M4 Student, questioning if I should have done EM.

[bouldermd]

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[HoosierdaddyO]

If you want to take a year off, not saying you should or shouldn't. But there are many 1 year mba or mph programs in the nation. Cornell mba, GWU mph. It's a feasible option that in no way can hurt you...but get them sloes, if in fact you are thinking of switching!!!!

 

[Makati2008]

Hello EM forums,

So as the title says, I am an M4 student at a US Medical School, and I have been thinking more and more if I should have done EM. I was an EMT for years before coming to medical school, and was always committed to EM for my first few years. Unfortunately, I let a few attendings I knew from my EMTing day, who are burned out, talk me out of the field. I ended up applying to one of the perennial very competitive specialties, and unfortunately it is seeming to be a very competitive year, even for this already competitive specialty. While I still have somewhat of a chance to match, the thought of what I would do if I didn't keeps popping into my head -- and honestly, I don't think I would want to reapply to this specialty. I liked my rotations, but when I was in the ER at night on call during my sub-i's and away rotations, I just couldn't help but take interest in what was going on all over the ER, and I felt like I got along better with the ER residents than the ones I was working with a lot of the time. I felt like it was too late to change paths though, and ended up committing against EM.

What I was hoping to get some advice on is what my options may be. At this point, if I wanted to do EM I would likely have to take a year off. What I want to know is how damaging this would be for me, and what I could do during this year off? I still have elective time during my 4th year, and could theoretically take an EM elective at my home program, and do an away rotation before I graduate, to get SLORs. I am still unsure of what I could or should do during a year off. Research? A prelim year?

To make matters more complicated, I am couples matching this year. If I take a year off, I would then be trying to end up in the same city as my SO next year -- her number one choice for residency is in a mid-west city that also happens to have a perennial "top tier" EM program. Would taking a year off be a big enough of a hit to take a top program out of the running?

Here are some of my stats. In an attempt to protect anonymity, I'm going to leave out my ECs, but just assume that they are quite aligned with EM.

Step 1: 245-250
Step 2CK: 255-260
3rd year clerkships: All honors
Senior AOA

I apologize for the long post, but I felt like the complicated nature of my problem warranted it.

I appreciate any help you all can lend to me!

Sounds like jitters to me. From reading your post you are still committed to your "competitive" speciality and want to use EM as a fallback only if you don't match?

 

[The White Coat Investor]

# 1 Figure out what you want to do for the rest of your life.

# 2 Do it. No matter what happens in the match this year. You might "lose a year" but that's far less than losing the rest of your career.

 

[gro2001]

FO·MO
/ˈfōmō/
noun
informal

1. anxiety that an exciting or interesting event may currently be happening elsewhere, often aroused by posts seen on a social media website.

There is always going to be specialty FOMO. Many people suffer from it, and I don't think it ever quite goes away. I love EM, but sometimes I see/hear one of my colleagues do something amazing in the OR, ICU or endo suite, or pull some amazing subspecialty piece of knowledge out and I think "Wouldn't it be awesome to be an anesthesiologist/surgical sub specialist/interventional cardiologist!" It's not often talked about, but you can see evidence of it in other specialties as well. I think that's where a lot of specialty bashing comes from. The people bashing other specialties are really trying to justify their specialty selection to themselves by trying to show how other specialties are less smart or less skilled or over appreciated.

Despite popular medical student belief, I think for most people, there is more than one specialty they could end up being happy in. This is not the 'Epic Decision that will define your life happiness' it is made out to be in med school. So step 1 for you would be trying to figure out if you really think EM is a better option for you or if it's just the FOMO talking.