Pathway into Academic EM

[monkeybutt]

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For those attendings on this site who are in academic institutions: what was your pathway into academics? I ask because I want to do academic EM but am worried about my crushing student debt. Can I afford a fellowship? Can I do private practice first? Thoughts are appreciated.

 

[RxnMan]

For those attendings on this site who are in academic institutions: what was your pathway into academics? I ask because I want to do academic EM but am worried about my crushing student debt. Can I afford a fellowship? Can I do private practice first? Thoughts are appreciated.

I am not an attending by any means, but there are some things you can do to repay loans that don't require military obligations.

- NIH LRP: great for academicians, you get loan repayment for doing the clinical research you were going to do anyways. It is competitive.
- The NIH also offers loan repayment to intramural employees. Unfortunately there's no ED on the campus, so you'd have to have some sort of dual-affiliation.
- Public Service Loan Forgiveness: From the moment you're an intern, if you keep on in certain non-profit institutions for a total of 10 years, you may be eligible for loan forgiveness. The monetary benefit actually increases if you do a fellowship.
- There's a number of state loan repayment programs relating to medically underserved areas. These are usually intended for IM, FP, Peds, but I've heard of EM docs getting $.

 

[WilcoWorld]

From what I've seen doing a few years of private practice after residency will not hinder your entry into academics, and often can help. Just be sure to stay current and connected to the community by doing things like attending meetings.

 

[monkeybutt]

Thanks to those who have responded. Any other attendings want to tell me the path they took to attendingdom?

 

[deleted109597]

For the record, from what I've gotten from the people interviewing for academic positions coming out of my mostly podunk place.
Really all they want is BC. Fellowships make it easier for certain places, but at the same time, might limit you at others (not every place needs 4 ultrasound attendings).
Depending on where you go, academia isn't as bad a hit, as the things you need from IC standpoint the school covers (medmal, insurance, etc).
Student loans are not hard to pay. Of course, my loan payment is only about 1200 a month, right below my mortgage. Thankfully the current administration doesn't let me defer it anymore, so I am in forbearance.