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EM vs. Derm, a fresh view
- Thread starter Jimmer Fredette
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D
deleted65604
Dude, stick to basketball. I'd do derm if your NBA career goes belly-up. You will regret ER if you really want to do derm and just kind of like ER.
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I'm going to make this very simple for you:
Do Derm
Do Derm
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I would argue that the schedule in Derm is better.. you can set your hours, work 9-4, every other friday, no weekends, never on call. I am not certain about the pay but I think its as equivalent and probably better than Emergency Medicine...
With that said, it comes down to what you want. I am still young in my career, but I could not fathom the thought of going to my 'office' 4-5 days a week, and dealing with Mr and Mrs Upper/Middle Class... dressing in ties/pressed clothes, being Dr Perfect and catering to all the needs and desires of the patient in front of me. Maybe I have a skewed view, but this is now I think Derm largely is.
I like getting dirty; I mow my own grass, change my own oil.. rebuild wrecked cars and motorhomes as a hobby. I'll take the drunks peeing on the floor, drug seekers, child molesters, etc all day long. Of course, this is the 'skewed' picture of Emergency Medicine. I have taken care of State Reps, professors, other doctors, etc. As Emergency Physicians, we roll our eyes often at these folks because they are demanding and expect the Dermatology office experience in the Emergency Department..... that is hard to provide. The Mayor is going to get near the same care in an MVC as the drunk driver that killed an innocent new medical student.
Pick the speciality you like. Emergency Medicine is not an ideal schedule, but you can have a pretty sweet schedule if you look around. I am sitting in a private upscale community hospital right now typing this. I have seen probably 4-5 patients since 6PM, all super nice folks with rather minor problems... this is my "as needed job" compared to my new full time at a Level I Trauma Center where I assure you I would not have just had a nice pasta dinner the nurses picked up nor would I be typing on here. I make more money here, but quite frankly, I'm bored....
With that said, it comes down to what you want. I am still young in my career, but I could not fathom the thought of going to my 'office' 4-5 days a week, and dealing with Mr and Mrs Upper/Middle Class... dressing in ties/pressed clothes, being Dr Perfect and catering to all the needs and desires of the patient in front of me. Maybe I have a skewed view, but this is now I think Derm largely is.
I like getting dirty; I mow my own grass, change my own oil.. rebuild wrecked cars and motorhomes as a hobby. I'll take the drunks peeing on the floor, drug seekers, child molesters, etc all day long. Of course, this is the 'skewed' picture of Emergency Medicine. I have taken care of State Reps, professors, other doctors, etc. As Emergency Physicians, we roll our eyes often at these folks because they are demanding and expect the Dermatology office experience in the Emergency Department..... that is hard to provide. The Mayor is going to get near the same care in an MVC as the drunk driver that killed an innocent new medical student.
Pick the speciality you like. Emergency Medicine is not an ideal schedule, but you can have a pretty sweet schedule if you look around. I am sitting in a private upscale community hospital right now typing this. I have seen probably 4-5 patients since 6PM, all super nice folks with rather minor problems... this is my "as needed job" compared to my new full time at a Level I Trauma Center where I assure you I would not have just had a nice pasta dinner the nurses picked up nor would I be typing on here. I make more money here, but quite frankly, I'm bored....
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It appears that you've been interested enough in dermatology to invest a large portion of time, energy, research, etc.. Now... maybe you've been immersed in dermatology long enough to start to see some of the negatives...giving you mildly disillusioned look at your future specialty. That's something most medical students never have a chance to see and only realize later on once they're in residency. We all have those "the grass is greener on the other side" types of thoughts, but EM is no different in that we have our own set of negatives along with the positives, you just haven't had a chance to see them yet. Just do a search and you'll find plenty of us talking about those. I'm not done with residency yet, but I think that most of us that do this, really enjoy the specialty, recognize the negatives, but can't really imagine doing much of anything else. I might come in bitching about a bad night, but when put to the test... I really wouldn't pick anything else. Honestly, I was never even tempted to do much of anything else.
I'm with EM_Rebuilder on this one in that walking into a 9-5 office with shirt and tie, overly groomed, doing dermatology, week after week, year after year, is the stuff of my nightmares. Sure, I like EM and all the variety, procedures, occasional adrenaline moments, etc.. but I also find the drunks and drug seekers humorous, the crazies interesting, don't mind being yelled at by patients, don't mind occasionally having to yell at consultants, etc.. I hate sitting still or moving slow and am incredibly bored when I am.
You strike me as someone who is fairly idealistic in their approach to finding that "special specialty" that they feel is perfect for them, but you won't find it. Each has their own drawbacks and let's face it... after 10 years, it's going to me more of just a job than anything else and you'll be focusing more on the things you do outside of your job.
Derm schedule is going to be easier to control, period. You're looking at raw hours worked in EM, but your time off is not true time off. You're going to be working some nights, weekends, weird shift hours that are not very compatible with your wife, friends or families' schedule and. Yes, I'm sure you can make it work, but if lifestyle is important to you, I think few would argue that Derm gives you a far better lifestyle.
My advice? Just do Derm. Your wife and family will thank you for it. I have a feeling you'd be one of those that switched specialties 1 or 2 years into it and that always sucks for the program.
I'm with EM_Rebuilder on this one in that walking into a 9-5 office with shirt and tie, overly groomed, doing dermatology, week after week, year after year, is the stuff of my nightmares. Sure, I like EM and all the variety, procedures, occasional adrenaline moments, etc.. but I also find the drunks and drug seekers humorous, the crazies interesting, don't mind being yelled at by patients, don't mind occasionally having to yell at consultants, etc.. I hate sitting still or moving slow and am incredibly bored when I am.
You strike me as someone who is fairly idealistic in their approach to finding that "special specialty" that they feel is perfect for them, but you won't find it. Each has their own drawbacks and let's face it... after 10 years, it's going to me more of just a job than anything else and you'll be focusing more on the things you do outside of your job.
Derm schedule is going to be easier to control, period. You're looking at raw hours worked in EM, but your time off is not true time off. You're going to be working some nights, weekends, weird shift hours that are not very compatible with your wife, friends or families' schedule and. Yes, I'm sure you can make it work, but if lifestyle is important to you, I think few would argue that Derm gives you a far better lifestyle.
My advice? Just do Derm. Your wife and family will thank you for it. I have a feeling you'd be one of those that switched specialties 1 or 2 years into it and that always sucks for the program.
