Family medicine lifestyle

[khrd2]

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Hi MS-4 here applying family medicine in a largely suburban area.
How is the lifestyle. I’ve seen threads mostly about rural areas (which seems great) but I want to work in a more suburban or near city area. How’s the job market/lifestyle?

 

[AMEHigh]

Job market is great.
Lifestyle is what you make it!
You could work just a 9-5 type outpatient job. You could work per diem at urgent care. You could work at a university in student health. You could work for the health department. You could work inpatient. Etc, you get the point. So you can work as much or as little as you want in whichever environment you prefer.

 

[VA Hopeful Dr]

Job market is great.
Lifestyle is what you make it!
You could work just a 9-5 type outpatient job. You could work per diem at urgent care. You could work at a university in student health. You could work for the health department. You could work inpatient. Etc, you get the point. So you can work as much or as little as you want in whichever environment you prefer.

Exactly.

FM has way more options, and more flexibility within those options, than any other field in medicine.

 

[khrd2]

Job market is great.
Lifestyle is what you make it!
You could work just a 9-5 type outpatient job. You could work per diem at urgent care. You could work at a university in student health. You could work for the health department. You could work inpatient. Etc, you get the point. So you can work as much or as little as you want in whichever environment you prefer.

Thanks for replying! Glad to hear I made the right choice 😉

 

[Sushirolls]

Exactly.

FM has way more options, and more flexibility within those options, than any other field in medicine.

I contend that Psychiatry has more flexibility:
Inpatient Pyschiatry
Hospital Consultation & Liasion
Out patient clinic for high functioning
Cash only outpatient
Therapy heavy or only outpatient
Med management outpatient
Procedures for buprenorphine implant rod, ECT, TMS, Ketamine Infusions
Jails/Prisons
State hospitals
Forensic units in state hospitals, or outpatient forensic work
Addiction outpatient clinics, or inpatient units
Eating disordered units
Hypnosis (FM can do hypnosis too...)
Telepsychiatry
Great job market (just like FM)
Ability to work in smaller towns (unlike say, Neurosurgery or GI/Hepatologist)
Psych ED
Community mental health clinics (they also have a walk ins, and similar to urgent care for FM)
University college clinics

 

[VA Hopeful Dr]

Did you seriously come into the FM forum and start a pissing contest with a list of what you can do?

 

[Sushirolls]

Providing a counter point to the assertion, "than any other field in medicine"
Psychiatry is a small field, I think 4% or less than grads go in to it, and some medical schools might have zero out their entire graduating classes.
Some med schools are even shifting away from having Psychiatry as a "Big Six" required rotation and feel that spending time with a Psychologist/SW or seeing depression/anxiety on their primary care rotations is sufficient. I.e. some students aren't getting a good exposure, or even consider Psychiatry.
The OP is a med student, and can't hurt to point out there is another flexible specialty with in-specialty practice diversity.
My intentions are to educate, and even stir up possible recruitment. Psychiatry is always looking for good applicants.

I can't control how you interpret the post, but I hope that clarifies some.

 

[VA Hopeful Dr]

Providing a counter point to the assertion, "than any other field in medicine"
Psychiatry is a small field, I think 4% or less than grads go in to it, and some medical schools might have zero out their entire graduating classes.
Some med schools are even shifting away from having Psychiatry as a "Big Six" required rotation and feel that spending time with a Psychologist/SW or seeing depression/anxiety on their primary care rotations is sufficient. I.e. some students aren't getting a good exposure, or even consider Psychiatry.
The OP is a med student, and can't hurt to point out there is another flexible specialty with in-specialty practice diversity.
My intentions are to educate, and even stir up possible recruitment. Psychiatry is always looking for good applicants.

I can't control how you interpret the post, but I hope that clarifies some.

Reading is tough

Hi MS-4 here applying family medicine in a largely suburban area.
How is the lifestyle. I’ve seen threads mostly about rural areas (which seems great) but I want to work in a more suburban or near city area. How’s the job market/lifestyle?

 

[Sushirolls]

Reading is tough

Applications are still open, and still possible to submit for other specialties.
Other students frequent these forums, too, including, MS-I, MS-II, MS-III and might find a diversity of posts informative.

 

[VA Hopeful Dr]

Applications are still open, and still possible to submit for other specialties.
Other students frequent these forums, too, including, MS-I, MS-II, MS-III and might find a diversity of posts informative.

So you're trying to convince someone who wants to do FM to do psych? How is that OK?

 

[Sushirolls]

Because it is.
It's not too late for you to make the switch either...
I've had people try to recruit me into a myriad of specialties along the way as MS-IV, pre/post match, as a resident, and even as an attending.
Never hurts to reflect on what's being offered, and then flush the notion if not pertinent to one's life direction.

