Can PMR Doctor practice outpatient general medicine?

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neoucomsucks

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This is a strange question I know. No one has been able to give me a straight answer. I'm a bit torn between choosing PMR and Internal Medicine. As a PMR doctor, if I desired, would I be able to practice general medicine on an outpt basis only? I know inpt. medicine I would unlikely get hospital priveleges but I have gotten mixed answers on a PMR doctor doing Outpatient medicine with one doctor saying although it would be legal my difficulty would be in getting insurance companies to reimburse me. Any clarifications to this strange question would help end this drama.:confused:

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This is a strange question I know. No one has been able to give me a straight answer. I'm a bit torn between choosing PMR and Internal Medicine. As a PMR doctor, if I desired, would I be able to practice general medicine on an outpt basis only? I know inpt. medicine I would unlikely get hospital priveleges but I have gotten mixed answers on a PMR doctor doing Outpatient medicine with one doctor saying although it would be legal my difficulty would be in getting insurance companies to reimburse me. Any clarifications to this strange question would help end this drama.:confused:
I don't know where the current training paradigm is for PMR. My experience/s was/were with a resident in PMR as well as taking care of patents that ended in rehab. He (resident) dropped out to go into medicine. The rehab physcians rotinely consulted edicine or trauma surgery for the management of chronic medical conditions and/or things like UTI, medicatons, etc.... Both sets of experiences may not be representative f what the general population of PMR doctors practice.

You need to check and see what the actual curriculum/rotations looks like for PMR as compared to FP/FM/IM. This will give you a little better idea of what exactly you are trained in dealing with.... Also, speak with med-school advisors. They may be able to speak to the overall learning objectives of these different fields and speak to what other residents have done with training after residency.
 
PM&R training will be poor preparation for a generalist outpatient practice. Yes, you could do it from a legal standpoint, just like I could do rehab, if I wanted to. Getting hired, finding malpractice coverage, and getting credentialed with payers would likely prove challenging. Your best bet would be to work for an urgent care chain. They're known for hiring retired specialists and such (not that I think it's a good idea).
 
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Blah... why would want to do something you're neither trained nor qualified to do?

There's a difference between could & should...
 
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