Endocrinology

[medicine2006]

I want some info on endocinology. I hear that it is a 2 year fellowship after IM residency. Is this true? What about it you want to do pediatric endocrinology? How many years to do that? Is it competitive and how much is the pay? Thanks in advance for those who can answer my questions.

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[southerndoc]

Have you looked on FREIDA? (available at www.amamedstudent.org) That should give you all the info you need.

Generally endocrinology is a 2-3-year fellowship after your 3-year residency in internal medicine and/or pediatrics. You can do a combined med/peds residency (4 years) if you want, but when you go to do your fellowship, you will have to decide on either peds or adult (unless you want to do them both back to back). To my knowledge there are no combined adult/ped endocrinology fellowships.

Fellowship length will depend on whether you want to do research or not. Some programs require it.

I think endocrinologists do quite well. If I remember correctly, the average salary was around $200,000 per year for those in non-academic settings. Academic endocrinologists make less.

 

[medicine2006]

Thanks Geek Medic for the reply.

 

[Meeko1452]

Actually, the University of Oklahoma has a combined adult/pediatric endo fellowship for med-peds graduates.

 

[medicine2006]

bump bump

 

[LaCirujana]

Endocrinologists, in this day and age of managed care, are finding their salaries being cut ($200,000 for a private practice endocrinologist is pretty generous, unless you are talking about one quite a few years into practice), not increasing. It is impossible to see a new endocrine patient in 15-30 minutes; a new diabetic requires a full hour appointment, plus nutritionist teaching, diabetic nurse educator teaching, and more--managed care companies don't like this and don't reimburse very well. The endocrinologists affiliated with one HMO in the western US have seen their salaries cut an average of 5-7% each year for the past 5 years. Perhaps as diabetes becomes more and more of a national health issue (as Americans become fatter and fatter) more value will be placed on the doctors who care for them....

 

[Airborne]

LaCirujana:

Although I agree that endocinologists play a vital role in the management of DM Pts, I think that as this Dz becomes more common (which I think we all agree is an emerging, if not omnipresent, epidemic), one will see the shift from specialist to primary care -

Unfortunately, our health care system cannot sustain referral for all such patients - Indeed, nor more than can all patients with hypercholesterolemia or HTN see a cardiologist -

In the end, with the emerging BMI>>25 population, I am under the impression that many bread and butter (ie DM and the like) Pts will be managed at the PCP level - even more so than now.

Your thoughts?

Airborne

BTW - I completely agree that sliding Insulin scales are useless and such pts need a referral in the teriary setting....

 

[medicine2006]

If Diabetes pts (bread and butter of endocrinologist) get taken care of at PCP level then that only leave people with thyroid and pituitary problems. Is that enough of a patient base to sustain the # of endocrinologist we have now and for future would-be specialist in this field?

 

[Sanman]

I doubt that endocrinologists will be losing patients with more cases. PCP's won't want to have to deal with those patients that aren't in control of their diabetes and have complications, such as retinopathy and limb amputation. Hoever. I do believe that PCP's will deal with most of the diabetics in control of the disease, but that's not to different from what goes on now.