 

[OrgoCoop]

I contend that Psychiatry has more flexibility:
Inpatient Pyschiatry
Hospital Consultation & Liasion
Out patient clinic for high functioning
Cash only outpatient
Therapy heavy or only outpatient
Med management outpatient
Procedures for buprenorphine implant rod, ECT, TMS, Ketamine Infusions
Jails/Prisons
State hospitals
Forensic units in state hospitals, or outpatient forensic work
Addiction outpatient clinics, or inpatient units
Eating disordered units
Hypnosis (FM can do hypnosis too...)
Telepsychiatry
Great job market (just like FM)
Ability to work in smaller towns (unlike say, Neurosurgery or GI/Hepatologist)
Psych ED
Community mental health clinics (they also have a walk ins, and similar to urgent care for FM)
University college clinics

but its psych.... do any "good" applicants pursue psych? I've always been under the impression its for the low step 1 scorers and IMGs.

 

[VA Hopeful Dr]

Because it is.
It's not too late for you to make the switch either...
I've had people try to recruit me into a myriad of specialties along the way as MS-IV, pre/post match, as a resident, and even as an attending.
Never hurts to reflect on what's being offered, and then flush the notion if not pertinent to one's life direction.

Ah, the old "it was done to me so I can do it to others". Lovely.

 

[deleted87716]

Other students frequent these forums, too, including, MS-I, MS-II, MS-III and might find a diversity of posts informative.

The fact that we have specific forums for each specialty pretty much negates that. If anyone wants to know about psych, I'm sure they can find the psych forum.

 

[yeasports]

Because it is.
It's not too late for you to make the switch either...
I've had people try to recruit me into a myriad of specialties along the way as MS-IV, pre/post match, as a resident, and even as an attending.
Never hurts to reflect on what's being offered, and then flush the notion if not pertinent to one's life direction.

Who tried to recruit you into what as a Psych attending?

 

[Sushirolls]

Sleep Medicine (fellowship) from sleep doc
Pain Medicine (fellowship) from pain doc
Family Medicine from FM attendings
Gen Surg from Gen Surg
Completely different careers outside of medicine


VA Hopeful Dr made a bold assertion about FM, I corrected it and provided a counter point of a different medical specialty with greater practice freedom.

 

[AMEHigh]

Sleep Medicine (fellowship) from sleep doc
Pain Medicine (fellowship) from pain doc
Family Medicine from FM attendings
Gen Surg from Gen Surg
Completely different careers outside of medicine


VA Hopeful Dr made a bold assertion about FM, I corrected it and provided a counter point of a different medical specialty with greater practice freedom.

Omg who peed in your Cheerios?!

Greater practice freedom is clearly subjective. The OP is already applying FM and asked specifically about FM lifestyle.

I think I’m going to start trolling the other specialty boards and talk about how great FM is when a person asks about surgery, radiology, etc in those forums. Eye roll.

 

[Sushirolls]

Not trolling.
Cheerios are still coated only with milk.
Best wishes y'all.

 

[deleted87716]

 

[VA Hopeful Dr]

VA Hopeful Dr made a bold assertion about FM, I corrected it and provided a counter point of a different medical specialty with greater practice freedom.

If by "corrected" you mean "made an ass of myself", then you sure did.

Let's play your little game then, here's the different options a family doctor has:

Inpatient
Outpatient
Outpatient with OB
Outpatient with inpatient
DPC
Concierge
Urgent Care
ED
Jail/prison
Addiction
College clinic
Wound care
Telemedicine
House-call only
In-house clinic for large employers
Occupational medicine
Preventative medicine
Cosmetic medicine
Public health (FQHC, indian health clinic)
Travel medicine
International medicine (Doctor's without borders type work)
Embassy physician
VA
Civil surgeon
Integrative Medicine
Wellness medicine (those "hormones fix everything" types)
Rural medicine
Also while I'd say we are equally in demand, I can put a pin down almost literally anywhere in this country and find work as a family doctor. Psychiatry is slightly more limited in that regard in terms of population required to support a full time psychiatrist.

I contend that Psychiatry has more flexibility:
Inpatient Pyschiatry
Hospital Consultation & Liasion
Out patient clinic for high functioning
Cash only outpatient
Therapy heavy or only outpatient
Med management outpatient
Procedures for buprenorphine implant rod, ECT, TMS, Ketamine Infusions
Jails/Prisons
State hospitals
Forensic units in state hospitals, or outpatient forensic work
Addiction outpatient clinics, or inpatient units
Eating disordered units
Hypnosis (FM can do hypnosis too...)
Telepsychiatry
Great job market (just like FM)
Ability to work in smaller towns (unlike say, Neurosurgery or GI/Hepatologist)
Psych ED
Community mental health clinics (they also have a walk ins, and similar to urgent care for FM)
University college clinics

My list is bigger than yours.

 

[deleted87716]

My list is bigger than yours.

 

[Sardonix]

Applications are still open, and still possible to submit for other specialties.
Other students frequent these forums, too, including, MS-I, MS-II, MS-III and might find a diversity of posts informative.

This is so woefully out of touch I'm just going to come out and say it's stupid.

