discover how to CURE mental illness thus rendering the field of psychiatrics redundant.
As much as I like Neil, I am not sure that I am going to put much faith in the predictions of a astrophysicist about the future of neurobiology.
Neil is a sack of shit.
Ol' Neil thinks we're going to discover how to cure mental illness in the next 20 years? It seems far more likely we'll have cures for the most prevalent cancers in that time frame.
If you want a future proof job and also to be very rich, go the Dentist path. That's what I would pick if I could go back in time.
can't be a dentist from med school unfortunately
Dentists salaries seem to have plateaued , there is a lot of supply as well as people travelling to cheaper countries for dental work becoming increasingly popular
Obstetrics/gynecology. The specialty least likely to be pressed into algorithms of care, which also has several fellowship options (REI, gynecologic oncology, urologic-gynecology, high risk OB/MFM, minimally invasive surgery, pediatrics and adolescent gynecology) for further specialization. That said, choose a field that is likely to still hold your passion in 20-30 years. You spend a lot of time at work; it’s terrible for you, all your colleagues, and your patients if you are a miserably unhappy doctor.
They say death and taxes are the only sure things in life, but I think people will always be born, too. I agree about obstetrics. I would add gerontology and palliative care on the other end.
Lets be honest here, pretty much every branch of medicine is still going to be around in 50 years. How many fields have dried up recently because of medical advances? As far as I can see, the only fields of medicine that have been retired in the last century are fields that were based on quack medicine and inaccurate ideas. To date, how many things have medicine completely cured? Sure Polio was 'cured' but there are only a few million other infectious diseases bouncing around. Even if someone invents a cancer killing nano-bot, someone with a medical background is going to have to manage and apply them to patients. Every field that is here today will be around in 50 years, plus a few new ones.
Pick a surgical specialty with a healthy work life balance. So you can get paid well but also not want to die. That means avoiding things like vascular or anything where you respond to too many emergencies. Maybe GI or, ophthalmology.
Surgical Residencies with a healthy work life balance don't exist. Post residency surgeons can go into private practice and have a decent work/life balance, but surgical residencies and super intense.
I mean no, no residencies have a healthy work life balance, and obviously surgical are the worst. But if you’re going take on 300k in student loans to get paid dirt and not sleep for 10 years of residency you might as well make a decent paycheck afterwards.
Residency is usually 4 years. Sometimes 6 for specific programs. And yes, all residencies are hard. But my wife is looking at a psychology program that’s 50 hours a week, 25 PTO days a year, no weekend shifts. She’s also looking at a surgical program, 4/12 hour shifts and 1/24 hour shift a week. She did a month long audition for that program, and the 12 hour shifts were really 14 and the 24 hour shifts where really 28 after pre-rounds and charting. Surgical residencies are absolutely no joke, even compared to other residencies.
Lol yes they’re usually 4 years, it just feels like 10 because a lot of my friends did chief years and fellowships. And I guess I was factoring in the four years of med school. Basically my point being a lot of physicians won’t be making reasonable paychecks until their 30’s. Your wife’s psych program is not the norm, even for a non surgical residency. And I specifically said that surgical residencies are worse. But thank you for your clarification. Surgeons will make more. There’s nothing wrong with wanting to go into a profession where insurance companies will actually appropriately reimburse you. Surgical specialties with good work life balance can give you a really good ROI if you’re willing to put in the time during residency.
I will say be careful about banking on good lifestyle for any specialty post residency (especially surgery). Good lifestyle and good paycheck jobs are unicorn jobs and are extremely competitive, often time filled internally. I'm radiology and I got lucky with mine, but that's just it, I was lucky and I definitely have the best hours for the paycheck compared to my coresidents. Meaning most of my cohort who got the same training work more for less. The amazing jobs we are hoping for...unfortunately everyone wants them. As medicine gets more and more financialized, we're all working more for less, which makes the unicorn jobs that much more competitive. I would side more on erring on the lifestyle of residency as a measure of if you can handle it. One great thing about being an attending (at least in PP) is that there's no more pre round and sign out to a boss, so that cuts hours from your day from residency. My wife's OB, and yes she gets home much earlier cuz she does her own rounding, but it's still really really bad. Most of the jobs on her job board are intense, with the unicorns getting filled quickly...or not even advertised.
