- Joined
- Sep 9, 2018
- Messages
- 724
- Reaction score
- 1,443
Its getting to the point where I need to plan fourth year soon and I’m really stuck on the specialty I want to do. I’ll need to set up my fourth year and pick a third year elective very soon. I’ve had most of my cores by this point and I really liked FM and psychiatry the most. For psychiatry I was at an adolescent inpatient site. I’m really just stuck on which specialty to go into, or how to best winnow it down quick.
I can see myself potentially doing both “forever” but I have some concerns. I know some may be unfounded, but these are just gut feelings where I feel I need some clarity.
Psychiatry Pros
- I felt comfortable doing it and find the material interesting. At least from a student perspective I felt like I was doing good on rotation and knew my stuff.
-I have a lot of research in neuroscience from before that might be useful for matching.
-There is a shortage of psychiatrists and the life-style seems good. In the face of major healthcare restructuring it seems like a good place to be?
Psychiatry Cons
-I’ve met a lot of psychiatrists who seem burnt out. Life satisfaction is rated very low.
-I have not yet done adult psychiatry.
-I do like medicine and think I would miss the variety.
FM Pros
-I like building long-term relationships with patients, and keeping them out of the hospital.
-I like the variety of cases. At least from what I could see you get a little bit of everything.
-I understand FM docs may do some procedures, and I like being handy.
-The hours and life-style seem okay.
FM Cons
-I worry about midlevels encroachment, and falling compensation if there is major healthcare reform. It seems like FM may really take the brunt of this.
-After getting a 230, which while not great, it seems like it’s a waste of my efforts to do ‘just FM’. I know that might sound a little disrespectful but it sits in the back of my mind. While I very much enjoyed the FM attendings I worked with, the residents all seemed to barely hide it was a backup decision. It bummed me out.
I can see myself potentially doing both “forever” but I have some concerns. I know some may be unfounded, but these are just gut feelings where I feel I need some clarity.
Psychiatry Pros
- I felt comfortable doing it and find the material interesting. At least from a student perspective I felt like I was doing good on rotation and knew my stuff.
-I have a lot of research in neuroscience from before that might be useful for matching.
-There is a shortage of psychiatrists and the life-style seems good. In the face of major healthcare restructuring it seems like a good place to be?
Psychiatry Cons
-I’ve met a lot of psychiatrists who seem burnt out. Life satisfaction is rated very low.
-I have not yet done adult psychiatry.
-I do like medicine and think I would miss the variety.
FM Pros
-I like building long-term relationships with patients, and keeping them out of the hospital.
-I like the variety of cases. At least from what I could see you get a little bit of everything.
-I understand FM docs may do some procedures, and I like being handy.
-The hours and life-style seem okay.
FM Cons
-I worry about midlevels encroachment, and falling compensation if there is major healthcare reform. It seems like FM may really take the brunt of this.
-After getting a 230, which while not great, it seems like it’s a waste of my efforts to do ‘just FM’. I know that might sound a little disrespectful but it sits in the back of my mind. While I very much enjoyed the FM attendings I worked with, the residents all seemed to barely hide it was a backup decision. It bummed me out.
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