Diabetes-residency/fellowship?

[samisab786]

Advertisement - Members don't see this ad

Hey guys, I'm going to be a P3 in the upcoming fall semester. For a while, I've been considering residency and I really want to go into something that specifically deals with diabetes. I know that one of my professors who deals with diabetes is a CDE and one of my professors this upcoming year will teach us about diabetes (I don't know what exactly her specialty is) but I was wondering if there is a residency specifically tailored to working and educating diabetics (I've heard some part of ambulatory care deals with this, but I'm not sure if ambulatory care can be tailored specifically for diabetes). I read up on an endocrinology specialty that is only available in Albany, NY, so it seems like it's not really a popular specialty. I don't know if having such a specialty would really help my job prospects at the end. But basically, what I hope to do is educate patients on their meds and the use of glucometers, insulin injections, etc. (I'm a diabetic, so I have extensive pretty good knowledge of the insulin pump as well). If anybody can shed some light on residencies/specialties or certifications that would probably cater to my specific goals, that'd be great.
Thanks 🙂

 

[deleted205891]

Hey guys, I'm going to be a P3 in the upcoming fall semester. For a while, I've been considering residency and I really want to go into something that specifically deals with diabetes. I know that one of my professors who deals with diabetes is a CDE and one of my professors this upcoming year will teach us about diabetes (I don't know what exactly her specialty is) but I was wondering if there is a residency specifically tailored to working and educating diabetics (I've heard some part of ambulatory care deals with this, but I'm not sure if ambulatory care can be tailored specifically for diabetes). I read up on an endocrinology specialty that is only available in Albany, NY, so it seems like it's not really a popular specialty. I don't know if having such a specialty would really help my job prospects at the end. But basically, what I hope to do is educate patients on their meds and the use of glucometers, insulin injections, etc. (I'm a diabetic, so I have extensive pretty good knowledge of the insulin pump as well). If anybody can shed some light on residencies/specialties or certifications that would probably cater to my specific goals, that'd be great.
Thanks 🙂

I know of one residency that deals primarily with diabetes (Campbell U with Wilson Health Center in NC), but that's a really narrow field for a residency. You want to do what you like, but you also want to be marketable. Now, I'm all for a residency that deals with diabetes for a few months, but I think a whole year of diabetes is excessive and pigeonholes you into something that there already aren't too many jobs in.

 

[Sparda29]

I wonder if volunteering at an ambulatory care clinic can boost your CV as much as a residency. (Since my FT job will be 3PM-11PM, I'm considering volunteering a couple days a week at the site where I did my ambulatory care rotation in diabetes/anticoag clinic.)

 

[pharmasaur]

I think nurses tend to specialize in diabetes much much more than pharmacists and they have diabetes education licenses and such.

 

[samisab786]

What are you doing your residency in?I seem to hear a lot about am care, but I don't know what exactly am care entails (though I've heard there is some diabetes involved)

 

[samisab786]

I think nurses tend to specialize in diabetes much much more than pharmacists and they have diabetes education licenses and such.

True, as a diabetic myself, most of my educators have been nurses, but one of my professors is a Pharmacist/CDE and the professor I will have this semester will lecture us about diabetes (she's teaching us GI/Endo which is why I was wondering if the endo specialty is common or not). Probs the best thing to do is to wait till she lectures this semester and talk to her about it. Just wanted a heads up if somebody has had experience in diabetes/endo.

 

[deleted205891]

What are you doing your residency in?I seem to hear a lot about am care, but I don't know what exactly am care entails (though I've heard there is some diabetes involved)

I'm doing a PGY1 that's pretty much balanced in a lot of different fields. It has a relatively strong ambulatory focus though, as it's at a VA. I will have about 5 months of different ambulatory rotations though. It's one month each of:
1)Anticoagulation clinic
2)Disease state management (basically diabetes and other disease states that are cardiovascular risk factors)
3)Hepatitis C/HIV
4)Oncology (not much inpatient oncology at my hospital, so it's mostly ambulatory)
5)One month divided between outpatient pain management and nephrology. I don't think they had nephrology last year, so not sure what it'll involve, as there isn't a distinct pharmacist preceptor. I gathered that a lot of the time will be spent at the EPO clinic.

Basically ambulatory care means that the patients are walking. You see patients that aren't confined to the hospital and walk in to see you. Can be for a number of disease states. There are quite a few residencies that are 8 or more months of ambulatory care, with a good chunk of them being diabetes. That's OK. I just wouldn't suggest to do a program that fully focuses on diabetes.

I don't think I'll do a PGY2. With so much ambulatory exposure, I don't think I need to do a PGY2 in am care (though 2 of last year's residents did it). Maybe if I really like oncology, I might do a PGY2 in that.