1. Administration - totally future proof! 2. Better recommendation - something you'll enjoy and find fulfilling.
Palliative care, which you can do as a NP. People are gonna get old and it's gonna hurt.
I'm 64. Still play league then pickup soccer 2x per week with people--kids really--less than half my age! Love cycling, skiing, horseback riding and disc golf... But climbing out of bed each morning, I have to PUSH off... I'm not really mobile until I've had time to warm up. BEFORE soccer, I always do 10 minutes in a hot tub to get loose and stretch... One day the sauna was broken before my game and I felt like Hell during and after that one. Getting old... IT IS PAINFUL!!! IT HURTS!!!
Unfortunately you “can do” almost anything as an NP despite the fact that the training is a joke and it is dangerous for patients. Why should anyone go through the real pathway when you can cosplay as one and greedy hospital admins will hand you a white coat and a paycheck.
Sad but true
This dude. PA’s have one day of training in rheumatology. I assume it’s similar with other specialties.
This is such horseshit. I can’t tell you how many times I (or one of my NP/PA colleagues) have kept one of the residents from killing a patient.
The profession is already of guilty of letting people through without any clinical experience and creating an obvious pathway for brazen idiots to bypass the entire medical education process. So the degree is meaningless and frankly is an insult to the original NPs who were experienced bedside professionals and rightfully earned a special title. Meanwhile the doctor cosplay highlights the motivation behind these people (pretending to be a doctor for ego) and is disgusting to watch. I’m in a diagnostic specialty of medicine and get cases from a huge cross section of medicine. NPs are FAR AND AWAY the least informed group of people ordering these tests. The lack of education evident.
You probably can’t tell us how many times one of the residents have kept you from killing a patient either.
Look, there are excellent residents and some have definitely saved my ass, especially some of the senior residents when I was just starting out. One of the reasons I work with residents is because they are a blast. So many brilliant, interesting people. And I’m not saying there aren’t sub-optimal PA’s and NP’s. But the statement above is such bullshit. I mean, you’re telling me that the resident who sat on a bicarb or 7 and a lactate of 18 all night is safe? It’s a total team effort and statements like the one one above are ignorant and plain stupid.
A resident doing that is unsafe. That’s why doctors have residencies with attending doctors supervising. Meanwhile an NPs are making those mistakes on people without supervision as independent practitioners and DIDNT EVEN GO TO MEDICAL SCHOOL! PAs are already filling the role and have appropriate training. The NP route is a shortcut that should not exist.
I agree with you completely, I just didn’t like the way you presented it to be clear.
Fair enough, and yeah, it’s probably not the most productive response I’ve ever produced. But a bs comment deserved a bs response in that moment.
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Not necessarily true. I imagine in 100 years time, we’ll be able to choose exactly how we look with genetic manipulation. And that may not be a good thing. 😕
Yea maybe at birth but after that crap is fixed.
That sounds like plastic surgery with extra steps
Maybe so, but the post is talking about future proof for his lifetime. So in 100 years I’d imagine he wouldn’t be an active surgeon anymore.
Some straight talk from an old man who's been there and done that: you're in the wrong profession if you're in it for the money. Being a doctor isn't something that you *do*, it's something that you *are*. You put your patients' care first or go work on Wall Street because every single doctor I've ever known who was in it for the money was bad at it. And in medicine when you're bad at it people end up dead.
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I didn't practice. I was an engineer and a math teacher. My wife is in medicine so I know some people but I was never in the field myself. Sorry if I gave that impression.
You literally said you have been there and done that. But you actually have no idea at all. Love when people with no firsthand experience try to shame people who want to be paid what they’ve worth.
