Questions about cardiology

[lifeasweknowit]

Hi again, if you read my past post then you know I'm interested in psychiatry. I still am but I am also now interested in cardiology as wellll, well I have a couple questions like last time LOL
I heard cardiology is competitive, I would just like to ask if it still is and if it most likely will still be 10~ years later?
Also, is there a lot of math involved? I know there's a lot of EKG readings and etc but what kind of math is needed to be a NON invasive cardiologist and for what?
Is a non invasive cardiologist a career or are there different types of non-invasive cardiologists? I know there are cardiologists that work with children but yeah.
Also what type of work does a cardiologist do regularly? (Besides the obvious patient stuff) but do they write reports a lot? Experiments?

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[BioBeaver]

Okay, lifeasweknowit, your avoidance of math is troubling me.

No, doctors do not have to use advanced math in their day to day activities. HOWEVER, math is crucial to becoming a doctor. Most med schools require calculus as a pre-requisite. Also, chemistry, organic chemistry, and physics (all med school pre-reqs) are VERY math heavy.

 

[sonofva]

The only peeps I know who really do a lot of math day to day is pediatrics, because all the dosages are weight based. To get thru radiology residency will take a lot of math and physics, but after that not so much. It sounds like math is your weak area, but fortunately for you you've got a lot of time to work on it.

 

[lifeasweknowit]

I did not say anything about me avoiding math, all I asked was how much math is involved and how it's used, yes I know math is something you need to be very strong in, I know. Im just asking HOW it's used so I know more about the job, that's it.so thank you for not answering my question.

I am somewhat weak in math, but it really depends on the type and knowing HOW exactly it's used, will certainly allow me to think in a more realistic way as I would like to prepare myself and question if I can do something like that. So actual answers to my question would be great

 

[BioBeaver]

I did not say anything about me avoiding math, all I asked was how much math is involved and how it's used, yes I know math is something you need to be very strong in, I know. Im just asking HOW it's used so I know more about the job, that's it.so thank you for not answering my question.

I am somewhat weak in math, but it really depends on the type and knowing HOW exactly it's used, will certainly allow me to think in a more realistic way as I would like to prepare myself and question if I can do something like that. So actual answers to my question would be great

You've made two threads in two days asking about different specialties while you are still in high school. Focus on getting into college and getting good grades while you're there. Not to mention that in both of your threads you made it a point to ask how much math was involved. That showed me that you were trying to avoid math, which won't work out too well.

 

[lifeasweknowit]

So, because I'm asking about how much math is involved and HOW it's used, means I'm trying to avoid it? How exactly does that work? If you've read my previous thread then you know I know knowing lots of math is vital for medical school.

I just want to know WHAT THE JOB IS LIKE, and what kind of work they do so I can think realistically if that's something I would want to do. So, again, no need to assume everything . I can understand if you were me then you would ask to avoid, but unlike your perception of me, I just want to know what type of work a cardiologist does so I know if that's something I want to pursue.
And also, yes wow TWO threads, that's so many. Two threads about TWO DIFFERENT specialities. Out of all the specialities, I only choose two. If that's a lot, then I really don't know what to say. I'm asking because I'm interested and would like to know more about them so I know whether I am truly interested in the profession or not. I am still interested in psychiatry but I am also open to other things, which is why I want to knkw more about them and see if they would be something I would be interested in later on.

So, any other pointless things you'd like to falsely point out?

 

[Mr Avante]

I did not say anything about me avoiding math, all I asked was how much math is involved and how it's used, yes I know math is something you need to be very strong in, I know. Im just asking HOW it's used so I know more about the job, that's it.so thank you for not answering my question.

I am somewhat weak in math, but it really depends on the type and knowing HOW exactly it's used, will certainly allow me to think in a more realistic way as I would like to prepare myself and question if I can do something like that. So actual answers to my question would be great

You need baby knowledge on angles and vectors to redefine entry angles and trajectory. A five year old could do it.

On the other hand, you need a tonne of maths to pass your calculus class 3 years from now.

 

[JPodel]

I'm guessing there will be a thread tomorrow titled: "Questions about neurology"...

 

[lifeasweknowit]

thanks, yes I know that math is very important in the classes, but I just want to get a feel for what the job is like.
And very funny, perhaps later on down the road other things willl be of interest to me, and asking questions is not something I should be ashamed of, and I am not and if I have questions I certainly will ask them, as should anyone else. Of course, researching and trying to find out the answer yourself is important too.

