I've seen a couple mentions here of PM&R people working in the OR or doing surgeries...tell me more?

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Thumpar

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Physiatry looks interesting to me, but I also am very interested in surgery. I saw in another thread someone saying they still spend time in the OR as a physiatrist... are they doing surgery? What surgery-like procedures are done in PM&R?

If anyone can tell me about the overlap of surgery and PM&R I would appreciate it!

Thanks.

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Kypho/vertebroplasty, spinal cord stimulator trials and implants, DRG stimulator trials and implants, superion interspinous spacer, and Tenex (ultrasound guided tendon surgery). Some pain trained pm&r docs do endoscopic discectomy. There's a ton of nerve blocks and neuroaxial injections under fluoroscopy/ultrasound as well.

I'm not sure this would be enough 'surgery' and procedures for a truly surgery-inclined person. For example, a spinal cord stimulator implant is fairly superficial and minor type of 'surgery'.
 
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fellowship in intervention pain management
Kypho/vertebroplasty, spinal cord stimulator trials and implants, DRG stimulator trials and implants, superion interspinous spacer, and Tenex (ultrasound guided tendon surgery). Some pain trained pm&r docs do endoscopic discectomy. There's a ton of nerve blocks and neuroaxial injections under fluoroscopy/ultrasound as well.

I'm not sure this would be enough 'surgery' and procedures for a truly surgery-inclined person. For example, a spinal cord stimulator implant is fairly superficial and minor type of 'surgery'.

I did not see that many interventional fellowships in the sticky but the post is outdated.. How competitive are these fellowships? I watched videos of these procedures and they seem very interesting. Would it be ill-advised to go into PM&R with the plan of doing interventional pain after residency? is it a 2 year fellowship? What is the job market like
 
I did not see that many interventional fellowships in the sticky but the post is outdated.. How competitive are these fellowships? I watched videos of these procedures and they seem very interesting. Would it be ill-advised to go into PM&R with the plan of doing interventional pain after residency? is it a 2 year fellowship? What is the job market like

Typically a 1 year fellowship. Some PM&R residency programs will give you more exposure during your actual residency training than others. Regardless, it is usually a fellowship through the department of anesthesia, although there are a handful of programs within PM&R departments. You will be eligible for either having completed a PM&R residency. There are 2 and even 3 year tracks for these fellowships as well for folks interested in academics and research careers. The fellowships are considered competitive. A lot of fellowships have gone the way of being "multidisciplinary"... some anesthesia pain programs even reserve some spots for PM&R folks. Although the consensus is, on SDN at least, that being anesthesia makes getting a fellowship easier. I can't comment on the job market, but like most specialties I'd wager it is dependent on many many factors. Location, practice type, referral base, competition etc etc.
 
fellowships to an accredited program are very competitive. Overall, anesthesia has the upper hand > PM&R.
 
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