Questions about Pediatric Surgery

[reza.z]

Can anyone give any information about the requirements (residency years, fellowship years) for pediatric surgery?
Also, what are the top residency programs and how well do osteopathic students do in obtaining good residencies in this field? Any additional information or guidance is appreciated. Thanx.

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[Tex10]

As far as I know you you must do a 5 year Gen. Surg. residency then a 2 year ped surg fellowship.
There are only about 30-40 ped. surg programs in the country right now, check out http://www.eapsa.org/
it lists all the current programs.

No idea on how osteopathic students do..sorry..

Also, anyone have any info on 4+2 program in ped surg?

hope that helps
goodluck!

 

[maxheadroom]

Peds Surg is the hardest fellowship to get. You have to be a graduate of a very strong GenSurg program to be competitive for a spot. This is probably a stretch for a DO, though not impossible. I'd compare it to matching plastics/derm as a DO.

 

[tonem]

Last I heard, there is a 1:1 applicant to position ratio in Peds. Surgery. In the past it was pretty tough to get a spot and applicants usually did two-three years of research in addition to the five years of general surgery.

As far as 4 + 2 programs there is movement in that direction but nothing is in place yet.

 

[Tex10]

was just going through the ped. surg fellowships and noticed that U of Oklahoma has a program. U of Oklahoma is a DO school, dont know if that makes a difference in the fellowship program but worth looking at!

 

[maxheadroom]

OU is an MD program. OSU is a DO program.

 

[Tex10]

I stand corrected...
anyway...here are some other ped. surg links-

interviews w/various ped. surgeons- http://www.amsa.org/surg/peds_int.cfm

another list of fellowships- http://www.practicesight.com/Schools/Residency%20&%20Fellowship/gs__pediatric_surgery_programs.htm

 

[Gator05]

Curious about the 1:1 ratio...

Declinining interest? Declining reimbursement? I'm pretty sure it's not an unsure future; population is booming, and this doesn't seem to be taken over by less-invasive procedures the way CT is...

 

[Tex10]

speaking of CT, How would one get into doing Ped CT Surg? (congenital defects, etc)

Would you do a ped surg fellowship and CT cases? or Do a CT fellowship and primarily take ped cases? Or is there a separate program after a ped surg fellowship??

 

[droliver]

gator05- the decline of interest in peds surgery is prob. multifactorial. Its a lot of training, 7 years (and many feel compelled to do 1-2 years in the lab in addition to compete for the top places). Reimbursements are declining for them (like everyone). The call is hard & often busy. It's not a question of jobs, you read the journals & there are places desperate for trained peds surgeons @ good salaries

Tex10 - most dedicated peds CV surgeons do another fellowship after their cariothoracic fellowship. A few places get enough peds during their CVTS training that they can get privledges to do it (University of Florida for one) without the fellowship. Some peds surgeons do things like PDA ligation, but I've never heard of one that did cardiac procedures

 

[Gator05]

Interesting, droliver. It seems pediatric surgery then is no different from pediatric nonsurgical specialties; declining interest, diminished monetary incentives, etc. Sad that society puts so little value in taking care of the health needs of its children. Of course, this is a blanket statement that educators, social workers, etc have been dealing with for years!

 

[maxheadroom]

I think the driving force in the decline of fellowships is the job market for either GenSurg graduates or Pediatrics (non-surg) graduates. Most residents that I work with say, "Gosh, I could take another 2-3 years of training while my debt compounds, I take crap money, and put my life on hold for a bit longer. OR, I could take one of the 25 jobs that physician recruiters are offering me, allowing me to pay off med school, finally buy a decent car, have time for a family, and get on with my life now that I'm in my 30's."

It's a crappy decision to be forced into, but I can't blame people for deciding to get out early and practice. There isn't a significant financial reward for advanced training, and often the final job that you take requires more hours than the primary care/GenSurg job that you could have taken.

These are some of the reasons why the ACS is looking at starting up the accelerated CTS and PedsSurg programs.