Any Future Electrophysiologist out there?

[christian15213]

Heart surgeon? Cardiologist? What a happy medium? I freaking have been shadowing this doctor for the last 4 months and I love this field. Wrap it up, put a bow on it and send it w/ extra special care... I'm sold. This is the coolest field since sliced bread to me.

You do a little of everything... and for those of you that cursed out your physics prof and and said (in your mind) "I won't ever need this stinking crappola again," LOL, yes this is what an EP does each and everyday. The specialty and diversity of the specialty is mind blowing to me.

Has anyone else shadowed / observed an EP? if so did you like it and are you sold as well?

Or would you like to know more about what an EP does? just ask,,, for starters here is this website. http://www.eplabdigest.com/

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[christian15213]

sorry I fixed the link... it was the wrong link...

 

[8744]

Heart surgeon? Cardiologist? What a happy medium? I freaking have been shadowing this doctor for the last 4 months and I love this field. Wrap it up, put a bow on it and send it w/ extra special care... I'm sold. This is the coolest field since sliced bread to me.

You do a little of everything... and for those of you that cursed out your physics prof and and said (in your mind) "I won't ever need this stinking crappola again," LOL, yes this is what an EP does each and everyday. The specialty and diversity of the specialty is mind blowing to me.

Has anyone else shadowed / observed an EP? if so did you like it and are you sold as well?

Or would you like to know more about what an EP does? just ask,,, for starters here is this website. http://www.eplabdigest.com/

Gosh. I hope you can maintain your enthusiasm for four years of medical school, three years of an internal medicine residency, three years of a cardiology fellowship, and two to four years of an EP fellowship which is what's going to be required to practice as an EP.

Let's see, that's twelve years. Dude. You're going to be a different person once you graduate medical school, much less twelve years from now. Nothing wrong with being gung-ho but don't feel like you can't change your mind and go into Pediatrics.

 

[8744]

Heart surgeon? Cardiologist? What a happy medium? I freaking have been shadowing this doctor for the last 4 months and I love this field. Wrap it up, put a bow on it and send it w/ extra special care... I'm sold. This is the coolest field since sliced bread to me.

You do a little of everything... and for those of you that cursed out your physics prof and and said (in your mind) "I won't ever need this stinking crappola again," LOL, yes this is what an EP does each and everyday. The specialty and diversity of the specialty is mind blowing to me.
Has anyone else shadowed / observed an EP? if so did you like it and are you sold as well?

Or would you like to know more about what an EP does? just ask,,, for starters here is this website. http://www.eplabdigest.com/

Kind of contradictory. Family medicine, EM, pediatrics, IM, and General Surgery have a lot of diversity. The more you sub-specialize the less diversity you have. Who knows if 20 years from now you might say, "Oh hell, not another ablation."

 

[turkleton]

It's long Panda but not that long. 3 years IM, 3 cards and if you're at a good cards program with an EP fellowship you can usually roll your last year of cards into your first year of EP (2 years total) so roughly a 7 year stretch... if you want to become the EP god at the Clinic though, it might take you 12. I like EP too... very technically and intellectually demanding. But Panda is right... sub-specialization inherently means lack of generalization... if you want to see a lot of diversity EP is probably the exact opposite of that.

 

[smq123]

It's long Panda but not that long. 3 years IM, 3 cards and if you're at a good cards program with an EP fellowship you can usually roll your last year of cards into your first year of EP (2 years total) so roughly a 7 year stretch... if you want to become the EP god at the Clinic though, it might take you 12. I like EP too... very technically and intellectually demanding. But Panda is right... sub-specialization inherently means lack of generalization... if you want to see a lot of diversity EP is probably the exact opposite of that.

The OP is still pretty early in his undergrad career. Even if he pledges undying love to the field of electrophysiology now, he'll still have to wait at least a decade before he can do anything about it.

OP: It's great that you found something that you love so early. Just don't let it close you off to the other, equally interesting fields in medicine.

 

[christian15213]

The OP is still pretty early in his undergrad career. Even if he pledges undying love to the field of electrophysiology now, he'll still have to wait at least a decade before he can do anything about it.

OP: It's great that you found something that you love so early. Just don't let it close you off to the other, equally interesting fields in medicine.

who said im early in my undergrad career. lol.... actually im almost done and will be applying this year...