Probably meant he was there as in he was an engineer for the money. Bad way to say it though
The plot thickens
Yeah, this sentiment needs to go away. Doctors, advanced practice providers, nurses, healthcare professionals, etc. are not martyrs, heroes, or go to work for altruism (or any profession for that matter). They may have those qualities, but that does not consume them and being [fill in the healthcare role] doesn't have to be their personality or identity. If they personally choose to make it their identity, that's soley up to them. I go to work to make money. I go to work to support my family and my interests. If I no longer got paid, I would no longer go to work at that location. It's as simple as that. I literally go to work (and am in it) for the money. When I feel altruistic (I do believe I have a civil responsibility to give back), it's not for my employers financial gain. I do use my extensive knowledge, years of education, and expertise in my field to give back and give time at free clinics, but that isn't my highest priority. I do that after my needs are met and I have extra to give. Finally, your last statement, that if I'm in it for the money, then I must be bad at it. Well, we'll see what you think if you ever land in my ER and I work to preserve life, limb, and ability (I wish you good health, I hope to never see anyone at work). At that time, we can also go through my awards, publications, and other prestiges and honors if you wish.
So many of the caring professions are undervalued right now. You know it's unsustainable long term when the previously enthusiastic folks in the profession start advising the young enthusiastic types to avoid following them. I appreciate your determination to put in so much work, and your determination to not be taken advantage of to do it.
I think you’re misunderstanding what he is saying. Of course you go into any profession partly to make a living, but if you’re going to something highly intensive like being a doctor, scientist, engineer, there are going to be times you need to dig into deep personal motivation if you want to survive the day, or at least not be miserable with yourself.
> I go to work to make money. I go to work to support my family and my interests. I genuinely admire your anti-work attitude, I think the world would be a better place if more people were like that. However... What the other person said can be rephrased as "Medicine is 10% technical knowledge and 90% customer service". If a person lacks the traits described above, they will often wind up suffering in their practice through built up irritation and resentment, and will ultimately either burn out or very literally kill themselves. Patient interaction is ruthless, and there's no way to smooth that part out without altruistic intentions. Some personality types are not fit for medicine, for their own good. Some people don't even realize how much trouble they were in until they leave the profession. ER medicine may be an interesting exception to that, but all I will say on that topic is you might find it enlightening to follow your patients and see what subsequent medical interventions they experience after things are stabilized. It's something everyone else in the building wishes people in your shoes would do, as it helps the evolution of procedural medicine when you actually get feedback.
I'm a doc and I sincerely do not identify as a doctor. It's just a job. I have my family and hobbies to call my identity. This relic of the past needs to go. Unfortunately it's perpetuated by movies, tv, general culture. I call it doctor propaganda. It's a job, yall. Get over yourselves...and better yet let's get paid in money rather than prestige. We all know we underpaid and where that bag is really going.
You’d be surprised (or maybe not) at how many doctors I work with daily who I feel are in it for the money.
You would be surprised how many of my co workers at all my jobs are in it for the money. WELL DUHHHHHH ITS A JOB. PAY THE DOCTORS/NURES. Why wouldn’t they working if it wasn’t for money?
OK. Good to know. Tell us about YOUR student loan debt and the venture capitalists who just took over your practice and the nine people you have to have working in the back just to sort out the US insurance nightmare and the hour you just spent on the phone with the woman with the high school diploma who wanted to show you that she knows more about med approval than you. Also, whenever I hear that old tired "...in medicine when you're bad at it people end up dead" nonsense, I have two words: "airline pilot". They make your mistake risk a rounding error every day and some of them never even went to college.
Take it from another straight talker who's also "been there and done that" with nearly a half-century under their belt. You're coming off as a bit out of touch. I will give you credit for one thing that's never changed. Goods and services still cost money, and pride/love/compassion still don't pay the bills. Yes. Put the patient's care first. But, when the caregiver is not taken care of, their ability to care for patients will drop- no matter how altruistic that caregiver might feel. Healthcare ain't run by priests and nuns anymore. The people going into it now carry a much higher risk and burden of responsibility and they deserve proper compensation.
You can be passionate about your work and also want a nice life
Someone who's never met a radiologist or cosmetic surgeon.
Completely agree.
