Different CL settings?

[MDchouette]

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I really enjoy the outpatient world but find myself drawn to psycho-oncology consults. I am weighing whether doing a CL fellowship makes sense. I would not want to do consult work and then see only cancer patients for outpatient follow-up as many psychosocial oncologists in the academic world seem to do. My idea setup (for now at least) would be having an outpatient practice with a mix of psychopharm and therapy and then spending some part of my week doing psycho-oncology consults.

So, I'd appreciate any thoughts on:

1. Does this seem possible?

2. Do you think this would require a CL fellowship, or might some private cancer centers be willing to hire someone to do consults without a fellowship?

Thanks for any input.

 

[annie501]

Maybe it depends on your area. I live in the midwest and I don't know any psychiatrists who have done specific C/L fellowships.
I do think it may be easier to get patients in your outpatient practice if you first get a job doing some inpatient consults at a cancer center for a little while. You will be able to get to know the oncologists who will refer patients to you and refer your consult patients to yourself for outpatient treatment.

 

[billypilgrim37]

I think what you might be looking for is an embedded position in an oncology clinic. We have an attending (not c-l trained) who was able to set this up and he both loves his job and is well loved by the service line. He probably gives them about 30% of his time. So, I think what you're talking about would be hard to bank on (especially in a big city, at a big cancer center), but if you're not demanding Boston or NYC or LA, you could probably cultivate a cool niche like that.

 

[MDchouette]

I think what you might be looking for is an embedded position in an oncology clinic. We have an attending (not c-l trained) who was able to set this up and he both loves his job and is well loved by the service line. He probably gives them about 30% of his time. So, I think what you're talking about would be hard to bank on (especially in a big city, at a big cancer center), but if you're not demanding Boston or NYC or LA, you could probably cultivate a cool niche like that.

Yes, this sounds ideal. And I don't anticipate being in any of those cities.

Thanks to both of you for your thoughts.