As a medical student, do you ever wonder what it’s like to be an infectious disease (ID) specialist? Here’s your chance to find out.
Meet Ronald G. Nahass, MD, an ID specialist and featured physician in AMA Wire’s® “Shadow Me” Specialty Series, which offers advice directly from physicians about life in their specialties.
Read his insights to help determine whether a career in ID might be a good fit for you.
“Shadowing” Dr. Nahass
Specialty: Infectious diseases (ID)
Practice setting: Single specialty group
Employment type: Private practice
Years in practice: 25
A typical week in my practice: [My days are] diversified, [covering] clinical care, population/public health, teaching, clinical research, administrative/leadership and writing. All these activities are part of my day-to-day and week-by-week activities.
Hours vary by interest in various activities. [I work] 50-hour weeks plus every fourth weekend [on] call.
The most challenging aspect of caring for patients in ID:
Care coordination of complex patients. Patients we care for frequently have multiple conditions and require a lot of coordination to assure clarity, avoidance of mistakes and excellent outcomes.
Three adjectives that describe the typical physician in ID:
Bright. Master detective. Excellent clinician.
Three skills every physician in training should have for ID but won’t be tested for on the board exam:
Listening. Observation. Examination
One question physicians in training should ask before pursuing ID:
Do you like solving problems?
Three books every medical student interested in ID should read:
- How Doctors Think by Jerome Groopman
- Practicing Excellence: A Physician's Manual to Exceptional Health Care by Stephen C. Beeson
- The Resilient Physician by Wayne Sotile
If my life in this specialty were a song, it’d be:
“The Times They Are A-Changin’” by Bob Dylan
Want to learn more about your specialty options?
- Hear what it’s like to practice in the field from Dr. Schmitt, another ID specialist in AMA Wire’s "Shadow Me" Specialty Series.
- Read additional insights from physicians in adolescent medicine, physical medicine and rehabilitation, radiology and orthopedic surgery.
- Check out the FREIDA Specialty Guide and be sure to avoid these 5 common mistakes students make when choosing a specialty.
