You have finished college, medical school, internship and residency. You are at the finish line of training, and you can see on the horizon the time to start working, make money, pay off loans, begin saving for financial goals or to support a family. However, for a moment, the possibility of pursuing a fellowship crosses your path.

The question is, why would somebody want to continue studying for 1 or 2 more years after so many years of study? There are many good reasons not to pursue a fellowship: the ability to start work, job opportunities that may have presented themselves, gaining experience or making money.

On the other hand, people who decide to pursue a fellowship have a long way to go, which starts from choosing the subspecialty and where to do it, and continues with all the work and study that must be done for as long as it lasts. Talk to your teachers, see specialists in the area of interest and ask about the best program where you could do the fellowship. It is also important to attend conferences on the specific area of interest where you could establish social relationships and meet other young people who are looking for something such as you are.

To make any of these decisions it is important to consider your goals and objectives, and both options are valid. If you like the diversity of patients and their clinical problems, and you see yourself moving from minor to major procedures, general urology might be the perfect fit for you. However, if you prefer to be considered an expert in your subspecialty and take on more involved patients and surgical presentations, pursuing fellowship and learning complex medical and surgical management within a subspecialty may be the correct path for you.

Continuing medical education is part of any successful career; whether you decide to become a fellow or not, you must be a lifelong learner and continuously refine your surgical and medical management techniques.

But the options do not end at deciding to pursue a fellowship or not. Research must be kept in mind. I highly recommend it, either within a fellow’s program or not. Doing research can allow you to attend conferences, expand your network of colleagues, meet other people in the field and cultivate relationships. This networking may also help when you begin to look for jobs. Research can be extremely rewarding; when you do research, you can change the way multiple people diagnose, consider or treat a condition.

I will finish with this last paragraph just telling you that it is possible that at the end of the residency you can decide to pursue a fellowship, do research and garner publications. Or you could choose not to pursue a fellowship and start your work life, and still do research. The most important thing, and the best way to decide, is to think on how you see yourself in 10 years and think about what would be the path that will let you live every day peacefully.