I need some advice. I'm finishing up an FP residency (I'm a 3rd year), but am considering doing another residency in EM. How plausible is this?
-pockey
-pockey
Doing a second residency
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I wrote a long explanation somewhere else on here, but I can't find it at the moment. Anyway, the short version is that it isn't your low performance in medical school that is going to be the hindrance, but financial concerns.
The government subsidizes all resident education in the US, and it's not a small subsidy. Resident education is not cheap. When you signed up for FP residency, the gov't allocated three years of money to subsidize your education. After 3 years in FP residency, you've used up all your subsidy. Any program that takes you now will not receive any gov't subsidy for your education. You'll be competing against candidates who will receive the full subsidy for their time there, so the program has to be willing to lose that money to take you.
Programs willing to do this are not common to say the least. Academic programs already pay their docs a fair amount less than what they could make in the private world. Any subsidy they forego will essentially come out of their pockets.
Now, I'm not a residency director, but this is how it was explained to me by my residency director when I was assistant chief resident at my program a few years ago. I doubt much has changed in that time.
So while not impossible, it'll be difficult for you. Please PM me for more info.
I agree that you could probably handle most of what comes into the ER, because honestly the majority of what we do is primary care. But the philosophy of emergency medicine is different, and it's plain whenever I talk to admitting physcians from various specialties. Because of that difference in philosophy, non-EM trained physicians will miss a lot more than we do. Those misses will cost, sometimes a lot.
If your work in your FP residency was exemplary, then your medical school record really shouldn't be an issue. Medical school records are important for new grads because residency program directors have no other data to judge whether or not they'd be good residents. You presumably have already proven that in your present work, so the medical school record would be of minimal importance unless you were grievously stupid as a student and killed lots of patients. That seems unlikely if you've done well in your residency.
Again, PM me.
The government subsidizes all resident education in the US, and it's not a small subsidy. Resident education is not cheap. When you signed up for FP residency, the gov't allocated three years of money to subsidize your education. After 3 years in FP residency, you've used up all your subsidy. Any program that takes you now will not receive any gov't subsidy for your education. You'll be competing against candidates who will receive the full subsidy for their time there, so the program has to be willing to lose that money to take you.
Programs willing to do this are not common to say the least. Academic programs already pay their docs a fair amount less than what they could make in the private world. Any subsidy they forego will essentially come out of their pockets.
Now, I'm not a residency director, but this is how it was explained to me by my residency director when I was assistant chief resident at my program a few years ago. I doubt much has changed in that time.
So while not impossible, it'll be difficult for you. Please PM me for more info.
I agree that you could probably handle most of what comes into the ER, because honestly the majority of what we do is primary care. But the philosophy of emergency medicine is different, and it's plain whenever I talk to admitting physcians from various specialties. Because of that difference in philosophy, non-EM trained physicians will miss a lot more than we do. Those misses will cost, sometimes a lot.
If your work in your FP residency was exemplary, then your medical school record really shouldn't be an issue. Medical school records are important for new grads because residency program directors have no other data to judge whether or not they'd be good residents. You presumably have already proven that in your present work, so the medical school record would be of minimal importance unless you were grievously stupid as a student and killed lots of patients. That seems unlikely if you've done well in your residency.
Again, PM me.
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I know I really dont know much about this subject. I do some people who have gone back and done a 2nd residency.
One in ER from IM, I believe, and the other was pediatrician to dermatology.
One in ER from IM, I believe, and the other was pediatrician to dermatology.
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There are a number of people who do 2nd residencies for various reasons. I know someone who finished an intense surgery residency at major academic center and then decidedhe wanted to do an anesthesiology residency for personal reasons.
If you are currently doing a FP residency at a hospital where they have an EM residency, that would be the best place to start. Or talk to EM docs at the hospital even if they have do not have a residency program. If they are EM-residency trained they may have contacts at nearby EM residency programs and can help you land a spot through personal reference and strong LORs.
Don't worry about your previous medical school performance. You have grown and developed significantly as a physician during the past 2-3 years and will be a great asset to any EM residency program due to your clinical experience as a FP.
If you are currently doing a FP residency at a hospital where they have an EM residency, that would be the best place to start. Or talk to EM docs at the hospital even if they have do not have a residency program. If they are EM-residency trained they may have contacts at nearby EM residency programs and can help you land a spot through personal reference and strong LORs.
Don't worry about your previous medical school performance. You have grown and developed significantly as a physician during the past 2-3 years and will be a great asset to any EM residency program due to your clinical experience as a FP.