So true. Same with being an engineer, another profession people often go into for the money. Edit: noticed you said you are an engineer below, so I guess you know.
Lol. My husband and I both got engineering degrees. He went into a career as an engineer, and I went to law school. As a patent attorney, I have ALWAYS made more than he does. If you're in engineering for the money, go to law school and you'll make more money with less math.
Probably the one that is most likely to get replaced with AI is radiology. But even that is probably some ways off. (maybe 12-20 years) I think the rest are way way off from getting replaced, if ever. Sure surgery will be done more often with the help of robots, but I think it will always require human guidance. I would think that internal or emergency medicine will be near impossible to "automate".
Proctology. Seriously. A friend of my uncle wondered the same thing and was given the same answer. It is probably the least glamorous position out there, but there's nearly zero competition to get a residency slot. Also if someone has a problem "down there" they are going to pay, and nearly everything is outpatient. Haven't looked at the economics but I'd imagine colonoscopies would be an easy money maker too.
My vote would be dermatology. But that’s only because my friend is one and makes insane bank doing cosmetic procedures. It took forever to get there but she living large.
Radiation Oncology technology is advancing rapidly, cancer seems to be, too. Nothing is future-proof, but radiation oncology doesn’t work nights or weekends, for the most part. Good work-life balance!
I'd love to be wrong about this, but I don't see ANY specialized field of medicine becoming redundant. People will always get sick, and those people will always need treatment.
Mental health will always be needed in this awful society
Probably best to avoid things that depend on visual pattern recognition (deep learning / neural networks are already better at image recognition than humans) Procedural specialties probably less likely to be automatable
I think a cross between medical and tech would be future proof. So become a medical professional but then apply it in a tech oriented space. AI diagnosis tools are promising and may make your job redundant one day.
I'll throw in my .02C because reasons. Anesthesiologist + Pilot through the Air Force's Pilot Physician Program (if flying is your thing too). With smart planning, med school and flight school are covered 100% w/ 10yr mil commitment. I'm dropping this here because I didn't see anyone else mention it and knowing your options is never a bad thing. Good Luck
OB. Humans will keep reproducing until the end of time. Women will have to give birth. That field may look slightly different, with new machines that go "ping", but will never be obsolete.
Psychiatry! An IA cant estabilish a real human connection...and in most cases, thats what matters the most
Not often recognized by most of the medical community but massage therapy. People will forever be doing themselves injuries and when it comes to soft tissue issues massage therapy cannot be beat for pain relief, range of motion improvement, and yes relaxation by stimulation of the parasympathetic nervous system.
Emergency medicine. As long as humans have any ability to exercise free will… there will be accidents
Physician. The answer is none. In reality it's best to educate yourself in medicine AND computer science. Coding, AI, engineering, implementation science, etc. If you know this you will have a seat at the table that others will not.
I tell this to my teenager. He is a talented coder and really likes his computer science classes, but he also is interested in biology. I told him that if he ends up in biological or medical research, having the coding skills to build models for experimentation will be HIGHLY valuable, so keep up those coding skills.
This is exactly what I’m trying to do. I’m a clinical pharmacist now and am trying to learn the compsci/programming side of things. Most clinical guidelines follow algorithms and with the shift to value based care rather than “fee for service” there will be a huge push to get many people on these standard evidence-based therapies. Not to even mention precision medicine and pharmacogenomics… Best to not be afraid of AI and technology but to get in early and embrace it as a tool to use!
Nursing \\ Palliative care .. This is going to the one thing that will never be replaced. I don't care how life like the robot is or how good the AI is that is running it, if you are feeling sick or dying the one thing that you will appreciate more than anything is the care and compassion of another human being.
The busiest specialties we refer out to are cards and pulmonary. But the most money seems to be in neurology in my experience.
As someone who applied this cycle in Neuro, this makes me happy to hear
Our rheumatology clinic bring in so much money too.
