Anesthesia vs Radiology-- help?

[Swimmer122]

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Hi Everyone,

I'm a 4th year medical student and to be honest I have found medical school on the whole disappointing. I realized I didn't like being on the floors (found it very overstimulating). I have been choosing between applying in Anesthesia or Radiology for the past few months. I did an advanced rads rotation and enjoyed it, but had a bad interaction with the professor and didn't get a good grade. I knew that rads was competitive, so I started to investigate other options with minimal patient contact.

I tried Anesthesia and enjoyed that rotation, so I settled on that. But then I did a Pain Medicine rotation and hated it, and now I'm doing a SICU rotation and also not liking it. Now it's very late in the game, and I'm terrified that I let one bad experience turn me off from radiology. I worry that anatomy might not be my strong suit. How do I know if I'm going to like Radiology and/or if I should pull out of Anesthesia and apply in Radiology instead? Any advice?

 

[colbgw02]

Hi Everyone,

I'm a 4th year medical student and to be honest I have found medical school on the whole disappointing. I realized I didn't like being on the floors (found it very overstimulating). I have been choosing between applying in Anesthesia or Radiology for the past few months. I did an advanced rads rotation and enjoyed it, but had a bad interaction with the professor and didn't get a good grade. I knew that rads was competitive, so I started to investigate other options with minimal patient contact.

I tried Anesthesia and enjoyed that rotation, so I settled on that. But then I did a Pain Medicine rotation and hated it, and now I'm doing a SICU rotation and also not liking it. Now it's very late in the game, and I'm terrified that I let one bad experience turn me off from radiology. I worry that anatomy might not be my strong suit. How do I know if I'm going to like Radiology and/or if I should pull out of Anesthesia and apply in Radiology instead? Any advice?

Well, you've posted in the radiology forum, so don't be surprised if people tell you to move heaven and earth to get into radiology. I'll give you some different advice though...

Don't trade a known quantity for an unknown one. If you liked anesthesia, then run with it. Sure, you didn't like pain medicine or the SICU, but that need not be a major part of your practice after residency. That would be like me saying that I don't think I want to do radiology because I dislike mammography or peds radiology. Besides, it doesn't sound like you're particularly prepared to apply to radiology.

Gas and rads often get lumped together, and I can see why. They're both lifestyle, hospital-based specialties with minimal patient contact, good pay, and decent hours. For that reason, many students tend to consider both specialties. I thought anesthesia was my second choice, until I actually did a rotation and hated it. The day-to-day work was very different, and it certainly does not necessarily follow that you'll like one if you like the other.

 

[penguin24]

I wouldn't be put off b/c 'anatomy isn't my strong suit'. With enough years of training it will come second nature to you. Yeah, getting a bad grade in Rads elective isn't cool, but I think you could still match into a good Rads.

 

[DocNickRiviera]

I absolutely loved both the anesth rotations I did, and strongly considered a change from rads to this. If you enjoy it, do it! I'm a first year rads, and while it's okay, I think I would have been perfectly happy in anesth too. Go with your strengths, and don't be afraid to give it a shot 😉

 

[digitlnoize]

People do seem to forget that Gas and Rads actually do have many things in common. Both have limited patient contact. Both are "technology oriented" fields (more so, than others at least).

I am also attracted to both fields. I do like phys better than anatomy (gas wins) but I'm much more attracted to how awesome modern imaging is so rads is currently winning overall...we'll see how rotations go!

 

[RADRULES]

I didn't apply to Gas because of one major reason - easy access to pharmaceutical grade narcs.

Why put yourself in a position where you might become a drug addict or something? Even someone with very strong will power may have a tragic life event or something which could push them to just "give it a try" and it will be downhill after that.