Couple of Random PM&R Questions Couldn't Answer After Searching...

[HinduHammer]

Hi all, I'm a 3rd year med student and more and interested in PM&R.
So first random question: Can PM&R docs work at urgent cares?


Two: I am confused about what the "Super 6"programs are, how important residency site is for obtaining fellowships (ie ACGME pain), and how I should base where I try to do aways. Ideally I would like to live in California, Texas, or Florida. (I am from the Midwest and want to spend some time near the warmth and ocean.) So I am thinking of setting my sights on places that also have Pain fellowships. So UC Irvine, Stanford, UW, UC Davis; UTSW, Baylor-Dallas, Baylor-Houston; U Miami/Jackson in FL, UF Gainesville.

Three: Anyone heard about these combined Peds-PMR programs?

Thanks for reading and would really appreciate your help and thoughts!

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[DMBandFan86]

1. The smart answer to this question is no. It's very difficult to keep up with all the changes in one speciality over time, let alone adding on urgent care as a part-time gig. Your risk and liability would be huge, not to mention the extra malpractice insurance that you would be required to have. To be good at EM you need to be looking at EKG's everyday, be ready to run a complex code at a moments notice, then take care of trauma/fractures and then go take care of a sick pediatric patient with congenital cardiac disease. You can't just simply do this part-time and you have to be uptodate on treatment criteria that changes frequently.

2. Of course there are a few solid programs that are historically placed at the top of the PM&R world, mostly based on research. But you can apply for a pain fellowship from any PM&R program. As far as matching into PM&R, I recommend doing 1-2 away rotations and making a solid impression. Ideally you can do this at programs that you want to do residency at, however competition to get spots can be tough. I recommend applying broadly, especially since you have red flags on your resume. I would not look exclusively at just the top programs as they can be a challenge to get in to.

3. A fellowship for pediatric PM&R is 2 years post PM&R residency. There are very few combined tracts that I know of. But if you don't want to be a pediatric physiatrist then I'm not sure why you would be considering a pediatric fellowship program. If you want to do anesthesia/pain medicine/interventional spine then focus on that fellowship. You can get into pain medicine from an anesthesia residency or PM&R among other specialties.