Peds vs. FM

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I'm interested in both fields. But which one is less competitive to get a residency spot in?

 

[DoctorSoccer]

Neither is competitive. Granted, both have programs that are competitive, but both have programs that are not competitive at all. If you cast a wide net, you'll almost definitely get a spot.

That said, they are VERY different fields. I was choosing between the 2 in med school as well. Then I did a Sub-I in family medicine and realized I only really wanted to take care of the kids. To me, the outpatient management of HTN, cholesterol, etc. got very old very quickly. Peds allows you to do outpatient private practice if you want, but there are more paths that you can ultimately take than there are in FM. You can do anything from peds cardiology, to neonatology, to hospitalist pediatrics, to peds emergency, to allergy-immunology, to pediatric critical care and everything in between.

If you know you want to do outpatient medicine, then the question is this: would you rather manage chronic patients who are obese, smokers, alcoholics and have a million medications and health problems, or would you rather take care of babies who spit up and don't poop enough, adolescents, and a million kids with viral URIs and ear infections? I know outpatient medicine is a lot more than that, but if you look at the worst of each, that will help you realize which one you really can't handle forever.

 

[RySerr21]

Neither is competitive. Granted, both have programs that are competitive, but both have programs that are not competitive at all. If you cast a wide net, you'll almost definitely get a spot.

That said, they are VERY different fields. I was choosing between the 2 in med school as well. Then I did a Sub-I in family medicine and realized I only really wanted to take care of the kids. To me, the outpatient management of HTN, cholesterol, etc. got very old very quickly. Peds allows you to do outpatient private practice if you want, but there are more paths that you can ultimately take than there are in FM. You can do anything from peds cardiology, to neonatology, to hospitalist pediatrics, to peds emergency, to allergy-immunology, to pediatric critical care and everything in between.

If you know you want to do outpatient medicine, then the question is this: would you rather manage chronic patients who are obese, smokers, alcoholics and have a million medications and health problems, or would you rather take care of babies who spit up and don't poop enough, adolescents, and a million kids with viral URIs and ear infections? I know outpatient medicine is a lot more than that, but if you look at the worst of each, that will help you realize which one you really can't handle forever.

you can also break it down into even simpler: do you want to see kids or old people? When I was on family, yea I saw some kids for well child checks, and i saw some OB patients, and a younger person here and there....but the overwhelming majority of the patients that I saw were elderly patients (this is becoming an even greater majority as years go by w/ the baby boomers!). Regardless of their problem, I just diddnt really enjoy dealing with the elderly population, so peds was the easy choice!

 

[ashmarj]

Neither is competitive. Granted, both have programs that are competitive, but both have programs that are not competitive at all. If you cast a wide net, you'll almost definitely get a spot.

That said, they are VERY different fields. I was choosing between the 2 in med school as well. Then I did a Sub-I in family medicine and realized I only really wanted to take care of the kids. To me, the outpatient management of HTN, cholesterol, etc. got very old very quickly. Peds allows you to do outpatient private practice if you want, but there are more paths that you can ultimately take than there are in FM. You can do anything from peds cardiology, to neonatology, to hospitalist pediatrics, to peds emergency, to allergy-immunology, to pediatric critical care and everything in between.

If you know you want to do outpatient medicine, then the question is this: would you rather manage chronic patients who are obese, smokers, alcoholics and have a million medications and health problems, or would you rather take care of babies who spit up and don't poop enough, adolescents, and a million kids with viral URIs and ear infections? I know outpatient medicine is a lot more than that, but if you look at the worst of each, that will help you realize which one you really can't handle forever.

If you are really serious about wanting to have a balance of adult and pediatric patients, internal medicine-pediatrics combined residency (and career path) is an excellent option. While it still provides breadth in the sense that you see a broad range of ages, you still get depth because you are cutting out the ob/gyn and surgical components of medicine. Additionally, it also keeps doors opens if you decide that you would like to specialize...just something to think about.

 

[Sweet Tea]

I would second the replies to look at IM-Peds programs. At my medical school, neither FM (though it was getting stronger quickly), IM, or Peds were particularly competitive residency programs. However the IM-Peds residents were consistently some of the brightest residents I knew, and they were pleasant people. IM-Peds is a fantastic field for people who like old people and people who like young people.