I have just completed residency in another highly competitive field and been in practice now for about a year. Much to my disappointment, the concerns of being in the wrong field that I had throughout most of my residency have been confirmed in this year of practice. I had previously been interested in another specialty, but decided to pursue a different career path in another highly competitive field. Now that I've come to the realization that this is NOT where I should be, is it too late to try to make a specialty change? How difficult is this now that I am out in practice? Any advice from those who have been in this situation or know someone who has, would be greatly appreciated. You can post it or email me privately.

With much appreciation,

AnonymMD

I have just completed residency in another highly competitive field and been in practice now for about a year. Much to my disappointment, the concerns of being in the wrong field that I had throughout most of my residency have been confirmed in this year of practice. I had previously been interested in another specialty, but decided to pursue a different career path in another highly competitive field. Now that I've come to the realization that this is NOT where I should be, is it too late to try to make a specialty change? How difficult is this now that I am out in practice? Any advice from those who have been in this situation or know someone who has, would be greatly appreciated. You can post it or email me privately.

With much appreciation,

AnonymMD

what field??

And its never too late to change. Although your sense of a lack of fulfillment may stem from other inner issues you may want to explore.

Agree with above.
If you matched into a highly competitive specialty you can probably change if you really want to. However, I think it would help us to know what field you are in and what one(s) you are thinking of switching to. Just realize that every field has things that suck about it. For general IM and fp it's a general lack of respect, having to see too many patients/day, too much paperwork, and depending on your personality and comfort level, perhaps the "having to know everything about everything". For anesthesia, it's having to take crap from surgeons. For surgeons, it's the constant pressure to not make any mistakes during invasive procedures, and the excessive work hours (I guess) and probably the not getting paid more for the patients with the complex operations (so I hear). For peds, it's dealing with crazy parents, and ones who don't want to vaccinate their kids, etc. For derm, it's probably dealing with vain, entitled-type patients. For ER, it's dealing with drunks, drug seekers and others who landed in the ER due to poor problem solving skills and bad choices. You get the picture...

Medicine is a cool job, but it is just a job in the end. Are you sure it's worth it to go through the pain of another residency?

Agree with above.
If you matched into a highly competitive specialty you can probably change if you really want to. However, I think it would help us to know what field you are in and what one(s) you are thinking of switching to. Just realize that every field has things that suck about it. For general IM and fp it's a general lack of respect, having to see too many patients/day, too much paperwork, and depending on your personality and comfort level, perhaps the "having to know everything about everything". For anesthesia, it's having to take crap from surgeons. For surgeons, it's the constant pressure to not make any mistakes during invasive procedures, and the excessive work hours (I guess) and probably the not getting paid more for the patients with the complex operations (so I hear). For peds, it's dealing with crazy parents, and ones who don't want to vaccinate their kids, etc. For derm, it's probably dealing with vain, entitled-type patients. For ER, it's dealing with drunks, drug seekers and others who landed in the ER due to poor problem solving skills and bad choices. You get the picture...

Medicine is a cool job, but it is just a job in the end. Are you sure it's worth it to go through the pain of another residency?

dragonfly99, I have to say first that I agree completely with what you've written above. I think you're admirably concise and right on target .

to the OP, I've done the specialty switch, and I found that just contacting directors directly with my CV was the most productive. I expect you'll find them very receptive, particularly if your current specialty has some relevance to your chosen field. If you can find a way to make your current specialty work for you, though...that's worth some thought.