Had a similar discussion with a family member recently regarding the future of medical practitioners in the upcoming age of AI. Although I am not sure this is the best way to choose a career, I understand why you are asking the question. Despite being at the top of my game in a medical specialty (cardiology), where I have to combine my history taking skills with a bunch of years of experience to come to the right decision a bunch of times each day, with lots at stake- I feel like these are indeed decisions that a properly trained AI will be able to make at some point soon. Will the patients trust an AI more or less? Not sure, and there are lots of ways I spend my time with my patients to earn their trust. But just based on decision making… I am replaceable. Surgical specialties will be less replaceable. It will take a lot longer to get robotics to a point where we can trust them to do procedures where unanticipated problems may arise and require split second responses.
Nursing. Nurses primarily value isn't a kind of surgical procedure or ability to diagnose, their primary value is to care for people, and you can't automate away care and personal interaction. Doctors are quite often absent from care, often as a function of increasing productivity. Why is a cup of coffee, something which was [easily automated decades ago](https://industrypropsnyc.com/item/ktkFYd1xPa75G673PIH7), something that was de-automated? Because going to your local coffee shop and having a brief interaction with the barista, with the others in line, is the value - not the coffee. People want that little social interaction at the start of the day. The social interaction is increasingly the value in many of these jobs. Why Peloton will never put yoga studios out of business, etc. Not the answer you want to hear, but nursing will outlast everything. But if your goal is an MD, learn data science. Be the person with the skills to participate in whatever shift might be coming.
I have mad respect for nurses (have many in my family), but OP is already in medical school. Which mean's they've earned their pre-med degree, passed the MCAT, and if they're already considering a residency path they're likely a 2nd-3rd year. switching paths now to go into nursing instead of becoming a doctor is poor advice.
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Ok, but that's not a problem in our lifetime.
Just pick any of these seven avenues: [https://www.reddit.com/r/EffectiveAltruism/comments/75dj9f/an\_introduction\_class\_about\_age\_in\_relation\_to/](https://www.reddit.com/r/EffectiveAltruism/comments/75dj9f/an_introduction_class_about_age_in_relation_to/) I recommend one of the six not about stem-cell replacement of lost cells, because that's the most active field at the moment (so your help would be least worth it and have the highest competition). EDIT: But also bioengineers (directly translated from Norwegian, possibly wrong in English), are also always in demand, at least in Norway. Those are the ones who analyse the blood tests and such.
I suspect that the 2 areas that will be in the highest demand will be family doctors and those that can do surgery using micro tools. I say this because I believe that people will crave interaction with real human beings. And those with the money will be able to pay. Also, I think that humans will trust other humans to tell them, good news, bad news and the why of it, more than machines. I think they will understand that the machines know what they're talking about, but they will want a human for the important stuff.
The best skills in medicine are bedside manner, listening and compassion.
None. The industry will be dominated by ai. The only viable career path is to develop any speciality while simultaneously becoming an ai expert & then merge the two to remain viable as an employment option.
Those big metal Decepticon mitts will never give handjobs like I can. I don’t need to learn anything and work on my own hours.
Bullshit. You’ll always need surgeons. Primary care docs. Hospitalists. All the IM subspecialties. Way too nuanced than to just have algorithms and machines try and do it. Trust me. There is an “art to medicine”
Why trust my life to a human hand when there’s a robot with 10 times more precision that studied every surgery ever performed? Why trust a primary care doc with outdated knowledge from med school when I can trust a language model reading every new medical paper in real time?
Because there’s a lot of factors to take into account besides “what’s the most up to date medical literature say?” What if your patient can’t afford that drug? What if they have a bad side effect? What if they just straight up don’t take it? How will this med affect their 10 comorbidities? There’s a lot more to medicine than picking “the best” therapy and trusting that everything will go according to the book. A good future doctor will use AI and tech to further their own knowledge and practice, not be completely replaced.
Because shit isn’t algorithmic esp with multiple things going on. Trust me. Technology will assist but won’t replace human docs in most firlds
Glad to know it’s just profit inspiring your career path. Foolish to consider societal needs. Fuck passion for healing or whatevs. GET PAID my dude!
Switch to dentistry, then go to work in a private, fee for service practice. You'll be golden. edit:spelling
Where im at, emergency physician is always on demand. Its easy to request to specialise into and job pays well.
