DO interested in internal/family and sports medicine

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KeikoTanaka

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I was recently accepted to my first osteopathic medical school!! For the first time fantasizing about my future career is possible (obviously gotta pass school first). Also I can now post on this forum.

I love everything. That’s half of the reason I chose medicine in the first place. As a bodybuilder and personal trainer however, I do have an affinity for sports medicine.

My question is, and obviously i know this may change as I go through clinicals, what type of residency would be best for me? I really want to do a competitive residency around a large metropolis such as Portland ME or Boston.

Is IM the way to go? I really love procedures and being a “jack of all trades”, however I’m scared that since they’re just being triaged from the ED they won’t have diagnoses to be made. I wanna be the one imaging, getting labs, and being the diagnoser... however I wanna do sports medicine too, so how do I combine these interests?

Thanks!
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DrMcLovin said:
Sounds like you described EM. I think you can do a sports medicine fellowship after EM as well. I’m not sure what career path they take post fellowship, but it could be worth looking into.

https://www.emra.org/uploadedfiles/emra/emra_publications/emra_fellowshipguide_v1_0816.pdf#page144
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Just curious though, let’s assume I wanted to end up working in a more suburban/rural setting, would I be able to work anywhere other than a large hospital as an EM doc? And I guess I’d have to look into post fellowship career paths because if I was able to work with a high school or college sports team i guess it would be convenient to be able to have a flexible ED schedule that I can work around my other days working with a sports team
 
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KeikoTanaka said:
Just curious though, let’s assume I wanted to end up working in a more suburban/rural setting, would I be able to work anywhere other than a large hospital as an EM doc? And I guess I’d have to look into post fellowship career paths because if I was able to work with a high school or college sports team i guess it would be convenient to be able to have a flexible ED schedule that I can work around my other days working with a sports team
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Easily. Every sports team I was on had EM docs as the team physicians, we had a smaller hospital real close too and I was in the suburbs (midwest). No clue about northeast stuff but take it for what its worth
 
KeikoTanaka said:
Just curious though, let’s assume I wanted to end up working in a more suburban/rural setting, would I be able to work anywhere other than a large hospital as an EM doc? And I guess I’d have to look into post fellowship career paths because if I was able to work with a high school or college sports team i guess it would be convenient to be able to have a flexible ED schedule that I can work around my other days working with a sports team
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Most suburban areas and a lot of rural areas have a hospital nearby to work in. That shouldnt be a problem and you might even get paid more than a big city ED. I don’t know much about EM other than my clerkship month, but a lot of the residents & attendings in my core hospital said they went into EM for the reasons you described in your first post.
 
DrMcLovin said:
Most suburban areas and a lot of rural areas have a hospital nearby to work in. That shouldnt be a problem and you might even get paid more than a big city ED. I don’t know much about EM other than my clerkship month, but a lot of the residents & attendings in my core hospital said they went into EM for the reasons you described in your first post.
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Everyone on this forum has been pretty negative about DO residency placements and what not. If I wanted to do EM or IM in a big city, but I try really hard and score well on USMLE, will I have a problem getting into those spots? I didn’t realize all this negativity until I came to this forum haha
 
It’s portland Maine a metropolis? When I was there for my interview I thought it was pretty small.
 
KeikoTanaka said:
Everyone on this forum has been pretty negative about DO residency placements and what not. If I wanted to do EM or IM in a big city, but I try really hard and score well on USMLE, will I have a problem getting into those spots? I didn’t realize all this negativity until I came to this forum haha
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Do well on boards and you should be able to lend EM (DO friendly). IM will depend, if you just want a large city (not Boston) then it shouldn’t be a problem. If you want a top tier IM program then you aren’t getting it as a DO. You won’t get Boston IM because it’s dominated by top tier programs
 
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DO2015CA said:
It’s portland Maine a metropolis? When I was there for my interview I thought it was pretty small.
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It’s not super big but it’s a cool city where I’d like to go, plus they probably get a ton of patients from outlying rural areas since Portland is the biggest place around southern Maine
 
KeikoTanaka said:
It’s not super big but it’s a cool city where I’d like to go, plus they probably get a ton of patients from outlying rural areas since Portland is the biggest place around southern Maine
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Ya I definitely enjoyed my time there and bingo on the rural. That was a huge selling point for me in Maine. Maybe I’ll move out there one day
 
As a bodybuilder, you may be obligated to do ortho...
 
