Neuro-oncology

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ihateschool

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Hi there, I'm currently a resident considering a Neuro Onc fellowship...can anyone give me info on whether this is a field that I can actually make a decent living in? I really love the field, but I have to consider a myriad of issues other than my love, i.e my family and kids. Do I also HAVE to be in a big univ. setting or can i be private practice and survive?

please let me know your thoughts.

Thanks
 
my thought is it would have to be a univeristy situation. really the best answers would come from attendings in the field. I woudl talk to the program directors in the fellowship at your institution or at least an attending who you feel you can be open with. I dont think its going to bolster your income liek some otehr fellowship would and I dont think you can have a private clinic in that setting. obviously anyone in that situation needs a team of doctors (rad onc, surgeons, neuro onc etc) and thats going to be university based.

This is just my somewhat uneducated opinion.
 
actually THE neuro-oncologist in Jackson is private practice, but admits to and works closely with the university. she makes a nice living but is SUPER busy, becuase she gets pts from across the state and she is (I think) the only one. I'm pretty sure that you can do a private practice neuro-onc and do well, but you will have to work closely with some hospital to admit pts, be it a private or university/academic hospital. hope this helps.
 
Neuro-oncology is a burgeoning field which has many, many opportunities available today. You can certainly practice at a tertiary care center, but there is a very ample market, particularly in underserved areas, for private practice neuro-oncologists as well. It isn't my cup of tea, but if you are willing to work hard, you can certainly make a very good living in private practice as a neuro-oncologist.

Are you really a neurology resident who knows this little about the field which you claim to love so much? I would hope you have more mentoring available from your program than you can obtain from a few neurology residents and a bunch of med students on SDN...
 
Thanks for your opinions...typhoonnegator yes i am a neurology resident...

the reason to ask an open ended simple question like this is not to prove my knowledge or lack thereof on the subject, its to get an array of opinions and not to limit the number of responses. Of course i've researched the topic and do have ample help from my faculty on the issue.

Sometimes its best to not "show what you know" on forums, but to be open to new opinions and ideas. I"m not trying to be a superstar just a regular guy who would like others opinions. Some people love using this forum to pad their egos ( not saying you are) but i'm happy with my ego the way it is and i'm confident enough to ask a stupid question. Sorry if it was below your level of knowledge.


"the greatest enemy of knowledge, is the illusion of knowlege" Noam Chomsky

have a great day and thanks for the information
 
The problem with open-ended questions on a forum like this is that without clues as to the original poster's knowledge base, it is hard to know how in-depth to focus the response to best answer the question.

I would say that if you are trying to place limits on your time at work in order to have more "protected time" for family, you will need to think especially carefully about your practice setting. While you may be able to sign a lucrative contract as a junior associate at a smallish practice with a large catchment, you will almost invariably end up working some long hours in your early years to protect the practice's bottom line. Conversely, practices strongly affiliated with a university tend to pay less (often a lot less), but may be able to offer you some additional time-flexibility, research time, etc because the university focus is slightly less entreprenurial. This has implications for your choice of fellowship as well, as there are some fairly ambitious multi-year fellowships for academic types who are more interested in a tenure track, vs. single year fellowships with an eye toward private practice.

I doubt that the money will ultimately be an issue for you, but time balance may.
 
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