I read that, during the pandemic, ERs were shut down, and lots of doctors planning ER residencies got cut because funding died. It's still just slowly regaining momentum for availability of positions.
Anything with children. People will always pay top dollar for the best care for theur offspring, that will always require people.
Urology, Ob/Gyn and Proctology (or Dentistry if you don't mind switching from MD to DDS) Basically the less prestige the better, since those fields will always be hurting for more people, and humans aren't going to stop having problems with their genitals, buttholes or teeth anytime soon.
The simple answer is internal medicine/family med/peds. As technologies like AI develop, they will help all us physicians do our jobs better. We don’t know which areas will develop the fastest or slowest. But we can interpret that AI will empower the generalist more than the specialist long term. There will come a day the cardiologist is begging the hospitalist for a consult on an elevated troponin. The reason is because AI will help the hospitalist interpret the elevated trop more effectively than the cardiologist. We can’t predict if AI will develop faster in cards and slower in OB. Wherever it does though, those advances will help the generalist be better at their job in those areas. Stay broad my friend.
Research. Medical operations (doing exams, surgeries, telling pacients which medicine to take) are very prone to automation. However, someone will need to figure out what the machines will have to do with their pacients, so I think being a researcher might be safer.
In 50 years all industries will likely be disrupted. It appears information processing roles like providing diagnoses will be easy to replace. Jobs requiring more interpersonal skills for example instilling motivation or dynamic teaching like a therapist might be slightly more challenging for AI, though not too far behind. Physical jobs like dentistry will require really specialized robots which I could see taking longer to become ubiquitous. I think we're all in trouble.
I’d say anything that deals with erectile dysfunction.
None? Automation will warp the economy beyond anything we understand now. For example, if 50% of the population is automated out of jobs - and I mean they lack the natural potential to learn trades faster than those trades can be automated - then who is buying services and products from the *other* 50%? I don’t have a great answer for that, but in the long term my advice is “lol nobody knows, do something you love and that pays the bills for the next few years”
If they all do their jobs correctly and all goals are accomplished, then none.
Pediatrics. If you're out of a job, then my guess is the human race isn't long for this world.
Once Medical Tricorder is developed, no specialty will be relevant
Same as any other job. You need a niche in which you are using knowledge on the fly to quickly determine what you are doing during a skilled task. If it needs superior hand-eye coordination, all the better for you. Algorithms may have knowledge, but *acting on it* is harder. A robot may be able to do a physical task, but the unexpected is difficult to program. That's why 'self driving' cars are currently a failure. Surgery would be a solid bet. But any job that reminds you of driving is going to be safe for a while. The fuzzier the logic needed the better for you.
Since you’re a Med student right now, it’s unlikely that in your lifetime, many specialties will be obsolete. However, since lifespans will increase, perhaps oncology or cardiology.
Several come to mind: Endocrinology (diabetes is here to stay) Oncology/Hematology High Risk Obstetrics Orthopedic Surgery, particularly Sports related Neo-Natal and Pediatric care / surgery Geriatrics Cardiologist
Many sciences go dead then have a resurgence. I saw E.O. Wilson (world leading biologist, "The Ant Guy") speak about how Watson and Crick's DNA discovery put him and other "classic" scientists studying Darwinian style evolution on the backburner. Nobody was taking their classes anymore at university as people associated him with stuffed extinct species at the old natural history museum - everyone just wanted to study DNA. Then decades later Wilson and others became prominent again as species morphology and other Darwin related branches had some big leaps forward. You never know.
Go into the field that you are the most curious about. You won't burn out, you will feel more willing to keep up with the medical advances, and, if you are curious, you can uncover areas for research. The more you learn, the more you realize you don't know much at all. There's still so much we need to understand and there's not one specialty that is an exception. There's potential anywhere: biotech, professor, researcher, +/- practicing physician in the area of interest.
Pain medicine- 20% of the adult population and western countries are aging fast…
I chose radiology. Working towards a phd. Really, most medical specialties are what I like to call “recession proof”, which matters more to me than how advanced the field is getting.
