Derm vs. Rad onc

[yoyohomieg5432]

---

Members do not see this ad.

Hi everybody, I'm trying to figure out what to do with my life as M4 is fast approaching and residency apps will be quite soon. This is something I've been debating in my head for months now and haven't really made any progress so I was just looking to get any outside opinion non-biased on things.

Both specialties are probably pretty comparable salary and lifestyle wise (no call/no weekends).

Rad onc:
-I really love the imaging and technical/academic aspect of this field. The physics etc interests me because of my background. Similar to radiology but with patient interaction and treating as opposed to just describing something on a scan and moving on
-My big concern with this field is the patients. Treating cancer is of course very rewarding, but there are also a LOT of very sick patients, many of whom will die and for who you deliver palliative treatments. I worry about whether or not I can handle sick people all day every day in a career
-Patients are very tied to you as they come in for many treatments, it may be more difficult in this field to take longer vacations without feeling guilt from missing many patient visits

Derm:
-Skin interests me, probably not as much as imaging/physics of rad onc.
-i like that you can still work with cancer (mohs is very appealing to me)
-Patients are on average pretty healthy; will not be giving end of life talks, etc.
-Very good variety.. procedures, clinic time, plenty of opportunity for research

any advice? I really don't know how to choose

 

[FindMeOnTheLinks]

I just want to suggest you take a look at the rad one forum on sdn, there is a lot of doom and gloom in the specialty due to residency expansion and the saturation it has caused in the job market. Apparently new grads are finding it difficult to land good jobs and the leaders in the field don't seem to care too much. Might be something to consider as derm seems to have the potential to find a job anywhere you want.

 

[BurghStudent]

Sounds like you like derm. Patients are a big part of your day. It's one of the things we might overlook when choosing specialties. Find your patients, the rest will work itself out.

 

[Slack3r]

I just want to suggest you take a look at the rad one forum on sdn, there is a lot of doom and gloom in the specialty due to residency expansion and the saturation it has caused in the job market. Apparently new grads are finding it difficult to land good jobs and the leaders in the field don't seem to care too much. Might be something to consider as derm seems to have the potential to find a job anywhere you want.

Derm is pretty saturated, especially in big markets, and particularly in Mohs. You can find jobs in major cities, but you'll likely take a pay cut, and there's no way you're walking into a full time Mohs gig. Most people have to supplement with gen derm.

 

[ERDOC555]

Derm is pretty saturated, especially in big markets, and particularly in Mohs. You can find jobs in major cities, but you'll likely take a pay cut, and there's no way you're walking into a full time Mohs gig. Most people have to supplement with gen derm.

I wouldn't necessarily say that Derm is saturated, but I do believe Derm is a specialty with one of the biggest maldistribution problems in medicine. There are a handful of cities where there are an absurd number of dermatologists per capita (SF, Boston, LA, NYC etc), and then almost anywhere else there are massive shortages with absurd wait times, even in good sized cities.

I'd be curious to know how large a population would need to be in order to keep 1 Mohs surgeon busy for 40 hours a week.

 

[Hotei]

I know it's hard to find the time but see if you can spend a couple days shadowing the rad onc or derm services informally, or at least do a rotation in one of them early M4 year. If it means that much to you you may want to use one of your days off on an M3 rotation to spend a day shadowing. Everything else is just thinking, but not experiencing... each field is very complex and interesting though so neither is a bad decision

 

[MOHS_01]

I wouldn't necessarily say that Derm is saturated, but I do believe Derm is a specialty with one of the biggest maldistribution problems in medicine. There are a handful of cities where there are an absurd number of dermatologists per capita (SF, Boston, LA, NYC etc), and then almost anywhere else there are massive shortages with absurd wait times, even in good sized cities.

I'd be curious to know how large a population would need to be in order to keep 1 Mohs surgeon busy for 40 hours a week.

It is saturated in many places -- even less than attractive locations have a significant saturation problem. As for the last question -- all depends -- demographics and latitude. It also depends on your definition of busy -- referral only Mohs practice? Probably 250k plus. Maybe double that. It is some sloppy math, I'm afraid.

 

[samsunimomo]

Why not interventional radiology?

 

[libertyyne]

Are you competitive for both ?

 

[W19]

Are you competitive for both ?

If someone is competitive for derm, one can assume that individual is also competitive for rad onc

 

[libertyyne]

If someone is competitive for derm, one can assume that individual is also competitive for rad onc

I assumed you had to have your application tailored for a specific specialty to be competitive for the uber competitive stuff.

 

[W19]

I assumed you had to have your application tailored for a specific specialty to be competitive for the uber competitive stuff.

This is somewhat correct but your board scores are probably more meaningful than everything else in the grand scheme of thing... All one has to do is to find some BS research projects to sprinkle on top of that.