- Joined
- Oct 21, 2012
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- 40
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Hello,
Two years ago, I quit my corporate job to pursue my dream of being a physician. My first two years of medical school were amazing - I was inducted in the honor society, top quartile of my class and loving every second of it. Four months ago, during my board preparation, I had a long term relationship fall apart and I began having some strange symptoms after getting a flu shot (I'm not an anti-vaxxer, get your shots!!) . Turns out, I have an autoimmune condition which leaves me incredibly fatigued and unable to walk or stand for long periods of time. I am unable to eat much due to gastroparesis. The worst is a dizziness that has become persistent and gets worse when I exert myself (aka walk or stand). Incredibly, I was able to do pretty well on step 1 under the circumstances (I studied mostly on my back to avoid the fatigue of sitting). Previously, I was interested in general surgery and had no problem standing for 15-16 hours a day - unfortunately that is not a possibility anymore.
My question is, what kind of opportunities are out there for MDs or DOs that are physically disabled and unable to handle the physical capabilities of a full clinic day. For example, do insurance companies typically hire physicians out of medical school? While I certainly would love to do something like family medicine, my autoimmune condition leaves me susceptible to infections and might accelerate (due to the stress of getting over an infection). I suppose an option such as radiology or pathology exists, however, to my knowledge there is still a year of clinical medicine that is required for both (please correct me if I'm wrong.)
Two years ago, I quit my corporate job to pursue my dream of being a physician. My first two years of medical school were amazing - I was inducted in the honor society, top quartile of my class and loving every second of it. Four months ago, during my board preparation, I had a long term relationship fall apart and I began having some strange symptoms after getting a flu shot (I'm not an anti-vaxxer, get your shots!!) . Turns out, I have an autoimmune condition which leaves me incredibly fatigued and unable to walk or stand for long periods of time. I am unable to eat much due to gastroparesis. The worst is a dizziness that has become persistent and gets worse when I exert myself (aka walk or stand). Incredibly, I was able to do pretty well on step 1 under the circumstances (I studied mostly on my back to avoid the fatigue of sitting). Previously, I was interested in general surgery and had no problem standing for 15-16 hours a day - unfortunately that is not a possibility anymore.
My question is, what kind of opportunities are out there for MDs or DOs that are physically disabled and unable to handle the physical capabilities of a full clinic day. For example, do insurance companies typically hire physicians out of medical school? While I certainly would love to do something like family medicine, my autoimmune condition leaves me susceptible to infections and might accelerate (due to the stress of getting over an infection). I suppose an option such as radiology or pathology exists, however, to my knowledge there is still a year of clinical medicine that is required for both (please correct me if I'm wrong.)
I realize there are many people in a worse position that I am - perhaps I'm just getting used to the fact that this has happened to me recently. It's obviously incredibly depressing to me and of my course my family who had their hopes and dreams on me. However, I'm not willing to give up and will do anything to finish what I started. If anyone has any contacts or would even like to chat about a similar situation, I would love to talk.