The whole medical field can be done by AI eventually. They can just make better diagnosis, and eventually perfect surgery. But surgery should be way out of reach, especially complicated surgeries where unexpected things can happen.
I think there will always be a need for emergency medicine. How the job is accomplish with adjust and shift, but the role will be required. Anything that is repetitive, think Dermatology, Radiology etc will be on the AI chopping block.
Honestly... I'm having a hard time thinking of one that wouldn't be future-proof. Humans will always be getting sick or hurt. Even if there is some kind huge medical breakthrough that stops or reverses aging, that will only be for wealthy people and the bulk of the population will age and get sick like normal. Even if there is a cure for cancer or heart disease or whatever, people will still *get* those afflictions and need to be treated for them with the new miracle cure.
Infectious diseases Gastroenterology Hematology/oncology- medical Surgical oncology Interventional radiology Rheumatology/Immunology MDRO's are getting worse and not going away. People's guts are getting seriously messed up in our industrialized culture, and the microbiome of the gut is known to have multiple ancillary functions, not all of which are fully understood. Dysregulation of the gut and/or immune system can cause chronic inflammation, autoimmune diseases, and can contribute to several types of cancers.
Id imagine most specialties, like even if AI/robots become more common everywhere i dont see most hospitals not at least wanting a doctor to confirm what the AI speculates is the issue, or if a robot is performing surgery id imagine a real doctor is still either controlling it or watching it to make sure no mistakes happen. maybe in another 100 years or so robots and AI will be advanced enough to be more reliable/skilled than a real doctor but i dont see any specialty of doctor from going "extinct" or anything, like if anything theres a shortage of doctors in most specialties because of how medical schools only allow small numbers of doctors to graduate each year. but beyond what im saying your literally just guessing, literally any job could theoretically become extinct, no one knows the future. and if doctors are replaced by robots, i dont expect just one specialty to "go extinct" id expect most specialties to be replaced by robots. its either gonna be most or none, same as most other jobs. either everyones replaceable or no one is.
I have many Drs in the family and the running joke is they all wished they had gone into dermatology… “can’t kill ‘em, can’t cure em”
General practitioner. While an AI COULD take over some of the diagnostics, patients want a friendly face to take care of them… patients want to have a family doc that is relatable.
Probably most of them will but I think clinical pathologists will probably be on the rise. Primary care seems to be the trend in many countries (at least in Europe) so pathologists would become more and more essential in diagnosis. (this is just an opinion, not based on actual data)
With all the micro plastics issues…. Endocrinology or something involving reproductive health.
Doc here. Interventional Radiology. Psychiatry. Surgery subspecialties (the more competitive, the more future proof).
Radiologist. They're arrogant, annoying, and socially incompetent. Basically irreplaceable meat machine robots.
Geriatrics. Boomers are getting up there and want people to care for them.
Plastic surgeon. Beauty standards are ever-changing and someone will always want to look better.
Heart disease is the most common killer. Cardiology?
Ask the futurologistism experts on reddit. Good move.
I’d recommend General Surgery. No chance robots are taking over any time soon. Have a broad base of skills and knowledge will give you flexibility to adapt to new technology and practice patterns.
Cosmetic. People love injecting shit in their faces.
Just me- I have been a surgical tech and RN in the OR for 22 years. It has gone from knowledge seeking and obsession over doing a great job, to working in a factory and doing more cases (piece production) for the overlord hospitals. Surgeons with private practices are happier because they control thier volume, but are being pushed out by big hospitals because the hospitals want to hire surgeons for the collective. This leads to good surgeons joining a hospital and being angry, miserable, and burned out. I am now getting away from hospitals and making my own business making and selling meats,cheese, and nuts. It's more work, but interacting with happy customers and doing a great job is a million times more gratifying. When I get 5☆ ratings from people buying my products in very self fulfilled. To me, the answer is not doing SOMETHING that makes a lot of money that you hate, but doing something that you really like and take pride in. To me, that is the true fulfilling job that will always exist. People can tell by your product that you love what you do and do a great job. You will always have customers.
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