medical fields

[dochopefull]

I was wondering if someone could list the most competitive medical fields to get a residency match in....

(I am interested in family practice which I know has a relatively easy residency match, pediatrics, and ophthalmology)

Thanks

D

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[Shredder]

derm is number 1. i think opthalmology is up there. radiology is competitive. family, peds, and internal medicine are at or near the bottom.

 

[Code Brown]

Try this:

http://residency.wustl.edu/medadmin...62353a93c5c35cb186256f850071bd86?OpenDocument

 

[Shredder]

this ones ok but ive seen sites that are more specific about competitiveness. for this one most of them just say high. also average work week seems to be just over 40 hours for most...?

 

[DrBowtie]

Just check out the stats from NRMP.
Plastics, Derm, RadOnc, Rads, ENT, Ortho are generally the toughest I might have missed one.

FP, IM, Peds are near the bottom as Shredder said.

 

[anystream]

Just check out the stats from NRMP.
Plastics, Derm, RadOnc, Rads, ENT, Ortho are generally the toughest I might have missed one.

FP, IM, Peds are near the bottom as Shredder said.

Why is this the case? Why are they generally less popular?

 

[MD-iwish]

Why is this the case? Why are they generally less popular?

I dont think FP, IM, Peds are less popular, it's just that you probably need say 50 FPs to 1 Derm (just making those numbers up, but you get the point). So that would make Derm more competitive, because there are fewer spots, but by no means is FP not a desirable field.

 

[DrBowtie]

Mostly, Derm and Radonc have 1-2 residents x (smaller number of programs) vs. 20 IM residents x (large number of programs since pretty much all hospitals have IM programs)

 

[Shredder]

I dont think FP, IM, Peds are less popular, it's just that you probably need say 50 FPs to 1 Derm (just making those numbers up, but you get the point). So that would make Derm more competitive, because there are fewer spots, but by no means is FP not a desirable field.

i would say they are less popular. its no coincidence that the number of premeds preaching about their love for peds and FP drops dramatically come match time. since there is much more supply in fp, peds, and IM, those docs dont have the same prestige or power that the specialists have. also, the key thing is that they dont make as much money. and yes that does matter once med school admissions are done with. i dont believe fp peds and IM are terribly interesting either, most of the fascinating things you end up referring it to specialists. the rest is mundane: run of the mill rashes, flus, tummy aches, general whining, etc.

maybe im being glib...its just that it gets to me how so many applicants that im competing against make such high and mighty claims about dreaming of fp and peds in rural and underserved areas...hopefully adcoms see right through it.

 

[Will Hunting]

i would say they are less popular. its no coincidence that the number of premeds preaching about their love for peds and FP drops dramatically come match time. since there is much more supply in fp, peds, and IM, those docs dont have the same prestige or power that the specialists have. also, the key thing is that they dont make as much money. and yes that does matter once med school admissions are done with. i dont believe fp peds and IM are terribly interesting either, most of the fascinating things you end up referring it to specialists. the rest is mundane: run of the mill rashes, flus, tummy aches, general whining, etc.

maybe im being glib...its just that it gets to me how so many applicants that im competing against make such high and mighty claims about dreaming of fp and peds in rural and underserved areas...hopefully adcoms see right through it.

Haha yea. It's interesting if you look at what have been the most competetitive fields over the last 20 years. There is one common denominator, salary/life style. As others have said Derm limits the number of residents that they take in. HOwever, the lifestyle is what draws in so many people. Doctors are just as motivated by greed as business people and those who believe otherwise make me laugh. One would think that neurosurgery would be more competitive than rads or derm, but this isn't the case. I myself plan on going into one of the aforementioned specialites because of compensation/life style. Just my 2 cents.

 

[Shredder]

Doctors are just as motivated by greed as business people and those who believe otherwise make me laugh.

yes, but with that kind of mentality you will get blasted around here, its a bummer. sometimes ppl who are really outspoken about it get banned haha, watch it. and even if youre laughing now you will be crying when it comes time to apply, because you wont be allowed to even hint at any of that and youll have to come up with all sorts of tricks and tactics to show how selfless you are.

 

[GiantGiantsFan]

Haha yea. It's interesting if you look at what have been the most competetitive fields over the last 20 years. There is one common denominator, salary/life style. As others have said Derm limits the number of residents that they take in. HOwever, the lifestyle is what draws in so many people. Doctors are just as motivated by greed as business people and those who believe otherwise make me laugh. One would think that neurosurgery would be more competitive than rads or derm, but this isn't the case. I myself plan on going into one of the aforementioned specialites because of compensation/life style. Just my 2 cents.

but what is greed really? many people are money-minded for their family's sake, and many for their own ego's sake. i would be willing to bet that there are more of the latter type in business than in medicine. if you choose dermatology so that you can provide your family nice things, out of love, then is it still greed?

 

[Shredder]

but what is greed really? many people are money-minded for their family's sake, and many for their own ego's sake. i would be willing to bet that there are more of the latter type in business than in medicine. if you choose dermatology so that you can provide your family nice things, out of love, then is it still greed?

hmm, profound. what is the distinction between greed and self interest? whether its for oneself or ones family, its still not selfless as med schools would want to portray it. i think plenty of businessmen provide for their families, provided they are on good terms with each other. i think it has to do more with the relationship with the family than the profession.

 

[Will Hunting]

but what is greed really? many people are money-minded for their family's sake, and many for their own ego's sake. i would be willing to bet that there are more of the latter type in business than in medicine. if you choose dermatology so that you can provide your family nice things, out of love, then is it still greed?

