Does the length of Residency make a difference in your choice?

[Mindscrew]

Seeing that we are a bit older, does the length of a residency play a factor in your choice of speciality?

for example, neruosurgery is 7-9 yrs

internal medicine 3-4 yrs

family 2-3 yrs

oh plus your age if you're willing to put it into the mix

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[Mindscrew]

Ok I'll go first...

36 at start of school (assuming I get accepted for Sept'11. Or 37)

Leaning on Family, but like internal medicine and infectious diseases and medical oncology.

Length does play a factor for me...

 

[RFHawks]

Length does play a role for me but it's minimal. After spending my twenties in a field that didn't provide happiness and stability, those things are more important to me. I'll be 30 when starting school this fall, 34 when starting res, 39 when doing a fellowship. I'm interested in Rads and then a Neuro fellowship. My happiness is more important to me than the length of my training. I figure we are going to be 40 or 50 regardless of what we decide to specialize in, it might as well be something we enjoy so we can love what we do and not live for the weekend.

 

[Torr]

My happiness is more important to me than the length of my training. I figure we are going to be 40 or 50 regardless of what we decide to specialize in, it might as well be something we enjoy so we can love what we do and not live for the weekend.

Well said Hawks.

 

[LingoLaine]

Nope. I'll be turning 40 this year. Hoping to start med school at 41. I plan on doing ob/gyn, which is a 4-year residency. Will consider a maternal-fetal medicine specialty afterwards, which would add several more years. For me, it really is the journey as much as the destination, so I'm anxious to get started (please ADCOMs, give me my chance!) but not that anxious to be done.

 

[QofQuimica]

I'm starting residency this July at age 36, and I will complete a fellowship as well for a total of 5-6 years. Length of training played no role in my decision. I love this field almost to the point of obsession, and I'd have still chosen it even if the training were ten years. That being said, it helps a lot that I have no loans (was scholarshipped to med school), and no children/house (so no large expenditures, either). If you have a quarter million dollars or more in loans, two or three kids, a house, etc, your decision may be significantly affected by practical considerations. In addition, your med school performance may also limit your options no matter what you want and how many years of training you're willing to do. So if you barely pass Step 1 and have no research experience, neurosurg will be a long shot, and you'd do well to have a backup plan.

The best advice I can give those of you who are just starting out is to be open-minded about specialty. Spend time shadowing your first year. Talk to the docs you meet about the pros and cons of their specialty. Pay attention to which preclinical subjects you find enjoyable to study, and where you feel like you fit in during your clinical rotations. You may be surprised by where you end up landing in the end. I sure was. 🙂

 

[pinkzebra]

I'm starting residency this July at age 36, and I will complete a fellowship as well for a total of 5-6 years. Length of training played no role in my decision. I love this field almost to the point of obsession, and I'd have still chosen it even if the training were ten years. That being said, it helps a lot that I have no loans (was scholarshipped to med school), and no children/house (so no large expenditures, either). If you have a quarter million dollars or more in loans, two or three kids, a house, etc, your decision may be significantly affected by practical considerations. In addition, your med school performance may also limit your options no matter what you want and how many years of training you're willing to do. So if you barely pass Step 1 and have no research experience, neurosurg will be a long shot, and you'd do well to have a backup plan.

The best advice I can give those of you who are just starting out is to be open-minded about specialty. Spend time shadowing your first year. Talk to the docs you meet about the pros and cons of their specialty. Pay attention to which preclinical subjects you find enjoyable to study, and where you feel like you fit in during your clinical rotations. You may be surprised by where you end up landing in the end. I sure was. 🙂

that is great advice! i completely agree.

while i am young-ish (24), i am married and have a 6 year old daughter. i agree that happiness is more important than length/time commitment, but i also want to be realistic and achieve some sort of balance. my husband and i want more children someday (no idea when that will be, but NOT anytime soon!) and i would just like to feel as though my chosen speciality will still allow time for my family. i realize this is not the case in residency; i mean more in the long run. 😉

 

[eablackwell]

I'll be entering med school at 28, and time of residency does figure in a bit, but not too much. I'm not really interested in specialized surgery, and while length of training is a big piece of that, it's also the lifestyle that I'm not too interested in.