 

[samisab786]

I'm doing a PGY1 that's pretty much balanced in a lot of different fields. It has a relatively strong ambulatory focus though, as it's at a VA. I will have about 5 months of different ambulatory rotations though. It's one month each of:
1)Anticoagulation clinic
2)Disease state management (basically diabetes and other disease states that are cardiovascular risk factors)
3)Hepatitis C/HIV
4)Oncology (not much inpatient oncology at my hospital, so it's mostly ambulatory)
5)One month divided between outpatient pain management and nephrology. I don't think they had nephrology last year, so not sure what it'll involve, as there isn't a distinct pharmacist preceptor. I gathered that a lot of the time will be spent at the EPO clinic.

Basically ambulatory care means that the patients are walking. You see patients that aren't confined to the hospital and walk in to see you. Can be for a number of disease states. There are quite a few residencies that are 8 or more months of ambulatory care, with a good chunk of them being diabetes. That's OK. I just wouldn't suggest to do a program that fully focuses on diabetes.

I don't think I'll do a PGY2. With so much ambulatory exposure, I don't think I need to do a PGY2 in am care (though 2 of last year's residents did it). Maybe if I really like oncology, I might do a PGY2 in that.

Oh ok, I see what you mean in trying not to do a residency that is so limited . That sounds really interesting. I actually don't know much about residencies except that a lot of my professors seem to have done a specific specialty(like cardiology, infectious disease, etc.) so I didn't realize you could stop at PGY1 year. So I guess now my question is, even if you do am care, do you work specifically in one of those five areas? Or would your responsibilities mean being involved in a little bit of all five? Like can you expect there to be jobs specific to disease state management? And if so, would you need knowledge of many diseases or can it be just one (like cardiovascular/endocrinology/etc.) Sorry if these are such dumb questions, I actually really didn't know much about am care till now. Even though I see myself interested in diabetes, I def agree that it's good to have a broader foundation as opposed to a specific one- responsibility wise and market wise. I'm just not sure I still know how this actually applies in a work setting (looks like I may take up on finding an am care clinic to volunteer at)
Thanks for the input, btw.

 

[deleted205891]

Oh ok, I see what you mean in trying not to do a residency that is so limited . That sounds really interesting. I actually don't know much about residencies except that a lot of my professors seem to have done a specific specialty(like cardiology, infectious disease, etc.) so I didn't realize you could stop at PGY1 year. So I guess now my question is, even if you do am care, do you work specifically in one of those five areas? Or would your responsibilities mean being involved in a little bit of all five? Like can you expect there to be jobs specific to disease state management? And if so, would you need knowledge of many diseases or can it be just one (like cardiovascular/endocrinology/etc.) Sorry if these are such dumb questions, I actually really didn't know much about am care till now. Even though I see myself interested in diabetes, I def agree that it's good to have a broader foundation as opposed to a specific one- responsibility wise and market wise. I'm just not sure I still know how this actually applies in a work setting (looks like I may take up on finding an am care clinic to volunteer at)
Thanks for the input, btw.

We have pharmacists that work in all those areas. Usually they'll only work in 1 or 2 of those areas, not all 5. I have seen hospitals where pharmacists work in 3 clinics and just go to different clinics on different days of the week, and I have seen positions that are half am care and half inpatient internal medicine. So it depends on the hospital.

Also, these are not the only 5 areas of ambulatory care, but probably the 5 most common ones. I've also heard of pharmacists working in lipid clinics, heart failure clinics, outpatient psychiatry, etc...

 

[samisab786]

We have pharmacists that work in all those areas. Usually they'll only work in 1 or 2 of those areas, not all 5. I have seen hospitals where pharmacists work in 3 clinics and just go to different clinics on different days of the week, and I have seen positions that are half am care and half inpatient internal medicine. So it depends on the hospital.

Also, these are not the only 5 areas of ambulatory care, but probably the 5 most common ones. I've also heard of pharmacists working in lipid clinics, heart failure clinics, outpatient psychiatry, etc...

This sounds a lot more like what I want to do. Thanks for the info!

 

[Praziquantel86]

Many VA residencies are pretty heavy in outpatient management (not only diabetes), as other posters have mentioned. University-affiliated ambulatory care residencies also have a large component of diabetes management mixed with other outpatient issues as well. As far as fellowships go, I believe NovoNordisk offers a fellowship that would point you towards an MSL-type career, but that may not be quite what you're looking for.

As general advice, I would recommend focusing broadly on your PGY-1, and taking electives/additional classes in diabetes management. Diabetes often coexists with other chronic conditions, and you'll often be helping with management of those conditions along with diabetes. I think a VA residency is a great fit for anyone looking to do outpatient work, as they often have the most advanced types of practice available to pharmacists, and therefore more substantial learning opportunities.