This is a stupid statement.

Why? Even tiny community psych programs are getting flooded with applications this year. And here you are, trying to legitimize wandering into an FM forum to start a "my speciality is better than yours" match, by playing it off as if you were just trying to advise applicants and students... with terrible advice.

With the match Merger, us applicants' anxiety is at an all time high. Psych in particular is looking to be increasingly competitive. Someone who randomly applies to psych right now after having already built their application for FM is NOT going to get any interview invites, let alone to places that most people would go by first choice.

Kindly stop saying stupid things like this.

 

[Splenda88]

If by "corrected" you mean "made an ass of myself", then you sure did.

My list is bigger than yours.

We get it... Now it's a penile measuring contest.

 

[VA Hopeful Dr]

We get it... Now it's a penile measuring contest.

 

[LABrondo]

Because it is.
It's not too late for you to make the switch either...
I've had people try to recruit me into a myriad of specialties along the way as MS-IV, pre/post match, as a resident, and even as an attending.
Never hurts to reflect on what's being offered, and then flush the notion if not pertinent to one's life direction.

How do you make a switch and apply to other specialties if you don’t have any LORs for those fields?

 

[UTUT]

Can we chill? If you don't like someone's post, just ignore it and stop replying back and forth in a nonconducive manner.

Med students who have not applied to residencies do read forums on different specialties to compare and contrast. Also, to answer whether family med is a lifestyle specialty one needs to know lifestyles of other specialties to have a benchmark to compare to.

 

[Bacchus]

Cool the jets, boys and girls. Pissing match is over. Respect any fora you go into and don't piss off the locals.

 

[Bacchus]

Who tried to recruit you into what as a Psych attending?

EXACTLY. I had people less informed about the process ask me if I would switch specialties. My first response was: If I want my house to be foreclosed on and I want to default on my student loans. Second response was a plain "no."

 

[khrd2]

I'd encourage you to take a gander at the NRMP data. The psych match was actually fairly brutal last year, if I'm remembering correctly something like 1 in 6 US grads who applied to psych didn't get it. It's not on the level of like ortho or derm by any means, but psych is definitely more competitive than FM - and has been for a few years just going by spots/applicant, match rate, and board scores alone. The stereotype that "its for the low step 1 scorers and IMGs" is much more commonly applied to FM than psych (and tbh not incorrectly so, though there are certainly excellent applicants in every specialty).

just because a specialty is more competitive does not make it superior. everyone has their own preference and vision of what they want their life to be. nothing against psychiatry i have close friends and family applying psych who are dedicated to the field and i highly respect them. but i think the culture in medical school is about prestige, status and money. that is where i differ. I like family because that is what i envision my life to be like.

 

[khrd2]

I certainly didn't intend to imply that psych is "superior" to FM or any other specialty. I am an FM resident and am extremely happy with my career choice lol. And like I said, competitive applicants go into every specialty. Along the same lines having lower test scores or being an IMG doesn't make you a bad doctor/person or preclude you from having a genuine interest in FM, psych, or any other specialty, and having a higher percentage of IMGs and low scores in a specialty doesn't make it inferior. Was just responding to the other guy's (wrong) opinion that psych was not very competitive.


ETA: To add to the above list options for FM docs, I'd also add sports med and/or team docs, which can get you some pretty cool procedures, plus nursing home care/medical directorship. Also administrative positions and organized medicine and advocacy (like working for the AAFP, AMA, etc.).

I see. I apologize if i misinterpreted. yes knowing people applying to psych, i absolutely agree.

 

[deleted87716]

Specialties aren't competitive. Applicants are competitive.

 

[Sardonix]

Specialties aren't competitive. Applicants are competitive.

The real applications were the friends we made along the way.

 

[hallowmann]

Medicine is one of the most diverse professions. You can have a good "lifestyle" in almost any field, especially the ones with general training and broad applications (this includes FM and psych... and IM, and EM, and OB-Gyn, and Peds, and even GenSurg).

The definition of good lifestyle varies heavily depending on what you enjoy. If you like being in the OR, and a job has you in the OR 50-60 hrs a week and with NPs/PAs managing your clinic so you don't have to, you might love the lifestyle. That would honestly be hell to me.

The good thing about FM (and honestly Psych for that matter) is that training is broad and demand is high virtually everywhere. If you want to carve out a niche for yourself in a specific place, you can.

Now back to the OP:
"Hi MS-4 here applying family medicine in a largely suburban area.
How is the lifestyle." Good if you like FM. Residency "lifestyle" sucks no matter where you go though. Long hours, stress, steep learning curve, etc. Some programs are more laid back than others, but I'd be wary of any programs with "too light" of a schedule. You're still doing it for training after all.

"I’ve seen threads mostly about rural areas (which seems great) but I want to work in a more suburban or near city area. How’s the job market/lifestyle?" In demand in most areas. Lifestyle is good if you like 8-5 outpatient clinic 4.5 days a week.