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hbslax4 said:
As a bodybuilder, you may be obligated to do ortho...
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I’m currently working as a medical assistant/pioneering a scribing position at a private orthopedics office until school starts in July. I really love ortho and sports medicine. I really like the in office procedures but I’m nervous about actual surgery cuz I watched a video of an ACL repair on YouTube and it kind of made me nauseous in a weird way. I’ve cut open 3 cadavers so I don’t know why I felt that way. I’ve also seen some carotid endarterectomy’s done and been around a lot of blood and those experiences didn’t gross me out so I’m not sure why the video made me nauseous. Maybe when I’m actually in the OR with them I’ll feel differently.
 
68PGunner said:
That will depend on his bench press max. Min 350 lbs or gtfo.
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Lmao I’m weak. I don’t go higher than 225. I lost 70 pounds in high school so my fitness goals have always been about maintaining health and proper arthrokinematics, not so much about caveman like strength that isn’t really necessary in today’s day and age. Also these people all end up needing orthopedics lol
 
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Osminog said:
Maybe PM&R + Sports Medicine Fellowship.
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There’s a PMR doc in the orthopedics office I’m working in who focuses solely on pain management, which seems kind of boring to me. Is there good variation in PMR? Does it train you better for sports medicine than let’s say FM/EM/IM would? I would say with the MSK elements yes, but not so much with primary care of athletes in general? Does doing PMR kind of pinhole me into just doing sports medicine 24/7? Cuz like I prefaced this with, i really do love everything which is why something more general appeals to me
 
KeikoTanaka said:
There’s a PMR doc in the orthopedics office I’m working in who focuses solely on pain management, which seems kind of boring to me. Is there good variation in PMR? Does it train you better for sports medicine than let’s say FM/EM/IM would? I would say with the MSK elements yes, but not so much with primary care of athletes in general? Does doing PMR kind of pinhole me into just doing sports medicine 24/7? Cuz like I prefaced this with, i really do love everything which is why something more general appeals to me
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You got a while to figure out what specialty ya want kid. Sit back and enjoy the ride
 
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KeikoTanaka said:
There’s a PMR doc in the orthopedics office I’m working in who focuses solely on pain management, which seems kind of boring to me. Is there good variation in PMR? Does it train you better for sports medicine than let’s say FM/EM/IM would? I would say with the MSK elements yes, but not so much with primary care of athletes in general? Does doing PMR kind of pinhole me into just doing sports medicine 24/7? Cuz like I prefaced this with, i really do love everything which is why something more general appeals to me
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Pmr doesn’t only do sports med. Plus you can do interventional pain fellowships with X-ray guided stuff. Also can do inpatient rehab hospitals or nerve conduction studies. Pmr has a better lifestyle and marginally better money than pcp sports (unless you do a pain fellowship. Then a lot more money)
 
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KeikoTanaka said:
Lmao I’m weak. I don’t go higher than 225. I lost 70 pounds in high school so my fitness goals have always been about maintaining health and proper arthrokinematics, not so much about caveman like strength that isn’t really necessary in today’s day and age. Also these people all end up needing orthopedics lol
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I'm one of those! Was a young buck in the military thinking I could lift the world. Fast forward 6 years and here I am with back issues. haha.

Have you looked into PM&R? I also have a ton of interest in lifting and sports. I have PM&R in the back of my mind because of this.

Edit: Just saw your post about the PM&R physician you see at your work. I would shadow some if possible. Pain management is just one aspect of it from the information I have gathered. I could be wrong.
 
rg2o3 said:
I'm one of those! Was a young buck in the military thinking I could lift the world. Fast forward 6 years and here I am with back issues. haha.

Have you looked into PM&R? I also have a ton of interest in lifting and sports. I have PM&R in the back of my mind because of this.

Edit: Just saw your post about the PM&R physician you see at your work. I would shadow some if possible. Pain management is just one aspect of it from the information I have gathered. I could be wrong.
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Even with all my concentration on form I have lower back issues. I've been focusing on hamstrings and core to try and correct the issue.

That aside, if I were to do PMR I'd love the nerve conduction and sports medicine side. But I still love the whole pharmaceutical and pathophysiology side of disease so I'd miss that element.. lol I guess I just need to do rotations.
 
KeikoTanaka said:
Even with all my concentration on form I have lower back issues. I've been focusing on hamstrings and core to try and correct the issue.

That aside, if I were to do PMR I'd love the nerve conduction and sports medicine side. But I still love the whole pharmaceutical and pathophysiology side of disease so I'd miss that element.. lol I guess I just need to do rotations.
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I think mine stemmed from a little too much weight and poor flexibility in my hamstrings lol.

Yeah I hear ya. I am sure we will change our minds a few times through out it all, haha.
 