I don't mean it as a bad thing. I mean greed as in they want as much as they can for themselves. Wanting to make 300 -500K a year is considered greed by most people. However, is it? Yes, according to economics it is. A person goes into Dermatology because it will provide him/her with financial security. Regardless of the fact that you want to provide for your family out of love. You would not choose to become a Dermatologist if you didn't feel that it benifited you enough. We are all motivated by greed in the economics sense. We make decisions based on their benefits to ourselves first. I love this quote by Adam Smith, "It is not from the benevolence of the butcher, the brewer, or the baker that we expect our dinner, but from their regard to their own interest." According to this, a doctor offers a service for a price, the result is helping patients. People can and do benefit from greed. It's a shame that Greed has been given such a negative connotation. HOw many of us would still like to be Doctor's if we could only 50,000? Few if any, because it wouldn't be beneficial to ourselves financially. Sorry, for such a long post. Just my 2 cents.

 

[Will Hunting]

Shredder, it appears we think along the same lines. I see you're applying MD/MBA. Once you get in, you'll have to tell me how it is because I too am interested in this. I love the competitive and challenge of business and combining it with Medicine would allow me to have the best of both worlds.

 

[DrBowtie]

Us folk need a password protected forum free from the idealized pre-med population to talk med-biz.

 

[Will Hunting]

Us folk need a password protected forum free from the idealized pre-med population to talk med-biz.

Haha yea, Brett. Are we still on for poker?

 

[DrBowtie]

yeah...We'll figure it out on Sun. I spent 100$ on 2 day trip to cedar point so we will see how much I can deposit.
Will...come down to the MD/MBA forum where we can talk more freely about said business aspects without fear.

 

[Shredder]

I love this quote by Adam Smith, "It is not from the benevolence of the butcher, the brewer, or the baker that we expect our dinner, but from their regard to their own interest."

haha youve gotta be kidding me, that exact line used to be part of my signature on here and its on my facebook. i guess we do think along the same lines, first it was just me, then i had brett, now will, good stuff.

 

[DrBowtie]

1 becomes 2, 2 becomes 3...slowly taking over SDN.

 

[Shredder]

1 becomes 2, 2 becomes 3...slowly taking over SDN.

yes...but since were executives it only takes a few of us to take things over, from the top down!

 

[Will Hunting]

yes...but since were executives it only takes a few of us to take things over, from the top down!

haha, so true.

 

[SleepPsych72]

I asked my medical director which residencies were the most competitive. He is a ENT and plastic surgeon. He said he though that Derm was most, urology next, orthopedic next and then ER, IM, FM. He said ENT was pretty tough also. He also told me that after your second year you might as well not have a name everything is based on your class ranking.
Hope that helps.

 

[Law2Doc]

I asked my medical director which residencies were the most competitive. He is a ENT and plastic surgeon. He said he though that Derm was most, urology next, orthopedic next and then ER, IM, FM. He said ENT was pretty tough also.

His ranking appears a bit suspect after derm. Things may have changed since this person checked out specialties.

 

[SleepPsych72]

Its quite possible but everything is different here in Louisiana. Tulane lets us in special if we agree to do primary care and work in a rural area. Even with crummy numbers. Opthamology is damn hard to get in also.

 

[bwells46]

1 becomes 2, 2 becomes 3...slowly taking over SDN.

I already have a master's in business so I guess I'm there

 

[GiantGiantsFan]

yes...but since were executives it only takes a few of us to take things over, from the top down!

Thats fine, as long as you promise your haircut wont be as ****ty as the one in your avatar

 

[DrHopeless]

dochopefull, your sn is the exact opposite of mine

 

[gujuDoc]

Ok, so I'm going to preface this by saying, that I am just giving my opinion and two cents. I am in no way an expert on anything regarding why different specialties are harder or easier to get into. Perhaps, we can call out Wahoos to answer this one.

However, this is what I think:

I think that fields like Derm and Radiology are competitive because soooo many people want to go into those spots due to their 9-5 nature for good compensation.

On top of that, those two particular fields have less available spots for residency, making it it competitive.

Finally, in the case of those two fields, there are not as many of them as there are of family physicians so that might have something to do with it.

Last but not least, they are procedure based on many occassions allowing for better compensation, and hence making it more popular then IM or family med.

IM is competitive once you get out of residency and are looking for subspecialty fellowships.

This is my thinking, but I admit ahead of time that I am no informed expert.

Wahoos and Harvarti,

If you see this post, please come out and give your two cents.

 

[Will Hunting]

Ok, so I'm going to preface this by saying, that I am just giving my opinion and two cents. I am in no way an expert on anything regarding why different specialties are harder or easier to get into. Perhaps, we can call out Wahoos to answer this one.

However, this is what I think:

I think that fields like Derm and Radiology are competitive because soooo many people want to go into those spots due to their 9-5 nature for good compensation.

On top of that, those two particular fields have less available spots for residency, making it it competitive.

Finally, in the case of those two fields, there are not as many of them as there are of family physicians so that might have something to do with it.

Last but not least, they are procedure based on many occassions allowing for better compensation, and hence making it more popular then IM or family med.

IM is competitive once you get out of residency and are looking for subspecialty fellowships.

This is my thinking, but I admit ahead of time that I am no informed expert.

Wahoos and Harvarti,

If you see this post, please come out and give your two cents.

Yep you're right guju. IM isn't as competetitive as the others. HOwever, getting fellowships like cards etc is extremely difficult. Great post.