I understand what you're saying but for me this is a second career... I only went back to school to take the prereq's I need. As well I have almost 200 shadowing hours. The program at my school is amazing. With that said. I would always sneak to the cath lab or open heart surgery... I have seen tons of surgery including brain. I have stood in a doctors office to shadow a ped... I have been to a doctors offices to shadow an invitro fertilizer... LOL I have seen tons radiology and pathology. I have seen what an anesthesist does. I have seen a lot... and I am no spring chicken... I don't know if I will get accepted to be an EP but I will sure the heck try.


Furthermore, I don't know why people's inclination is to start adding up years to see what type of specialty is for them or not.

I personally wouldn't care if it took 15 years. When I graduate from med school I will be a doctor. When I get accepted to a residency I will be a doctor... When I get accpeted to a fellowship I will still be a doctor. I know the pay isn't where it needs to be but that is not the point...

for a lot of you it seems like this is still the point... but I know were human and we'll have bills to pay back so yes it still is an issue...

 

[smq123]

who said im early in my undergrad career. lol.... actually im almost done and will be applying this year...

Oops, sorry - for some reason I thought you were younger. I may be confusing you with someone else.

I understand what you're saying but for me this is a second career... I only went back to school to take the prereq's I need. As well I have almost 200 shadowing hours. The program at my school is amazing. With that said. I would always sneak to the cath lab or open heart surgery... I have seen tons of surgery including brain. I have stood in a doctors office to shadow a ped... I have been to a doctors offices to shadow an invitro fertilizer... LOL I have seen tons radiology and pathology. I have seen what an anesthesist does. I have seen a lot... and I am no spring chicken... I don't know if I will get accepted to be an EP but I will sure the heck try.

Furthermore, I don't know why people's inclination is to start adding up years to see what type of specialty is for them or not.

The question of adding up years is not to see if this specialty is a good fit for you or not. It's just to point out that you have a long, arduous path ahead of you, in which there is a lot of time to change your mind. (And, in fact, there will probably be a LOT of things that will make you change your mind or, at least, reconsider.) Watching a lot of surgeries is different from having to do this day in and day out.

People who come in to med school swearing that they are going to be a pediatrician (and nothing else) come out of med school as pathologists. We've all seen it happen (many times) to our classmates. Bills and money have nothing to do with it.

 

[NickRiviera]

Heart surgeon? Cardiologist? What a happy medium? I freaking have been shadowing this doctor for the last 4 months and I love this field. Wrap it up, put a bow on it and send it w/ extra special care... I'm sold. This is the coolest field since sliced bread to me.

You do a little of everything... and for those of you that cursed out your physics prof and and said (in your mind) "I won't ever need this stinking crappola again," LOL, yes this is what an EP does each and everyday. The specialty and diversity of the specialty is mind blowing to me.

Has anyone else shadowed / observed an EP? if so did you like it and are you sold as well?

Or would you like to know more about what an EP does? just ask,,, for starters here is this website. http://www.eplabdigest.com/

I don't even know where to start...Panda mentioned something that is a problem for most with EP. You match into IM but then need to match into Cards, which is the most competitive. On top of that, it's a very long road so who knows if you'll say "I'm sick of being a resident!" and bail to get paid decent money and not deal with more training. You say that isn't the point now but Panda may be right as you will likely be a different person in a decade.

EP is a very specialized field and from what I've seen it's dominated by gunners and/or doctors who were EE as undergrad. However, the field is on the cutting edge of technological change. If you can keep up, you'll be happy. If you are really gung-ho about EP, get your RCIS (http://www.cci-online.org/) and/or IBHRE/NASPExam (http://www.ibhre.org) certifications.

My dad is an EP and I switched schools several times while he was going through residency and fellowship training. Not fun.

 

[NickRiviera]

Also, D.O.s are in EP too
http://www.uchospitals.edu/physicians/martin-burke.html

 

[Auron]

I'm strongly considering cardiology at this point - likely invasive.
EP sounds amazing due to the technologies they use, (I love tech) and I think I'd be very good at it. But I'm not sure I want to spend that much time to get there, I'd like to start practicing by the time I'm 30.

 

[NickRiviera]

I'm strongly considering cardiology at this point - likely invasive.
EP sounds amazing due to the technologies they use, (I love tech) and I think I'd be very good at it. But I'm not sure I want to spend that much time to get there, I'd like to start practicing by the time I'm 30.

Invasive is as long of a path as EP is. Here is the IM FAQ which has some best-case scenarios for years of training.
http://forums.studentdoctor.net/showthread.php?t=199551

 

[Hurricane95]

EP sounds like a really cool field...I did BME as undergrad and I love this kind of stuff. Though I don't know if I can handle that many years of training or the lifestyle (I have heard from some credible sources that EP and inv. cardio have it tough as far as hourse go). But who knows, only time will tell.

