Cardiology or Radiology?

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josephf1

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M3, need help deciding, academic record adequate to apply for both:

Cards
Pros: heart is interesting, lots of toys, option to go invasive, endless patients, good money
Cons: 3 yrs medicine, hours, no gauruntee youll get it from IM

Rads
Pros: technology is interesting, lots of toys, option to go invasive, endless work, NO patients, good money, less hours, telerads option in the future
Cons: 5 yrs residency, could get boring staring at computer all day, more competitive to get a spot where you want

Anyone else with similar thoughts, maybe with other residencies?
How do you decide?
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If you're even thinking about rads, then rads easily, hands down.
 
josephf1 said:
M3, need help deciding, academic record adequate to apply for both:

Cards
Pros: heart is interesting, lots of toys, option to go invasive, endless patients, good money
Cons: 3 yrs medicine, hours, no gauruntee youll get it from IM

Rads
Pros: technology is interesting, lots of toys, option to go invasive, endless work, NO patients, good money, less hours, telerads option in the future
Cons: 5 yrs residency, could get boring staring at computer all day, more competitive to get a spot where you want

Anyone else with similar thoughts, maybe with other residencies?
How do you decide?
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one thing to consider is that cardiology has radiology-like subspecialties within it. so if you like sitting in the dark and reading studies, you could be a cardiologist that primarily reads echos or nuclear studies. typically even these cardiologists have more patient contact than radiologists. for example in the academic setting the echo attendings i know have weekly clinic. but it's not a bad life.

p diddy
 
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I enjoyed my cards rotation, but three years of IM is a tough pill to swallow.
 
Why does internal medicine "suck" and a "tough pill to swallow"?
 
drbruce said:
Why does internal medicine "suck" and a "tough pill to swallow"?
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doublespeak for "it doesn't pay enough for the work." You will get the same explanation for Family practice. For some reason something changes in the minds of medical students during their 4 year tenure that turns them away from being a being that guy who wanted to save lives to being the guy who going to do anesthiesia or radiology because of its lifestyle, pay, and "I think its cool". Its like they teach during clinicals to say IM and FM sucks, and its better to specialize. I am sure you will get a thousand other "reasons", but to each his own. 🙂
 
spyyder said:
doublespeak for "it doesn't pay enough for the work." You will get the same explanation for Family practice. For some reason something changes in the minds of medical students during their 4 year tenure that turns them away from being a being that guy who wanted to save lives to being the guy who going to do anesthiesia or radiology because of its lifestyle, pay, and "I think its cool". Its like they teach during clinicals to say IM and FM sucks, and its better to specialize. I am sure you will get a thousand other "reasons", but to each his own. 🙂
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in case you needed to be reminded, major surgery (thus, life saving/maintaining) often requires anesthesia. i hope one day you don't need to undergo anything which may involve drilling holes into your bones without anesthesia.
 
Yeah but 3 years of internal medicine can't be that bad, not if you are intending to specialise, like josephf1 is planning to do.

I'm also thinking about doing cardiology/gastro myself and have absolutely no problems with the prospect of doing 3 years of internal medicine. It is a means to the end.
 
But like someone else already mentioned, you have to apply for cardiology out of residency. You match in radiology during 4th year of medical school. For some people, the lack of certainty with acquiring a cardiology fellowship is too risky to abandon the prospects of acquiring a rads residency.

I think the Internal Medicine aspect can be seen as an advantage. What if you change your mind and want to do something else such as GI, Allergy or Hospitalist IM? You will always have many options open to you in IM.
 
Hey guys, I am new for this topic. could someone clarify this for me: when we talk about good life style, does it apply to residency only or it also holds true when we start practicing after residency training? thanks. Jenny
 
In Rad, you could potentially make a lot more money with less work. Correct me if I'm wrong but I think you don't need to be on-call for Rad.
 
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I don't think you can base this decision purely on income, as interventionalist, electrophysiologist and imaging diagnostic cardiologists can do very well in private practice. Radiology in most markets will pay less than busy procedural cardiologists, and even imaging cardiologists can get >$500k, substantially more with partnership. Anybody who sees patients and is willing to work hard can of course do better.