The two areas I'm leaning toward at the moment are either a 5 year residency or a 3 + 3 residency/fellowship. I'm lucky because my husband agreed to pay for us to live during residency so I can use my residency income to pay back loans, and I'd be lying if I said that didn't figure into my being ok with longer lengths of residency/fellowships.

I think it should definitely be considered, but I would make sure you enjoy what you're heading into, because god forbid you do all this work and end up in something you hate.

 

[FiremedicMike]

At this point in my life, length does not make a difference. I've done a lot of compromise in my life, I will not do it with a decision as important as this.

What does make a difference to me is the reputation for brutality of particular specialties. There are some specialties that interest me that have a reputation for being particularly brutal to complete, and I honestly feel I wouldnt have the patience or energy to keep up with. As a non trad, I recognize that many instances of malignancy serve no actual learning purpose, and would likely make those things much more difficult to stomach than a traditional student who has never been out in the real world..

 

[Law2Doc]

Seeing that we are a bit older, does the length of a residency play a factor in your choice of speciality?

for example, neruosurgery is 7-9 yrs

internal medicine 3-4 yrs

family 2-3 yrs

oh plus your age if you're willing to put it into the mix

First, I don't think you are realistically going to find a 2 year residency. So put that example out of the picture.

So plan on 3+. Now a lot of fields have 4+ years, and quite a few "expect" a fellowship afterwards, so you are probably going to be committed to your training path for 4-5 years in a lot of cases. And that's after 1-2 years postbac and 4 years of med school for a lot of us. So does one or two years really make a big difference? I would pick what you want to go into within reason. Now I think if you want a surgical subspecialty that involves 10 years of residency and research, and you are already pushing 50, that might not be ideal. But if you are trying to decide between a 3 or a 5 year residency/fellowship training path, I say don't sweat the small stuff, pick something you like.

Also bear in mind that in residency, you are practicing as a physician, getting paid, and effectively aren't putting your career on hold at that point. So whether we are talking 3 years or 10, you are already a doctor working as a doctor, which is really the end goal, right?

 

[ChemMed]

Length is a factor to some degree for me. I don't want to do surgery or anything longer than 5 years for res/fellowship. On the other hand things may be different when I am older and I decide to go for it anyway. I'm open and I'll revisit this question when it becomes more relavent for me. I am starting medical school at 30.

 

[MCAT guy]

No matter what I look at I'm stuck at 6.

5+1
3+3

Specialize in the most interesting thing. I think most of us switched because we wanted something we enjoy. Why stop pursuing that after M4?

Too scared of mid-levels to do anything resembling primary care.

 

[Helen Wheels]

Starting med school in a few months and turn 40 this August. I am single and have no children so I am in a different position than many nontrads my age.

I don't think length is a problem, per se. I am thinking IM (perhaps rheumatology, ID, or GI), or anesthesia. At the same time, I am not getting any younger and want to see how I am doing physically in a few years. If I feel like I don't have enough energy might end up in psych or PMR. I don't think it is the length but rather the intensity that may shape my choice.

 

[TriagePreMed]

Time does play a factor with me, though I'll (hopefully) start med school at 29. I wish I could do a dual Neuro/Psych residency, but at most places that's 6 to 7 years. I considered doing psych and then neuropsych fellowship, but I'm fearing I won't be able to work as a "neurologist" which is what I'm most inclined for. Behavioral Neurology is an option for me, but I feel it wouldn't give me the therapy training I would want.

 

[spiderpete]

Time of training is one of many factors, but a lesser one for me. Love of the work, ability to do it at a high level (and yes, at my age), chances to get into it.... all those are more important. I have a strong leaning to EM, but I will keep an open mind and see what comes out of the next few years.