no sure if this where i post this but...

[Careersearcher]

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I will be attending st george uni in Caribbean this January, I know i have to realistic about residency so i was leaning toward family medicine( i am interested in it also) but I was also interested in psychiatry, but that seemed very competitive. then i found out that there is family medi/psychiatry residency but the residents are all or most are from american medical schools. so my question should i give up on psychiatry or the combined residency or do you have any advice for me beside good grades and kick-a** test scores before i start ( I really would like to have done the combined residency)?

 

[digitlnoize]

From what I've heard from talking to docs and on SDN, I wouldn't do a combined program unless you had a specific goal in mind. Most people who are dual boarded wind up practicing one or the other...

Currently, FM and Psych are both relatively non-competitive, as long as you're not aiming for Harvard/Hopkins/etc. There are lots of IMG's in many psych programs I've been browsing...just go to the program websites and look at current residents.

All that being said, there is no telling what the future may hold. Healthcare reform is underway, and no one knows what the effects are going to be.

 

[billypilgrim37]

The combined programs are competitive. But doing family medicine (3 years) and then psychiatry (pgy2-4, 3 years) would be just one more year for the same outcome, and probably more coherent training with much broader geographic and institutional options. Plus, after 3 years, you decide you want to just get it over with, nobody is going to make keep going.

 

[sunlioness]

Psychiatry really isn't out of reach for you just by virtue of attending a Caribbean school. Many residents at my program are IMGs, with some being from the Caribbean. Follor your heart and don't sell yourself short.

 

[Manicsleep]

If you want to do family medicine and practice mental health you can do it in other ways besides a dual residency. Most people make a mistake when they chose that path. Unless you want to do teach, do something where both fields will be used regularly or do reasearch you should do one residency with a focus or fellowship that allows you to focus your skills.

Family medicine with a geriatric or substance abuse fellowship will take less time and you will have time to hone your skills in the mental health arena by utilizing your electives.

The same goes for psychiatry. Many psychiatry programs allow for a lot of electives and you can take your electives in areas that well really allow you to develop your skills the way you want them. A fellowship in something like consults, sleep, pain, geriatrics etc can broaden your understanding further.