The difference in training period should not necessarily be the determinant either-- 3 + 3 years for IM/Cards, 4 + 1 years for radiology + imaging subspecialty. The 3 years spent in IM should not be seen as pure service and pain-- some people actually enjoy it, I kid you not!

Radiologists take call. I've seen it happen. If you don't, you'll gradually see your Radiology job (and income) get transferred to talented docs in Mumbai, first at night, after that, who knows?

Some people actually like talking to patients, establishing long-term relationships and trust. I don't know of any patient whose ever baked a pie or sewn something for their radiologist. Ask any primary care doc, cardiologist, or surgeon how they felt about these gestures of gratitude-- They're not why we do it, but it sure makes you feel like what you do means something to somebody.

Cardiologist have taken away a number of lucrative imaging procedures from the radiologists, because the radiologists weren't willing to be at the cardiologists beck and call to perform them (emergency coronary cath, for example) and furthermore the patient base came from those who actually saw the patients. The same that happened for cath, nuclear cardiology, and echo will soon happen for cardiac MRI, probably multislice cardiac CT, and probably a number of procedures that interventional radiologists would have liked to dominate, like carotid and renal artery stenting.

Radiology was always seen as a glamorous thing b/c, as one attending at my med school put it, "I wanted to be able to take care of myself, and have my hair and nails and clothes look good." It's a matter of your priorities, and what being a doctor means to you. Of course, she didn't mention that you can actually still take care of yourself and take care of patients at the same time. She just only wanted to do the former.

The only huge moneymaking radiologists I know of are basically businessmen and women. They take out a lease for a huge magnet and MRI and set up a "MRIs R' Us / Outpatient Radiology" at the local stirp mall. They hire a few radiologists, and court all of the local physicians for their business. Then they watch the money pour in. If you're enterprising, you can do this with any specialty in medicine-- Dialysis R' Us, Caths R' Us, Dermabrasion R' Us, Drive Thru LASIK (2 for 1 special), you name it. The salaries that you actually have to work for pale in comparison to these approaches, but you're taking on some large risks in exchange for those rewards.

If you're all about money, you might as well shoot the moon and forget this whole working for a living thing. There are some very useful infomercials with very sound real estate investment strategies that you might want to look into.

<sarcasm off>
 
I just want to address the issue of income since some respondents got it right and others haven't. I have turned my filter off so what I will say might seem crude but it's the truth. I will save my PC speeches for my interviews and patients.

Yes, if you want to move to the village or some small town in the middle of nowhere and be the only radiologist, then you can make those fabled 7 figure incomes. And only in one of these small towns will you have the opportunity to open a"MRIs R' Us / Outpatient Radiology" at the local stirp mall. Try this in a major metropolitan city or suburb and you will go bankrupt before you know it. Your competition in a major metro will not allow you to simply take their business away so easily.

Most readers of SDN live in large cities or plan on settling down in a large metropolitan area or a suburb. Most SDN members needs to focus on what a radioloist realistically earns in a large city because that's where they are going to live. And by large city, I'm not talking about downtown Chicago. I'm talking about even a suburb outside of Kansas City so don't assume I'm talking high rises and flats. There is no point reading a salary survey and seeing the high range of 900K because most of you are not going to live in some podunk town so you might as well get realistic about your income levels. Don't assume that the guy who earns 1 million just finished radiology residency two years ago and found a job offer for 800K + bonus...only in your wildest dreams my friend! The 7 figure radiologist is someone who is either well established (think 20 years) in a large city and was one of the first radiologist to truly break ground there, or someone praciticing in a town of 40K that is the only radiologist and handles all of the imaging. And before you move to the 40K town, ask yourself if it's worth showing off your new Ferari to people whose average income is around 19K. Do you really want to be the barron warlord like the villain in Roadhouse? It kind of defeats the purpose of having crazy wealth if you can't really show it off. Talk about being a blue whale in a bird bath! Making 350K-400K in a large city is just as good!

A radiologist in a large metropolitan area will likely top out at 400K and start at 250K. If you join one of the elite and well established groups, think 300K/500K. You are not going to make 700-1 million in a large city. There is just too much competition for that. Maybe your dad makes this but then again he probably finished residency in the 70's or early 80's so that's not you!

