Changing specialties after practicing for a few years

[The kitchen sink]

has anyone changed specialties after practicing for a few years?

i.e. apply to a residency match again

I am contemplating a switch but do not know how to navigate this

Would love to hear any stories of those who have done this.

Thanks 🙂

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[gutonc]

has anyone changed specialties after practicing for a few years?

i.e. apply to a residency match again

I am contemplating a switch but do not know how to navigate this

Would love to hear any stories of those who have done this.

Thanks 🙂

It happens, but it's not common. A lot depends on from what to what and how competitive you would have been for the new specialty at the end of med school and how you can spin your story and experience (and get LORs) to support your application.

Details (if you're willing to share them) would be helpful. If you're not interested in posting publicly, the Confidential Consult forum is limited to vetted Experts who are mostly mod/admin staff and is not shared with anyone other than those individuals and not posted publicly at all.

 

[The kitchen sink]

It happens, but it's not common. A lot depends on from what to what and how competitive you would have been for the new specialty at the end of med school and how you can spin your story and experience (and get LORs) to support your application.

Details (if you're willing to share them) would be helpful. If you're not interested in posting publicly, the Confidential Consult forum is limited to vetted Experts who are mostly mod/admin staff and is not shared with anyone other than those individuals and not posted publicly at all.

Thanks for the advice. Maybe I will post on there.

I am a moderately competitive applicant who is considering switch to Psychiatry.

Have a change of heart and want to pursue this change. Life is too short to linger in a specialty that is not fulfilling, or only partially fulfilling.

I can PM you details if interested in hearing more. Or I’ll leave it to the experts in that forum.

 

[djo208]

I actually HAVE met multiple people who have done this, but I agree that it's not common. One of my prior psychiatry attending back when I was in training had been an emergency medicine attending for 10 years before he decided to do a psychiatry residency. I knew another doctor who had a health issue that precluded continued practice in her specialty, so she switched. I used to interview residency applicants and I can tell you that I certainly wouldn't have held this against anyone. I think if your story and reasons are both compelling and sincere, it might actually be considered a plus to programs that you have all that experience and have demonstrated that you can succeed. It certainly is not in and of itself impossible. I think the bigger challenge is taking a pay cut and being a trainee again rather than independently making the decisions yourself and having an attending salary.

 

[voxveritatisetlucis]

Too much money left on the table for most I’m assuming

 

[dozitgetchahi]

I actually HAVE met multiple people who have done this, but I agree that it's not common. One of my prior psychiatry attending back when I was in training had been an emergency medicine attending for 10 years before he decided to do a psychiatry residency. I knew another doctor who had a health issue that precluded continued practice in her specialty, so she switched. I used to interview residency applicants and I can tell you that I certainly wouldn't have held this against anyone. I think if your story and reasons are both compelling and sincere, it might actually be considered a plus to programs that you have all that experience and have demonstrated that you can succeed. It certainly is not in and of itself impossible. I think the bigger challenge is taking a pay cut and being a trainee again rather than independently making the decisions yourself and having an attending salary.

There was a pulm/CCM attending at my residency program who had done something like this. He trained first in FM, got done, worked as a PCP and hospitalist but realized he really wanted to be in the ICU. So he restarted as an IM resident, then did a pulm/crit fellowship.

That said, it would be a hard pill to swallow to go back to making peanuts as a trainee and working under attendings. I don’t think I could persuade myself to go back to that again.

 

[NotAProgDirector]

Looking at your post history, looks like your prior training was IM followed by PCCM.

Have you considered Pall Care? It's a much shorter training track than psych.

But yes, we've had people come back to IM training after completing something else, for all sorts of reasons. In Psych, you'd be able to apply for PGY-2 positions since you'd already have completed an internship - which will save you one year of training. The best way to find a pGY-2 position might be to apply for PGY-1 positions and point out in your PS that you're open to considering either if available.