midlife crisis at 32

[catwoman]

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Ok, so I know that somewhere on this site there is an answer to this question (in some permutation), but I thought I'd float the question by you all to get some fresh answers. (appreciate the help in advance) I'm 32, have a wonderful 2 year old at home, in my final year of med school and am having a bit of a midlife/career crisis. I am honestly interested in both neuro and psych, and am having a hard time finding out how intense neuro residency (especially with that one year of medicine thing) is versus psych residency. I really am a hard worker, but everytime I have to call my daughter on the phone to find out how she is cause I haven't seen her in 30 hours and hear her ask me "mommy, when can I see you?", it breaks my heart. Residency is not the rest of my life, granted, but my daughter will only be this small for a little while. Related to the residency life question, how would you all (as psych people) compare it as a career versus neuro? I've visited the neuro forum as well, but it just doesn't seem to me that people are being truly honest with hours spent away from home, etc. (like I had one guy say to me-- 'neuro's not bad- just get through the medicine part, which is only, at worst q4 coverage + 6am start time every day, 6 days a week, for a year".) EEK.
Thanks for your input...

 

[Faebinder]

Are you expecting the Psychiatry forum to say go to Neurology?

You are looking for a sign and the truth is.. there is no sign.


Pepsi or Coke.

Psychiatry trumps neurology with lifestyle and neurology trumps psychiatry by carrying less stigma from the average joe.

Psychiatry is in higher demand than neurology but neurology is more broad.


Personally, I like the idea of "Work smarter not harder". When I am as old as OldPsychDoc, I will look back and thank God I did not pick a specialty that wanted me to be available at 3 am to still maintain a practice.

 

[michaelrack]

One advantage of doing neurology is that you can switch to psychiatry after internship without losing any time. The reverse isn't true.

 

[billypilgrim37]

Pepsi or Coke.

That, my friend, is an empirical question that produces different answers depending on how you frame it. Humor me the extended metaphor, which I believe is well covered in Freakonomics. Pepsi won the taste-test challenge in the 80s over and over again because, in one sip, people tend to prefer a sweeter soda, and Pepsi is sweeter. If studies are extended to entire cans, Coke tends to be preferred, because the relatively less sweet flavor is better tolerated over time. People still take swigs of Coke, and people still buy cases of Pepsi. So it goes.

Now, OP, if you can figure out which is your Coke, and which is your Pepsi, then you will have your answer. I know, that was really helpful, wasn't it?

Psychiatry training varies substantially, but there are programs that certainly require a lot less work than the average neurology program. Remember that your child will be much happier with Mommy the Happy Neurologist or Mommy the Happy Psychiatrist, depending on which one will make YOU happier. If you were deciding between psychiatry and general surgery, this would be a different conversation, but you're deciding between two of the more benign specialties in existence. While neuro is surely more time-intensive than psychiatry, it's still probably in the lowest quartile of rigor.

 

[ronin12]

First 2 years of Residency psychiatry or neurology will be busy.from 3rd year things start to cool down in psychiatry , not sure about neurology.
After residency you might have more career chocies in psychiatry than neurology. You can pretty much pick what you want to do 8 to 5 , no calls,oupt, C & L, forensics, substance abuse etc. financially both are alomst at par with each other.
My guess is you will be less miserable with psychiatry than neurology regarding life style.🙂

 

[Chimed]

In general, you are more likely to find a psychiatry residency that requires less hours then neurology. I've only seen two neurology programs, the one at my medical school and the program at my current psychiatry place of training. Based on that limited experience, I can tell you that the neurologist work much harder.

IMHO, it is very wise that you are taking serious how residency can impact your daughter. Residency can be hard and the hours can be long. I've seen many parents in other programs during internship really struggle with having the responsibilities of internship competing with their children. The first year or two can be very challenging in psychiatry, but there is no doubt that overall psychiatry has a much better lifestyle then neurology. Also, if you are really that concerned about work hours and are willing to move, you can find psychiatry programs that are very laid back. Keep in mind that you can also find programs that will work you like a dog.

In the end you really have to do what you like the most. If you would not be happy in psychiatry, is it really worth it? Also, I'm sure you can find a neurology program that has reasonable hours.

Good luck!

PS. Being older then you just makes me LOL about a midlife crisis at 32!

 

[Doc Samson]

When I am as old as OldPsychDoc, I will look back and thank God I did not pick a specialty that wanted me to be available at 3 am to still maintain a practice.

Nah... by the time you're that old they'll have invented computer generated holograms to do the work for us.

 

[Faebinder]

Nah... by the time you're that old they'll have invented computer generated holograms to do the work for us.

So the word on SDN is true! 😱 OldPsychDoc is so old he sat behind Jesus in med school.

 

[billypilgrim37]

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[Therapist4Chnge]

So the word on SDN is true! 😱 OldPsychDoc is so old he sat behind Jesus in med school.

Sat behind him....he was Jesus' tutor!!

Talk about parental expectations!

 

[OldPsychDoc]

...Personally, I like the idea of "Work smarter not harder". When I am as old as OldPsychDoc, I will look back and thank God I did not pick a specialty that wanted me to be available at 3 am to still maintain a practice.

Since it is becoming an issue, OldPsychDoc is willing to divulge that he is a semi-vigorous 46 Earth-years in age*, and is VERY glad that his specialty does not wish him to be available at 3 AM any longer.

(And Jesus was so good that he skipped med school, only showing up to take the tests...)

*((Don't know how long that gives Doc Samson to invent that computer-generated hologram to do his work for him.))

 

[BabyPsychDoc]

(And Jesus was so good that he skipped med school, only showing up to take the tests...)

That is not true... The voices told me he went right for the Boards....

 

[whopper]

Catwoman,

Psyche or Neurology, you have to decide. Most I can tell you that differs the fields is already probably obvious to you, but here's what I can offer.

Psyche residencies in general are much easier than most other residencies. This of course varies per the program. I have seen programs that work residents the full 80 hour max with difficult call schedules, though they are rare.

Neurology--any IM program will work you hard. How will be it once you get out of IM to Neurology? I'm not sure.

I can relate to your midlife crisis thing. By the time we finish our education, we're probably out of our 20s & didn't have much to talk about other than the extremely hard work we put in to our professions.

 

[Anasazi23]

I think that neurology is probaby a tougher gig. It was during all my neuro electives in medical school, and I have a few close friends who recently finished neuro residency.

The calls are more intense and frequent, the patients can be much more medically sick, and carrying the stroke beeper sounded like a nightmare. Of course, these grads were from NYC programs. It might be different in "calmer" areas of the country.

 

[TheWowEffect]

I think that neurology is probaby a tougher gig. It was during all my neuro electives in medical school, and I have a few close friends who recently finished neuro residency.

The calls are more intense and frequent, the patients can be much more medically sick, and carrying the stroke beeper sounded like a nightmare. Of course, these grads were from NYC programs. It might be different in "calmer" areas of the country.

I am not sure if there are any "calmer" areas as far as stroke is concerned.

 

[Anasazi23]

I am not sure if there are any "calmer" areas as far as stroke is concerned.

The difference being volume. One stroke every other day is "calmer" in this sense than 10 a night.