Sorry to come back to this topic but I have been thinking more still. What if I want to do Family medicine and work outpatient, can i still provide primary care sports medicine services? My bf was just accepted to medical school and he doesnt seem to think the direction of medicine is going as such that i could do both roles. He thinks if I don't do orthopedics theres no way i can get a large enough patient basis to make the sports med role "work". He suggests that having a family medicine/urgent care would be a better option that would bring in musculoskeletal problems I can treat (And also long term patients with) because otherwise they'd be referred to orthopedists right away from other PCPs. Opinions on this?
 
One of our professors does outpatient FM + outpatient sports medicine in a large, large city, so I’m sure it’s not only possible but pretty common. I don’t know why your bf would think otherwise.
 
KeikoTanaka said:
Lmao I’m weak. I don’t go higher than 225. I lost 70 pounds in high school so my fitness goals have always been about maintaining health and proper arthrokinematics, not so much about caveman like strength that isn’t really necessary in today’s day and age. Also these people all end up needing orthopedics lol
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Excuses brah.
 
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KeikoTanaka said:
Just getting excited, that’s all!
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Hold on to that excitement.

You will need it once the stresses and hell of medical school and ravaging toll that will be imparted on your mental, physical, emotional, and spiritual health and psyche catch up to you.

As long as the barrell of a .357 doesn't look enticing and the quart of Jack Daniels doesn't come across that mind of yours... you will make it and move on with life.

But anyway...

GOOD LUCK BUDDY! ENJOY MEDICINE!
 
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KeikoTanaka said:
He thinks if I don't do orthopedics theres no way i can get a large enough patient basis to make the sports med role "work".
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Wut? We have faculty that are FM/Sports Med docs and they are essentially the team physician for some local high schools in addition to their FM practices. There are also always a few non-surgical sports docs in every orthopaedic group I’ve ever known. The surgeons ain’t got time to deal with the sports stuff that doesn’t need to be cut on, so they have partners they refer them too. Many of those practice set ups are 100% sports med.
 
EmergDO said:
One of our professors does outpatient FM + outpatient sports medicine in a large, large city, so I’m sure it’s not only possible but pretty common. I don’t know why your bf would think otherwise.
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Sounds like I need to find someone like this to shadow and see what their life is like haha
 
KeikoTanaka said:
Sounds like I need to find someone like this to shadow and see what their life is like haha
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Surgeons love these people because it takes away all the BS consults and clinic. People in med school are the only people who look down on primary care. As an attending these people are treated very well because they supply the patient$$$ (and prevent those of from having to do clinic as much that hate it).
 
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Thanks for all of your replies, I'm glad to know that my dream is possible! I love variety and its one of the reasons I wanted to go into medicine in the first place, I'd hate to be confined into a "box" or a role 100% of the time.
 
KeikoTanaka said:
Thanks for all of your replies, I'm glad to know that my dream is possible! I love variety and its one of the reasons I wanted to go into medicine in the first place, I'd hate to be confined into a "box" or a role 100% of the time.
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Well...

Every specialty gets confined into a box or role at times.

You won't see a surgeon having to deal with htn and DM (only how those things effect their immediate concern... which is peri-operative care and post-operative recovery)

Just like you won't see a FM doc dealing with lymphomas... he's gonna refer them little boogers out to the oncologist who's gonna take care of the rest of it.

Find the specialty where you like dealing with 90% of the same, boring stuff cause that is what 90% of your day will look like (for the most part).
 
KeikoTanaka said:
Why do you say that? You literally know nothing about me other than I'm a soon to be DO student. Don't generalize ;)
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As someone stated earlier, there is no IM program in Boston that is going to interview a DO unless there is an overwhelming reason for them to do so. It's not a generalization. You'll find out if/when you apply.

FM is possible in most places. But Boston really only has a couple of FM programs like BUSM and Tufts (Harvard Med is one of several schools that don't believe in the idea of FM residency training, so no Harvard hospital has any FM program as far as I know), and of the these programs, BUSM takes a lot of its FM residents from top schools like Harvard and Hopkins.

So just be realistic and look into things fully before making plans. It's better to look into these things now rather than have it be a surprise later. For now, you should be working on getting research set up (if you want academic IM) and doing well in school.
 
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sab3156 said:
As someone stated earlier, there is no IM program in Boston that is going to interview a DO unless there is an overwhelming reason for them to do so. It's not a generalization. You'll find out if/when you apply.

FM is possible in most places. But Boston really only has a couple of FM programs like BUSM and Tufts (Harvard Med is one of several schools that don't believe in the idea of FM residency training, so no Harvard hospital has any FM program as far as I know), and of the these programs, BUSM takes a lot of its FM residents from top schools like Harvard and Hopkins.

So just be realistic and look into things fully before making plans. It's better to look into these things now rather than have it be a surprise later. For now, you should be working on getting research set up (if you want academic IM) and doing well in school.
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What’s a good resource to “search” residencies in a given geographical location and get stats on them?
 
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