However, I know several interventional cardiologists that easily approach 1 million dollars in large metropolitan areas. Unlike radiology,you can make a lot of money in cardiology in large cities. The cardiologists that earn this type of pay, however, work about 65 hours per week and are always on call. Call is awful. It's very underrated. Call is psychologically damaging that you will literally want to take a shot gun and destroy your pager. I'm glad I'm done with this in 4 years but you couldn't ask me to do live like a resident the rest of my life. That's what being a busy interventional cardiologist is like. Thank god for GI!! The people that love cardiology are rewarded by the work itself but if you are doing it for the wrong reasons, it's a terrible job. Successful cardiologists are addicted to cardiology and will admit their lifestyle is not good by any means. There is a tradeoff. You won't be able to earn those huge salaries without working for it. Plus, cardiology is a long road. It's 3 years of IM, 3 years of Cardiology and 1-2 years of interventional fellowship depending on the program. The guys earning the big bucks are not the 3 + 3 guys; they are the 3+3+1 or 2 guys (the ones doing the procedures) That's 7-8 years which is basically a neurosurgery or plastics residency! Some people will even tack on a year of invasive or EP so it can be 8-9 years for some. Therefore, if you are like many cardiology applicants and you are interested in the money and power, you might as well go into general surgery and apply for a PRS fellowship afterwards. And if you can't match into a PRS fellowship, there are plenty of 1 year cosmetic surgery fellowships that take anyone and you can do breast, lipo and nose jobs until your hearts content and make more money than an interventional cardiologist with a far better lifestyle. There is enough demand for cosmetic surgery now that the lay public could care less whether you are a board certified in PRS.

I don't advocate anyone going into surgery if they genuinely care about cardiology but let's be realistic, we all know there are people going into cardiology for the wrong reasons. I don't fault you for those reasons but there are much easier routes for the things you want. Look into those first before you commit yourself to 3 years of IM, 3 years of cardiology and 1-3 years of interventional/invasive fellowships. It's not 6 years and 600K like you might think!

I know a lot of students who were intersted in cardiology but after realizing it would take 8 years just to finish, many of them opted for surgery instead realizing they could avoid IM and focus on procedures which is what they desire.
 
Inkabellous said:
In Rad, you could potentially make a lot more money with less work. Correct me if I'm wrong but I think you don't need to be on-call for Rad.
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Completely untrue. Rads take call and busy call at that. Practically everyone walking into the ER gets a CT scan.

Rads sacrifices the "glory" of patient contact for lack of BS associated with patient contact. So you don't have 90 year old ladies telling you how great you are all day, but you also don't have to worry about writing the same note every day while waiting for nursing home placement.

Average and median salaries for both Cards and Rads are very close.

Choose the career based on the fit of work for your personality and what interests you. As has been said before, the money/lifestyle issues can easily change overnight with an act of congress.
 
This idea of reading echos all day is interesting. Does one require a fellowship? How much bling are we talking about? Is the work diverse enough that I won't want to kill myself?
 
Not only you require fellowship but you have to be level III echo certified (need to pass echo boards). So your 3rd year of cards fellowship needs to be focused on noninvasive (imaging) cardiology.
 
Jennylee258 said:
Hey guys, I am new for this topic. could someone clarify this for me: when we talk about good life style, does it apply to residency only or it also holds true when we start practicing after residency training? thanks. Jenny
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Hi, Jenny. Not sure if you're in med school yet or not. If not, then you'll quickly learn once you're in that "lifestyle" is codeword for "limited call, close to 9-5 as possible, decent (but not necessarily huge) pay for the hours, can hang up the white coat when leaving the office."

There are various specialties considered "lifestyle" specialties because of they fit the above description in PRACTICE. Residency is not what's being considered typically when discussing "lifestyle," though of course sometimes they go together.

Examples are (in roughly decreasing order of "lifestyle") dermatology, opthamology, radiology, emergency, anesthesiology, psychiatry, hospitalist, and probably a few others I can't think of. Basically stuff with set, "shift" hours, hardly any waking up at 3:00 in the morning to go the ER for a consult, 50 or so hours a week (or less), and ideally making $200k or more a year.
 
