Peds heme/onc vs. Adult heme/onc?

[med5ladki]

I am currently a medical student and am torn about whether I want to become an adult heme/oncologist or peds heme/oncologist. I worked with an adult heme/onc doctor for about a month and really enjoyed it but have not had much experience about what a peds oncology career entails. Since I am on rotations I do not have much time to go and shadow a peds oncologist so I was wondering if anybody could give me advice on how I could best look into this field to help me make my decision. Or if anybody can help me by comparing these two fields with experience they have had?

I am also trying to set up 4th year rotations and so I need to decide whether to do most of my rotations in internal medicine or pediatrics so that I can maximize my chances of getting a residency at specific sites.

Please help me with any advice!! Thank you so much.

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[gutonc]

I am currently a medical student and am torn about whether I want to become an adult heme/oncologist or peds heme/oncologist. I worked with an adult heme/onc doctor for about a month and really enjoyed it but have not had much experience about what a peds oncology career entails. Since I am on rotations I do not have much time to go and shadow a peds oncologist so I was wondering if anybody could give me advice on how I could best look into this field to help me make my decision. Or if anybody can help me by comparing these two fields with experience they have had?

I am also trying to set up 4th year rotations and so I need to decide whether to do most of my rotations in internal medicine or pediatrics so that I can maximize my chances of getting a residency at specific sites.

Please help me with any advice!! Thank you so much.

Start with whether you like peds or IM first, after that, it should fall into place. You can also think about whether solid tumors or malignant heme are more interesting to you. While there are some pediatric solid tumors, leukemias and benign heme issues far outnumber the solid tumors. I briefly considered Peds H/O but once I realized I despised benign heme and intensely disliked leukemia (not to mention the fact that I really didn't care for Peds), the answer was easy.

As to your last paragraph, assuming you're not an IMG or a DO from a school that's been in existence for <5 years, rotating at a specific place will have minimal impact on your rank list and your matching. The most you can hope to do will be 2-3 away rotations as a 4th year, but you will likely interview at 5-10x that number of places.

And you'll have no idea as a 3rd year where you want to be for your residency. I've mentioned before that my pre-interview #1 and #2 programs ended up #4 and #8 on my ROL and a program I interviewed at essentially on a lark ended up my #1 (and is where I, very happily, matched). The program where I did an away rotation??? #11 of 11 on my ROL (it was better than scrambling).

 

[Reddpoint]

I am currently a medical student and am torn about whether I want to become an adult heme/oncologist or peds heme/oncologist. I worked with an adult heme/onc doctor for about a month and really enjoyed it but have not had much experience about what a peds oncology career entails. Since I am on rotations I do not have much time to go and shadow a peds oncologist so I was wondering if anybody could give me advice on how I could best look into this field to help me make my decision. Or if anybody can help me by comparing these two fields with experience they have had?

I am also trying to set up 4th year rotations and so I need to decide whether to do most of my rotations in internal medicine or pediatrics so that I can maximize my chances of getting a residency at specific sites.

Please help me with any advice!! Thank you so much.

Didnt you already post this exact same thing?

 

[goosedander]

Start with whether you like peds or IM first, after that, it should fall into place. You can also think about whether solid tumors or malignant heme are more interesting to you. While there are some pediatric solid tumors, leukemias and benign heme issues far outnumber the solid tumors. I briefly considered Peds H/O but once I realized I despised benign heme and intensely disliked leukemia (not to mention the fact that I really didn't care for Peds), the answer was easy.

As to your last paragraph, assuming you're not an IMG or a DO from a school that's been in existence for <5 years, rotating at a specific place will have minimal impact on your rank list and your matching. The most you can hope to do will be 2-3 away rotations as a 4th year, but you will likely interview at 5-10x that number of places.

And you'll have no idea as a 3rd year where you want to be for your residency. I've mentioned before that my pre-interview #1 and #2 programs ended up #4 and #8 on my ROL and a program I interviewed at essentially on a lark ended up my #1 (and is where I, very happily, matched). The program where I did an away rotation??? #11 of 11 on my ROL (it was better than scrambling).

So it's different for an established DO school?

 

[gutonc]

So it's different for an established DO school?

If your school (DO or MD) has been in existence for a reasonable amount of time, it will at the very least have a regional reputation for the kind of physicians it produces. At that level, away rotations can both help and harm you, depending on how you do. If you're the first ever graduate from your school, you have nothing to lose by doing an away.

 

[23 from me]

I am currently a medical student and am torn about whether I want to become an adult heme/oncologist or peds heme/oncologist. I worked with an adult heme/onc doctor for about a month and really enjoyed it but have not had much experience about what a peds oncology career entails. Since I am on rotations I do not have much time to go and shadow a peds oncologist so I was wondering if anybody could give me advice on how I could best look into this field to help me make my decision. Or if anybody can help me by comparing these two fields with experience they have had?

I am also trying to set up 4th year rotations and so I need to decide whether to do most of my rotations in internal medicine or pediatrics so that I can maximize my chances of getting a residency at specific sites.

Please help me with any advice!! Thank you so much.

Other considerations to evaluate PHO vs. Medical Oncology:

1. PHO is an academic specialty in the USA, and private practice is unusual. Faculty physicians are expected to develop a research focus AND fund a portion of their salary through some type of grant (PI or site investigator).

2. At smaller institutions, you may be treat benign haematology, oncology, and transplant patients as a PHO. And the board exam covers all of these areas.


3. Re-imbursement is low for paediatrics in general, and this is true for PHO. Clinical revenues will not cover your salary outside of maybe transplant (reason for grants).

4. While leukaemia is the most common, there are a handful of fascinating solid tumors in paediatrics.

5. Adult Haematology and Medical Oncology allow focused specialization with the option of pursuing training in one or both areas.

6. Adult cancers are common, and re-imbursement is good (less reliance on grants to fund salary in academics).

7. Private practice and academic practice are career options.

8. Adults and children are not as different as most internists and paediatricians lead you to believe. Some have been known to train with one of these age groups only to end up treating the other (most common for transplant and haematology). Med-Paeds training is another consideration, although I would only want to do one fellowship.

More information on PHO can be found at http://www.aspho.org/files/public/PHO_Brochure_PDF.pdf

Good luck!