Looking for advice to switch from Anesthesiology to Psychiatry

[wg123_]

---

Members don't see this ad.

Hi everyone,

I'm currently a PGY-1 resident at a strong anesthesiology program. I went into this specialty mainly because I was pressured by my family to pursue something "more prestigious" than psychiatry. And I find myself absolutely miserable. My true passion is in psychiatry, it is what excites me, and I am sad that I am not pursuing it.

I have come to decision to switch specialties but I don't know how to go about it. The prospect of not having a job next year is absolutely terrifying to me.

I am reaching out to ask for advice from anyone that has made a switch from a different specialty to psychiatry. How did you do it? What was your journey like? Are you happy with the choice you made?

 

[sloh]

What don’t you like about anesthesia?

 

[FlowRate]

Are you a PGY-1 or a CA-1?

Either way, if you're at a big institution, the easiest thing would be connecting with the psychiatry PD and seeing if they will have an open spot or be able to create a spot. (Ideally with support from your PD) We had someone transfer from anesthesia into my residency class and, IIRC, an extra spot was made for that person. (Not all programs limit spots to the number of medicare funded spots.)

 

[finalpsychyear]

Intern year blows. At least get through CA-1. Sibling had a few peeps who wanted to swing to psych early on but they plowed through and are uber grateful. I even spoke to one of them and says his schedule/lifestyle now as an attending is amazing and residency is more like army basic training in comparison. Some doing locums are making 3-4x what you will start in as an employed psych if that matters.

 

[Merovinge]

I like the pharmacology behind Gas, but can absolutely understand it not being the most rewarding specialty. If it's really not for you and you had an idea it was a mistake all along, then just reach out to the psych PD at your hospital about meeting in person to discuss if there is anything they can do to help you out. Obviously do a great job with the work you are currently doing. It's absolutely feasible to transfer into psych if you are a competitive applicant, we are very used to people realizing this was the right path for them and get folks from surgery on a regular basis.

 

[ObsequiousAplomb]

Are you sure you don't want to be an anesthesiologist who runs a ketamine clinic or does stellate ganglion / other interventions like that? An anesthesiologist who has passion for psychiatry and who wants to read / study / pursue additional training would be excellent for those roles.

 

[Candidate2017]

Think of the worst surgeon you've worked with: narcissistic, histrionic, borderline, emotionally stunted, entitled, whiny, demanding, demeaning, expects you to serve their whims, devalues your specialty but at the same time blames gas for anything that goes wrong, often vaguely or overtly physically threatening.

Now imagine he is 10 times worse, smokes a lot of weed, may have 50 less IQ points, wants you to raid the Pyxis to give him the "good stuff", while his wife and mother are constantly messaging you to"fix" him. And imagine the OR staff is slow, incompetent but likes to question your work, and generally gets in the way. Welcome to psychiatry.

Grass is always greener. Power through your intern year and everything will work out.

 

[comp1]

I mean I think psych is pretty much better than anything else, so I'd also think the grass was greener if I was in another specialty...but I could also see how an unconscious patient might be nice. It just seems like much how the medical team is the actual patient in consult psychiatry, in anesthesiology's case, the surgeon is the patient.

 

[brosa]

I think no one is giving you more detailed advice because many think it is a bad idea. I certainly do. You can make much more money and have more PTO in anesthesia than psych. Anesthesia seems one of the best fields in medicine, no idea why you would change it.

 

[Celexa]

I don't think it's a bad idea. I have met several people who made the switch and they all were happy they did. It is a little early in intern year though, and it's true that only a minority of those who contemplate changing specialties during the first few months of intern year actually do so. OP, your best bet is to do as well as possible right now as an intern, maybe try and pick up a neurology elective, and then if you still feel this way in a few months seek out pgy2 positions by reaching out directly to the psych PD at your and other programs.

Psych off service requirements are four months of general medicine (can be IM, family, peds, or emergency) and two months of neuro. If you can come out of intern year with most of that locked down already, then you would be in a strong position to be picked up by a program as a pgy2 and still finish in four years total, at the mild cost of some psych elective time.

I would reach out either to the psychiatry PD at your home instition, or, if the department has specific faculty who advise residency applicants (that's what I do), it would also be appropriate to reach out to them. Just do it AFTER Wednesday bc we are all pretty tied up with last minute ERAS questions and writing letters of rec right now.

 

[MiddleRoad]

A few programs take PGY-2 transfers every year. I agree with the advice about talking to the Psych PD at your institution. Ask them if they know what programs might be accepting PGY-2 transfers (if they don't have any 2025 PGY-2 openings in their program).