MDstudent79 said:
Hi, Jenny. Not sure if you're in med school yet or not. If not, then you'll quickly learn once you're in that "lifestyle" is codeword for "limited call, close to 9-5 as possible, decent (but not necessarily huge) pay for the hours, can hang up the white coat when leaving the office."

There are various specialties considered "lifestyle" specialties because of they fit the above description in PRACTICE. Residency is not what's being considered typically when discussing "lifestyle," though of course sometimes they go together.

Examples are (in roughly decreasing order of "lifestyle") dermatology, opthamology, radiology, emergency, anesthesiology, psychiatry, hospitalist, and probably a few others I can't think of. Basically stuff with set, "shift" hours, hardly any waking up at 3:00 in the morning to go the ER for a consult, 50 or so hours a week (or less), and ideally making $200k or more a year.
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Also the above post shows the pervasive misunderstanding among medical students and other specialists on how much radiologists work. These are the stats:

http://forums.studentdoctor.net/showthread.php?t=101722

The reason is that they only see the academic types around them, and being who they are, just overgeneralize it to everyone else. By the same token, IM docs, neurologists, etc. may seem to work 1-2 months a year when they are "on service", have a half-day clinic once week for the rest of the year, and goof around or do some research for the remainder. Do not generalize what you see in your little medical school realm that you live in, to the real world outside.
 
Inkabellous said:
In Rad, you could potentially make a lot more money with less work. Correct me if I'm wrong but I think you don't need to be on-call for Rad.
Click to expand...

OK, here's the correction: You're wrong. Maybe not in your medical school, but in real life out in practice, radiologists take call, and call is extremely busy.
 
cardiologydude said:
Not only you require fellowship but you have to be level III echo certified (need to pass echo boards). So your 3rd year of cards fellowship needs to be focused on noninvasive (imaging) cardiology.
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this is incorrect. you do not need level III (or even level II) certification to read echos for reimbursement, nor do you need to undergo an imaging fellowship. while this may change in the future, currently all cardiology fellows who graduate from fellowship can read echos for reimbursement.

p diddy
 
so one can be a cardioradiologist after fellowship ? LOL cardioradiologist.
 
i believe that would make you a cradiologist.
 
i wd urge all internal medicine residents to seriously consider doing an MHA/MBA or a fellowship in health policy etc after residency and then get in to the administrations of medicare and health care insurance companies. That way they cd slash remibursements for rads.......

How doable is it??
 
Radiology is no longer general. There are 7 subspecialities​
Head and neck radiology including neuroimaging and neurointervention​
Cardiothoracic radiology including Echocardiogram, CCTA, Cardiac catheterization​
Abdominal radiology including urogenetal imaging , Endoscopic Us.​
Woman imaging including foetal us​
Pediatric radiology ​
Muscoskletal radiology ​
Vascular and Interventional radiology ​
​
Training throughout Europe is moving towards a three year basic course followed by two years of training in selected subspecialties. After few years we will control the patients by screening programms. we will direct the patients, guid the and manage them.​
After many years of training in other specialities, some cardiologists, neurologists, and gynacologists leave their specialities and shift themselves to radiology kingdom, they are welcome but we are the law, we are the legality and professionalism &#8230;. We are the true radiologists.​
I say to all Rads : "don't worry"​
Radiologists will take over all of medicine​
Let non-radiologists sink in their dreams radiologists are coming J It's our Era.​
​
​
​
Mohamed ramadan​
Radiology resident​
Alexandria Hospital​
Egypt.​
 
I agree to the above...as slowly radiologists have also started managing the patients..

Especially with what is in the news, that Interventional Radiology is going to become a separate speciality and is going to branch out totally form diagnostic radiology, IR does become a very lucrative specialisation..

As far the diagnostic cardiac cath goes, slowly even that will go down due to non invasive imaging...which is primarily controlled by the rads..No doubt, there are some cards who have totally dedicated to image the heart, but with the strong laws coming up against self referral, only a radiologist would be able to comment upon such non-invasive imaging, which would make radio a good option..

If you want patient care, then IR...

If you want no patient care, then DR...