While I agree that you can't make any definitive choices about what you will do this early in the game, it's never a bad idea to occasionally update your list of things you would consider. I keep a mental list and rank them as time passes and I get experience or learn more. And there are some fields I KNOW I will not do, such as ob/gyn and peds. Period. Other than that and maybe a couple I KNOW I'm not good enough for, haha (ophtho, derm [which is boring anyway] and plastics), I'm open to learn and explore.

 

[christian15213]

EP sounds like a really cool field...I did BME as undergrad and I love this kind of stuff. Though I don't know if I can handle that many years of training or the lifestyle (I have heard from some credible sources that EP and inv. cardio have it tough as far as hourse go). But who knows, only time will tell.

While I agree that you can't make any definitive choices about what you will do this early in the game, it's never a bad idea to occasionally update your list of things you would consider. I keep a mental list and rank them as time passes and I get experience or learn more. And there are some fields I KNOW I will not do, such as ob/gyn and peds. Period. Other than that and maybe a couple I KNOW I'm not good enough for, haha (ophtho, derm [which is boring anyway] and plastics), I'm open to learn and explore.

First, let me say I totaly agree Gyno/OB is off the list...

LOL, but let me say this. I shadow a doctor that is an EP and she is constantly busy... running running running... I run with her. But her day is seriously slowing at 3-4pm... yes sometimes she'll stay till 9 but that is more of a rarer occasion. And she is never on call only 1 per week and that is if the RN or PA can't handle the problem. Her practice is in cohort with about 5 other doctors and the setup to me seems perfect. I know it is her current situation but she tells me all the time it is never as bad as some people would make it out to be.

Plus what am I gonna do anyway? go home to the wife and kids? LOL JJ...

 

[8744]

...I personally wouldn't care if it took 15 years. When I graduate from med school I will be a doctor. When I get accepted to a residency I will be a doctor... When I get accpeted to a fellowship I will still be a doctor. I know the pay isn't where it needs to be but that is not the point...

Print this post. Put it in an envelope. Open it up after your first six months of intern year.

Fellows, by the way, don't make much more than residents. They don't work quite as many hours but to make extra money they have to moonlight so you might end up working like an intern as a fellow.

But for the record, EP is pretty cool.

 

[christian15213]

It's definitely not for me. I do not have the patience to stand in the EP lab getting radiated all day, but I am very glad that someone wants to do it! It's a great field for those that enjoy it. Probably a better lifestyle than interventional, since there aren't too many things you'd have to do in the middle of the night. The job opportunities for EP right now are great. You just have to be a very patient person to make it through those ablations.

Yes, those ablations... I agree... when I stand there I try to figure out with all my brain power, of what she is looking at and what she is trying to do... LMAO... a few times she was busy and said... don't worry about those three things down there because they don't mean anything... which left only the top 3 which said VR1 and LV2... or something and yes I know what it means but what keeps flashing across the screen and changing is a whole other story... LOL, I do know as well when she properly ablates the section of the heart the out of sync lines seem to calm down and are more flat lined (per se)

if anyone knows exactly about this I would die to know exactly what is going on... I know she says don't worry about it and I don't want to bother her a lot but knowing would make standing there so much better... LOL

putting in the pace makers and ICD's is way more fun and interesting... I have met lots of great people in there.

 

[8744]

...I personally wouldn't care if it took 15 years. When I graduate from med school I will be a doctor. When I get accepted to a residency I will be a doctor... When I get accpeted to a fellowship I will still be a doctor. I know the pay isn't where it needs to be but that is not the point...

I think it's good that you are enthusiastic. But up to this point your only experience has been with the glamour and the excitement of medicine. You get to follow the EP into the room and watch him tinker with somebody's heart. Seems like a cool, relaxed, and in a way an easy job.

What you don't see are the endless nights of call, the pointlessness and redundancy of much of medical training, and the long, long years of low pay and long hours. I'm not saying it's not going to be worth it in the end but I don't think your idealism can stand the ten year you are looking at, much less fifteen.

Money is important. Time off is important. You may be married. You may have children. Who knows where you will be in four years much less fifteen? Your spouse may put her foot down and say, "You know, screw the EP fellowship. I'm tired of being poor. Take that cardiology job."

What you really need to do is arrange to follow an IM resident around at a busy academic medical center, particularly when she is on call. And don't just shadow for a few hours and leave when you get tired but hang with her from sunrise until noon the next morning. Pick a weekend when she has Friday and Sunday call (like I have this weekend) and stick with her through both days. That's more like what you will be doing for most of your training, at least until you start your second fellowship.