 

[Doudline]

Okay, lifeasweknowit, your avoidance of math is troubling me.

No, doctors do not have to use advanced math in their day to day activities. HOWEVER, math is crucial to becoming a doctor. Most med schools require calculus as a pre-requisite. Also, chemistry, organic chemistry, and physics (all med school pre-reqs) are VERY math heavy.

What? There is literally no maths of any kind in organic chemistry, only a bit in general chemistry (in your second course) and the maths required for physics do not go beyond algebra, quad functions and some basic trig.

 

[QuizzicalApe]

Hi again, if you read my past post then you know I'm interested in psychiatry. I still am but I am also now interested in cardiology as wellll, well I have a couple questions like last time LOL
I heard cardiology is competitive, I would just like to ask if it still is and if it most likely will still be 10~ years later?

There is legitimately no way to know how competitive it will be in 10-15 years. That will probably continue to depend heavily on how well it pays at the time.

Also, is there a lot of math involved? I know there's a lot of EKG readings and etc but what kind of math is needed to be a NON invasive cardiologist and for what?

Math is comparable for most doctors.

Is a non invasive cardiologist a career or are there different types of non-invasive cardiologists? I know there are cardiologists that work with children but yeah.
Also what type of work does a cardiologist do regularly? (Besides the obvious patient stuff) but do they write reports a lot? Experiments?

Pediatric cardiology would be a specialty pursued after a pediatrics residency, whereas adult cardiology would be a fellowship after internal medicine.

Non-invasive cardiology is a type of career you could pursue and you could certainly become more specific than that. Some people focus predominantly on heart failure patients. Other people pursue a medicine-pediatrics combined residency with the intent to be trained in cardiology so they can treat patients with congenital heart disease from birth through adulthood.

A non-invasive cardiologist will split their work between managing outpatients and managing inpatients. You'll treat people with arrythmias, heart failure, structural heart diseases, cardiac complications of primarily non-cardiac diseases... in the inpatient setting, you'll handle that as a consult, maybe manage a team of primary cardiac patients, you might spend some time managing critically ill cardiac patients in the heart version of an ICU.

You're as free to do research in your field as a cardiologist as you are to be a physician-scientist in any other field. Medicine doesn't advance itself.

 

[sonofva]

I did not say anything about me avoiding math, all I asked was how much math is involved and how it's used, yes I know math is something you need to be very strong in, I know. Im just asking HOW it's used so I know more about the job, that's it.so thank you for not answering my question.

I am somewhat weak in math, but it really depends on the type and knowing HOW exactly it's used, will certainly allow me to think in a more realistic way as I would like to prepare myself and question if I can do something like that. So actual answers to my question would be great

u mad bro? i think it was assumed that you were worried about math because it is common for people to post on hSDN about fears relating to weaknesses in their application/skill set/etc...so no need to be ruuuuuuude, even though it's easy to be in an anonymous internet forum.

i guess ill try to answer again. after pre-med, i did next to no math. there are some very basic calculations regarding dosages of medications and IV fluids that most specialties have to do. the exception of this is psychiatry. and really once out of residency, there are apps on your phone that you can do to calculate all of these things for you. radiology residency will require a lot of physics to get through. but after that not so much.

as far as day to day in non-interventional cards, it is usually split time between the hospital and the clinic. depending on your practice, some doctors do morning hospital/afternoon clinic, some do a week in hospital/3 weeks in clinic. really the possibilities are endless.

in the hospital you will be consulted by other primary care services to evaluate people's
cardiac conditions. this usually entails a history/physical, bloodwork, EKG reading, etc. then you provide your expert opinion to the primary care doc/hospitalist to help guide patient care. you also see people in the ER.

in the clinic you generally work 8-6 or so. you will see patients to follow up on their heart conditions. these visits are generally quick, around 10 minutes or so. you will also have to read the EKG results or holter monitors, etc that are faxed to you from outside or performed in house.

cardiology is a subspecialty off of internal medicine. you will be diagnosing and medically treating conditions related to the heart. IM residency is 3 years followed by 3 years of fellowship. it is hard work day to day. cardiologists are some of the busiest of the IM subspecialties. there will be call and many long days. you may have some teaching obligations, depending on your work location.

i hope this more adequately answers your question.