If you want all the pride and honour and ready for 7 years, then Cardiologist..
 
5 years...thats what the Society of Interventional Radiology is planning to make it...Its going to include the clinical setups like Inpatients, Outpatients and all..

Still not very sure about the confirm dates of the launch of these programs...as in from which year will one be able to match in..
 
josephf1
the pissing match on here aside, both cards and rads will have jobs in the future.

Interventional cards potentially makes more than the vast majority of radiologists I think, but radiology makes good money. I think radiologists in general work a bit less hard for the money than cards...I mean to make 200k as a radiologist is much less work than to make 200k as a cardiologist.

I think if you are competitive to apply to rads, you'll likely be a good enough IM resident to get a cards fellowship, unless the perception is that you don't like patients or are bad clinically during your residency. The thing with applying to cards is you have to pay money, fly around to a bunch of interviews, etc. and then you might not even get the cards fellowship you want...if unlucky you might not get one at all and have to try 2x to get in. Also if you choose to pursue interventional or EP, there is often another "match" for that, so this all can become a 7-8 year saga, or more.

You just need to think hard about what you like to do. If lifestyle is paramount for you, rads is definitely a safer choice.
 
Are Radiologists even ACLS certified (read: can they handle their complications?) Not a joke but a serious question. When I see all the hemodynamic volitility that occurs in the cath lab, I am amazed that anyone not in clinical medicine was ever bold enough to do it.

For my part, I had the same dillema in medical school and I chose medicine then cards and I am glad that I have. That being said, I still advise medical students that radiology is a great field and if you can stand it, you should consider it. I went through my whole MSIII year considering radiology, but at the end when I did the rotation, I could not stay awake or interested if my life depended on it. I was, however, jealous of those who could. I have done a fair amount of research, reading, speaking to family friends (both cardiologists and radiologists in big and small places and this is what I found)

1) Cards CAN make a lot of money just about anywhere
2) Rads CAN make stupid money only in less desirable places
3) The AVERAGE cardiologist makes more than the AVERAGE radiologist

I would also remind out junior readers, keep in mind that 8 hrs in the reading room passes INFINITELY slower than 10 hrs on the wards/ICU. That's my experience - so keep in mind less time/work doesn't mean less pain always.

As for our friend from Egypt, that was a very....interesting prophesy at the end of your post. I am scared of you.

Also keep in mind - to be a subspecialist, you must be a good internist as first - so if you hate IM, then don't even bother.
 
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I am only gaining this information from surfing job posting sites so this may not be accurate. It seems that cards have 3 and sometimes 4 weeks vacation whereas radiology has 8-10 weeks of vacation. Is that really true? Do you get more vacation upon partner status?
 
that sounds like a high amount of vacation for rads...

I don't know many cardiologists who take a ton of vacation. You have clinic patients and they need you to be there available to them. Also, if in private practice you only bill for patients you see...if you are on vacation 11 or 12 weeks of the year, you are not billing...not paying your overhead or salary.
 
Studebug said:
I am only gaining this information from surfing job posting sites so this may not be accurate. It seems that cards have 3 and sometimes 4 weeks vacation whereas radiology has 8-10 weeks of vacation. Is that really true? Do you get more vacation upon partner status?
Click to expand...

Also consider this. In my experience of looking up both cardiology and radiology jobs while making my decision, I too have noticed the discrepancy in vacation time. But what I have also noticed is that the awsome, rediculous job postings that stick in your head because of big $$$$$ or short hours or lots of vacation are generally offerred in places where nobody wants to live. The best big city jobs are not advertised, and if they are, they certainly almost never discuss $$$/vacation/hours. There is a reason that advertised jobs appear over and over again in postings and that they love leaving out where they are located. A radiologist in LA may have better hours and more vacation, but he does not necessarily make more considering that LA rads is probably dominated by private groups with their own equipment (at least in the nicer parts).