I am convinced that if every pre-med was requied to do that, the number of applications to medical school would drop precipitously. I would have thought twice about it if I had known. It blows. It does blow.

 

[christian15213]

I think it's good that you are enthusiastic. But up to this point your only experience has been with the glamour and the excitement of medicine. You get to follow the EP into the room and watch him tinker with somebody's heart. Seems like a cool, relaxed, and in a way an easy job.

What you don't see are the endless nights of call, the pointlessness and redundancy of much of medical training, and the long, long years of low pay and long hours. I'm not saying it's not going to be worth it in the end but I don't think your idealism can stand the ten year you are looking at, much less fifteen.

Money is important. Time off is important. You may be married. You may have children. Who knows where you will be in four years much less fifteen? Your spouse may put her foot down and say, "You know, screw the EP fellowship. I'm tired of being poor. Take that cardiology job."

What you really need to do is arrange to follow an IM resident around at a busy academic medical center, particularly when she is on call. And don't just shadow for a few hours and leave when you get tired but hang with her from sunrise until noon the next morning. Pick a weekend when she has Friday and Sunday call (like I have this weekend) and stick with her through both days. That's more like what you will be doing for most of your training, at least until you start your second fellowship.

I am convinced that if every pre-med was requied to do that, the number of applications to medical school would drop precipitously. I would have thought twice about it if I had known. It blows. It does blow.

I super appreciate what your saying but let me say this. When I shadow I go in at about 8:30 and leave at around 4 or 5... if she has more cases I stay and if not I go back to school to study...

As well, let me say this. I am older than you think above the age of 26 and to put it in broader persepective I was born when the steelers last superbowl win of the 70's dynasty... However I digress... LOL, back to topic.

I have already had a career. I was a financial advisor and I have knocked on peoples door's in Florida during the hottest of summer months to ask them if they would like to review their reteriment plan. I was good at what I did and I was enthusiastic at first. However, the more successful I became and the easier my job got the more I began not to like it.

I loved the client interaction and investment clubs and meetings but every other aspect of my career was fruitless for me.

I know I don't know exactly where it is I'll be in 10 years. But if I can be a cardio thoracic surgeon then so be it... If not an EP and if not a cardiologist. I love the heart and in some way shape or form I will work with it...

My father died when he was about 40 from heart disease. My original grandfather died before I even knew who he was from the disease and my stepfather had quad bypass surgery when I was 13 years old. I have had that disease take more people in my life then I could even know. I am sure that something with the heart will be for me. that I am sure of.

 

[NickRiviera]

What you really need to do is arrange to follow an IM resident around at a busy academic medical center, particularly when she is on call. And don't just shadow for a few hours and leave when you get tired but hang with her from sunrise until noon the next morning. Pick a weekend when she has Friday and Sunday call (like I have this weekend) and stick with her through both days. That's more like what you will be doing for most of your training, at least until you start your second fellowship.

EP is a very technical field so it shouldn't be surprising that you can't figure out what is going on in lab during an ablation or even during a IPG/ICD implant. Contemporary DDDR pacemakers have potential programmable combinations that exceed 4.3068 X 10^48.

Heart disease is very prevalent, nearly 2500 American die from it every day, so you shouldn't have trouble finding a field that involves the heart.

As Panda mentioned, you seem to be masked to what most doctors deal with. Follow an ortho doc in private practice and life seems awesome so you might want to go into that. Follow a private practice anesthesiologist around and think they sit around all day and get paid tons of money so you should go into that. I'm just saying there are lots of factors involved that you seem to be ignoring.

 

[NickRiviera]

if anyone knows exactly about this I would die to know exactly what is going on... I know she says don't worry about it and I don't want to bother her a lot but knowing would make standing there so much better... LOL

She's probably saying this because of how technical it is. Does her lab use the Local Lisa 3D ablation mapping system? Anyway, PM me and I'll send you a link to someone's website which has tons of information on EP.

 

[christian15213]

She's probably saying this because of how technical it is. Does her lab use the Local Lisa system? Anyway, PM me (anyone) and I'll send you a link to someone's website which has tons of information on EP.

it is not her lab it is the hospital's... it is her and her group. and for the system... everything is GE and brand new... touch screen this and that... the whole nine.

 

[NickRiviera]

If you're interested in the heart, sign up for the free AHA journals:
http://circ.ahajournals.org/