family med vs surgery

[shreebee]

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im freaking out again, wondering if i made a mistake by applying to family medicine. please someone convince me that i can do a lot of procedures and have a fast paced day as a family doc. i applied for surgery as well, but i have serious doubts regarding the lifestyle and if i want to work those nutso hours when im settled with a family. i really liked family medicine, but it wasn't as fast paced and no procedures where i did it. i applied to mostly cali programs and have received a good amt of interviews. my advisor said that as a family doc u can work in an ER and i think if i do family med, that's what id be going more towards...any thoughts? sorry if i offend anyone...just trying to work out my thoughts...choosing what i want to do for the rest of my life is scary stuff!

 

[sophiejane]

...choosing what i want to do for the rest of my life is scary stuff!

....which is why you shouldn't listen to random people on the internet. 🙂

Trust your heart. Failing that, do a lot of research and ask a lot of questions from people in the field.

You will do the right thing! If you are having doubts, you could always apply surgery and then transfer to Family if you hate it. Might be hard to go the other direction.

 

[phillyfornia]

if u wanna work in the ED, you should just go for emergency medicine. my understanding is that emergency departments are starting to be filled by EM trained docs only and that family docs are only working at EDs in rural areas (i'm not sure if that's what ur looking for).

 

[andwhat]

if u wanna work in the ED, you should just go for emergency medicine. my understanding is that emergency departments are starting to be filled by EM trained docs only and that family docs are only working at EDs in rural areas (i'm not sure if that's what ur looking for).

I seriously dont know if I fully am into that belief, albeit of course in Chicago and NY and bigger cities, one must be EM certified as in do a residency to work in the ER. However this is such a burnout field, that things can change drastically almost all of the time, and EM should not be that hard to do as a Family physician. Currently in the ER here they are begging my preceptor to work and he is a Family Physician. They are short big time, as one doc went down for heart surgery, the other one just quit. Neither of whom did ER residencies by the way. I am from an average sized city. Family Practice is not all that fast paced, alot of DM HTN, well child visits, sprains strains, etc. Procedures not too many, unless you specialize in Derm somehow, I know of a few places hiring both Derm guys and FM people with significant Derm experience, whatsoever that would mean, I am not too sure. But if your heart lies into procedures, Surgery is for you and EM residency is good. FM is nice to do after ER burnout.

 

[deleted87716]

Frankly, I don't know what to tell you. General surgery and family medicine are like night and day (literally, in terms of the schedule you'll have in each).

Surgery isn't "procedures"...surgery is surgery. You can have a procedure-heavy family medicine practice if you want to. But it won't be surgery.

Sounds like you need to do some soul-searching. If you're totally lost at sea, do a transitional year and try to make up your mind, or just match into surgery. It'd be easier to switch from surgery to FM than vice versa in the event you later realized you'd made a horrible mistake.

 

[secretwave101]

Each specialty has merits and detractions. Surgery is lots of surgical procedures and yes, pretty fast-paced. FP has lots of office-based procedures and is also fast-paced. Surgery tends to be many more hours. You're likely to wish you had the hour and practice options of FP when you're a surgeon. You're also likely to wish you could have some continuity with your patients. On the other hand, you'll get sick of the paperwork in FP, and always needing to hand stuff off. And many of the procedures are, yes, procedural but they aren't surgery. They're pretty simple. You may wish for a better salary, if only because it means you are equally-regarded in the profession.

I'd prepare to be disappointed at times by either choice, and then let whatever you choose surprise you with the good things.

Oh, and the ER thing? Not a good choice as FP. Just do EM if that's what you want to do. Most ER's are just urgent-care clinics with the occasional ACLS (which fails 98% of the time so it gets old), especially the ER's where FP's are allowed to work. You'll do lots of paperwork and CYA medicine and you'll never get to know anyone. They let FP's work there because it isn't much different than an FP clinic.

 

[misfit5]

Have you done a surgery rotation? Do you think you are going to have a cushy schedule with either choice? If you want a schedule that you can follow, choose ER. You will get to do lots of procedures and go home when your shift is over.

 

[misfit5]

Sorry for the snippy response. I'm a first time poster looking for answers myself. I'm PGY2 and seriously remorseful about my own specialty choice at this particular moment. I keep telling myself that it's like labor and no mother would be advocating for parenthood at nine centimeters without an epidural! 😱

 

[shreebee]

yes i've done quite a few surgery rotations...not asking for a cushy schedule...i'm not lazy by any means and i do love surgery...just worried about not being able to balance personal life and such with surgery. what specialty are you in now?

Have you done a surgery rotation? Do you think you are going to have a cushy schedule with either choice? If you want a schedule that you can follow, choose ER. You will get to do lots of procedures and go home when your shift is over.

 

[misfit5]

I'm sorry. I didn't mean to imply that you were lazy. I don't think anyone is lazy that chooses medicine as a way of life. I question the reality of "balance" with any specialty. But as I said, I'm currently a resident and don't necessarily have rose colored glasses on right now. I'm in Family Med and don't see it as "cushy" or offering much in the way of balance. Certainly not at this juncture at least. That's why I agreed with the suggestion of ER. Lots of procedures, but you go home at the end of your shift and no call.

Have faith in the powers that be. You'll end up where you are supposed to be. And if not, it's not the end of the world. I wish you the best and again I apologize.

 

[deleted87716]

I'm currently a resident and don't necessarily have rose colored glasses on right now. I'm in Family Med and don't see it as "cushy" or offering much in the way of balance. Certainly not at this juncture at least.

Residency and practice are two different worlds.

I wouldn't call my job "cushy" (actually, I can't think of any job worth doing that's "cushy"), but it allows for plenty of "balance."

How else do you think I find the time to post on SDN, anyway? 😉