Vacation is nice, and so is making a boatload for working 6 hours a week and having a ferrari - but keep in mind, physicians have the option of loving what we do (finding a niche to make us happy, i.e, speciality choice) - doing what you like should be the driving consideration (albeit, not the only one)
 
So, for you cardiologists, what would be a reasonable expectation for vacation time as part of a group in a small-medium sized city?
 
elazomy said:
After many years of training in other specialities, some cardiologists, neurologists, and gynacologists leave their specialities and shift themselves to radiology kingdom, they are welcome but we are the law, we are the legality and professionalism …. We are the true radiologists.​
I say to all Rads : "don't worry"​
Radiologists will take over all of medicine​
Let non-radiologists sink in their dreams radiologists are coming J It's our Era.​
Mohamed ramadan​
Radiology resident​
Alexandria Hospital​
Egypt.​
Click to expand...

:wtf:what sort of ineffable nonsensical dribble is this? :laugh:
 
The choice between radiology and cardiology is easy if you are concerned about HAPPINESS: They are completely different areas of medicine, you will choose what you enjoy doing.

However, like most doctors these days, your bottom line is lifestyle and money. Which is not the same as happiness. Ultimatly you will do best what you feel your purpose in life is, and you will be happiest in that area. Every doctor makes enough money to live comfortably, the happiness you buy witih $150,000 wont be much different from $500,000, although im sure you think it is. USA is the richest country financially, yet not even in the top 10 in happiness surveys. Americans are only concerned about making money and out doing their neighbors. They make a lot less in other countries, but they're happier with their siestas and easy going life. As a radiologist or cardiologist, you will have plenty of stress in the US, pick the one you enjoy doing. Be a radiologist for a couple months to the best of your ability, be a cardiologists to the best of your ability for a couple months and then go with the one you like better.

Now if your bottom line is dollars and lifestyle, then its a very difficult decision for which you will need to do extensive research and may battle with for the rest of your life. Salaries fluctuate, you will have to nit pick the pros and cons of each area even more because youre doing it for the money and lifestyle, and not the satisfaction you get from doing the job. Do not forget that a lot of people's happiness comes from doing a meaningful job that they enjoy....people are happier "working" in a meaningful job than staying at home lavishing themselves in luxury. I would encourage you to travel the world or aquaint yourself with some eastern philosophy before you make your choice between cardiology or radiology. Once youve done that, you will see how silly you were to post on a forum asking for advice between the two areas. The job will come to you, thats the irony.
 
The choice between radiology and cardiology is easy if you are concerned about HAPPINESS: They are completely different areas of medicine, you will choose what you enjoy doing.

However, like most doctors these days, your bottom line is lifestyle and money. Which is not the same as happiness. Ultimatly you will do best what you feel your purpose in life is, and you will be happiest in that area. Every doctor makes enough money to live comfortably, the happiness you buy witih $150,000 wont be much different from $500,000, although im sure you think it is. USA is the richest country financially, yet not even in the top 10 in happiness surveys. Americans are only concerned about making money and out doing their neighbors. They make a lot less in other countries, but they're happier with their siestas and easy going life. As a radiologist or cardiologist, you will have plenty of stress in the US, pick the one you enjoy doing. Be a radiologist for a couple months to the best of your ability, be a cardiologists to the best of your ability for a couple months and then go with the one you like better.

Now if your bottom line is dollars and lifestyle, then its a very difficult decision for which you will need to do extensive research and may battle with for the rest of your life. Salaries fluctuate, you will have to nit pick the pros and cons of each area even more because youre doing it for the money and lifestyle, and not the satisfaction you get from doing the job. Do not forget that a lot of people's happiness comes from doing a meaningful job that they enjoy....people are happier "working" in a meaningful job than staying at home lavishing themselves in luxury. I would encourage you to travel the world or aquaint yourself with some eastern philosophy before you make your choice between cardiology or radiology. Once youve done that, you will see how silly you were to post on a forum asking for advice between the two areas. The job will come to you, thats the irony.
 
M4 here.....I understand everyone's concern regarding money & lifestyle. However, as someone who wants to go into IM, I do not mind working hard (as you don't either). With that in mind, I like the fact that I get to interact with patients all the time and its thoughtful process.

Soon 🙂
 
to answer your question, i think oftentimes they are only BLS certified. don't quote me on that though.

ucladukes said:
Are Radiologists even ACLS certified (read: can they handle their complications?) Not a joke but a serious question. When I see all the hemodynamic volitility that occurs in the cath lab, I am amazed that anyone not in clinical medicine was ever bold enough to do it.

