FP Fellowship

[DrTiger]

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There are a few kinds of fellowship available:
1. Geriatric
2. OB
3. Sports Med
4. other

What are the pro/con? Or will i be better off without it?

 

[deleted87716]

There are a few kinds of fellowship available:
1. Geriatric
2. OB
3. Sports Med
4. other

What are the pro/con? Or will i be better off without it?

It depends what you want to do with your practice. IMO, if you want to focus your practice on one of these areas, then fellowship training can be useful. For example, if you wanted to work in a nursing home or bill yourself as a "geriatrician," a geriatrics fellowship would give you a little more credibility as well as experience. An OB fellowship would make it easier (in theory) for you to obtain OB privileges at a hospital, although it's no guarantee, especially on the East Coast. A sports med. fellowship will give you greater credibility with trainers, coaches, and orthopods, making it easier to obtain referrals.

Hope this helps.

 

[secretwave101]

Personally, I think the AAFP really needs to put some genuine thought into changing the fellowship thing for FP's. The fellowships offered to FP's are really one of the more pointless ways to expend a year of your life. They don't qualify you for anything. They don't give you acceptance into any society or actual "fellowship". You won't make more money. In truth, they don't mean anything. Few, if any, FP fellowships are competitive because no one is really interested in them. It doesn't take long for most people to realize that in real terms, fellowships don't do a dang thing for you or your career (except set it back an additional year of 80hr/week at 50k).

By contrast, the fellowship system for internists is an actual thing. They qualify you for additional privledges at any hospital, and definitively make you a sub-specialist. The majority of IM fellowships aren't a smoke-and-mirrors version of "certificate of added qualifications", but actual training that makes you actually an expert in an actual field. And, almost by definition, you make more money (with the exception of geriatrics).

I'm a big fan of FP (in residency to become one), but I have no respect for the "fellowship" system. I'd be more than happy to be disabused of my perception of the issue.

 

[deleted87716]

Personally, I think the AAFP really needs to put some genuine thought into changing the fellowship thing for FP's.

I would think that a more realistic approach would be to lobby for graduates of accredited FM residency programs to be eligible to enter "conventional" subspecialties of internal medicine. There are proponents for this.

FM fellowship training can increase your marketability, but it depends on how you apply it. Sports medicine fellowships, by the way, are actually fairly competitive.

 

[secretwave101]

Sports medicine fellowships, by the way, are actually fairly competitive.

Yeah, but they aren't cards or pulm, etc.

And I think allowing FP's to sub-specialize in accredited fellowship programs would be a GREAT idea. I think it would lead to a HUGE influx of applicants to the specialty...although only a few people would probably actually pursue fellowships. Still, many people choose IM for the sole reason that they want to know that they can become a specialist if they ever want to, even though most don't. If FP had this same option, it would be great for the specialty.

 

[DrTiger]

Yeah, but they aren't cards or pulm, etc.

And I think allowing FP's to sub-specialize in accredited fellowship programs would be a GREAT idea. I think it would lead to a HUGE influx of applicants to the specialty...although only a few people would probably actually pursue fellowships. Still, many people choose IM for the sole reason that they want to know that they can become a specialist if they ever want to, even though most don't. If FP had this same option, it would be great for the specialty.

Ditto...