For my part, I had the same dillema in medical school and I chose medicine then cards and I am glad that I have. That being said, I still advise medical students that radiology is a great field and if you can stand it, you should consider it. I went through my whole MSIII year considering radiology, but at the end when I did the rotation, I could not stay awake or interested if my life depended on it. I was, however, jealous of those who could. I have done a fair amount of research, reading, speaking to family friends (both cardiologists and radiologists in big and small places and this is what I found)

1) Cards CAN make a lot of money just about anywhere
2) Rads CAN make stupid money only in less desirable places
3) The AVERAGE cardiologist makes more than the AVERAGE radiologist

I would also remind out junior readers, keep in mind that 8 hrs in the reading room passes INFINITELY slower than 10 hrs on the wards/ICU. That's my experience - so keep in mind less time/work doesn't mean less pain always.

As for our friend from Egypt, that was a very....interesting prophesy at the end of your post. I am scared of you.

Also keep in mind - to be a subspecialist, you must be a good internist as first - so if you hate IM, then don't even bother.
Click to expand...
 
Hello.
I am a 6th year medical student and I was also wondering between Cardiology and Radiology. There are also other choices but these are the main ones.
I was wondering, if you could help me out: considering my anxious personality, what specialty should I choose? I am a very good student, and I could get into every specialty that I want, the problem is choosing it. As I understood, it is not such a big problem as it goes away with personal experience in the medical field, etc.

🙂
 
interesting debate. why the original comparison? these two specialties are so different, with exception of money. I think if you want money and time, do neither and do derm or optho and become a LASIK factory. why go either of these? I think both of these specialties, if you're gunning for 7 figures is going to be intensive either way.

For example, my uncle is family practice and knows a bunch of private IR guys in his area. They are willing to do any procedure at all times of the day or night and they work surgeon like hours. They are in a suburb in a large metropolitan area. And even THEN they don't crack 7 figures a piece.

I knew a couple fellows last year from our institution in cardiology, one imaging and another interventional. Both went to private and both are starting out at 350k. Not bad, but sure as heck not a million.

The point is, if you want to maximize money/hr, I personally don't think either of these specialties is the way to go. Though, radiology will have a better ratio of money/hr, and less bs associated with patient care, unless either specialty specializes into the procedural subspecialties and thus commit to a very busy schedule, the high end of each specialty's salary range won't be attained.

If i had to do it all over again with the goal of maximium money per hour, i would have done dermatology, ophtho with LASIK specialization or pain medicine and write off narcotics all day, bearing in mind that as a pain specialist, the dea will always be on my tail day and night.
 
I hope I'm not hijacking, but what would the pros and cons of cardiology entail against neurosurgery, for instance?
 
KRichards62 said:
This statement is VERY wrong. I'd elaborate but don't even know where to start...
Click to expand...

Ok fine. That is what I think, as they both are heavily immersed in imaging and procedures. In fact they often overlap in certain imaging modalities and procedures.

What do you think is most comparable to Cardiology then? Just wondering. 👍
 
None of above.
Either DERM or Orthopedic surgery depending on the type of field you are interested in.
If you like heavy procedures go for Orthopedic surgery.
If you like light procedures, Mohs surgery.
If you like office based practice, general derm.
If you are radiology type, do dermatopathology.

All of them are some of the highest paid specialties in medicine with much better life style. Orthopedics is difficult as a residency, but as attending is much easier than IR or IC and pays more (much more).
Doing 6 years of training for Diagnostic radiology or general cardiology is stupid. You can do 4 years of DERM with much better lifestyle and similar income.
There are several other specialties in medicine with much better balance of lifestyle and money than these two specialties.
 
shark2000 said:
There are several other specialties in medicine with much better balance of lifestyle and money than these two specialties.
Click to expand...

Agree with above. Shark, you're on a roll for only having two posts👍

Archives of Medicine published an interesting physician compensation update where they stratified by pay/hr worked. Neurosurgery and PMR were among the highest...Neurosurgery was high because the numerator was high, PMR was high because the denominator was low.
 
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