Peds vs. Psych

[OBfan]

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Have any of you guys, with a plan of doing child psych, ever be torn by having to rule out peds. I'm currently doing a rotation in peds and it has really been a great experience thus far. Although, anytime I play with the thought of doing peds instead of psych I really cant find many reasons why I would rather do peds than Child psych. Can anyone out there give me some pros and cons of both fields.

Hope you are all having a great thanksgiving!!
OBFAN

 

[raspberry swirl]

completely torn. there are other threads on this topic ... search around. (i believe i started on this summer). my personal statement actually talked about how i was torn between the two. i actually didnt decide on psych until after my personal statement was written. (i wrote it in july, decided in august after a child psych elective). you should look into developmental/behavioral peds, which is a subspecialty of peds. in my opinion, there should be a stronger link between child psych and developmental/behavioral ... there are huge gaps in the social system/structure of pediatric mental health .... (which includes both developmental/behavioral and psychiatry...)

 

[OBfan]

completely torn. there are other threads on this topic ... search around. (i believe i started on this summer). my personal statement actually talked about how i was torn between the two. i actually didnt decide on psych until after my personal statement was written. (i wrote it in july, decided in august after a child psych elective). you should look into developmental/behavioral peds, which is a subspecialty of peds. in my opinion, there should be a stronger link between child psych and developmental/behavioral ... there are huge gaps in the social system/structure of pediatric mental health .... (which includes both developmental/behavioral and psychiatry...)

What was it about child psych that sold you?

 

[i61164]

One of the sad things is that the developmental pediatricians get paid substantially less than general pediatricians. In fact, I recently attended a meeting with a panel of pediatricians (ER, cardio, rheum, developmental) and the consensus was that they all make less than general pediatricians despite extra years of training. They said you have to do it for the love. The developmental pediatrician said that the most frustrating thing about her job is that she can't get many of her kids the care they need because:

1. There aren't enough child psychiatrists
2. There aren't enough child psychiatrists that take medicaid

It's a sad state of affairs. I say you should choose to do what you love. Then you will be more inclined to serve the needy because when you love your job you won't worry as much about your paycheck.

 

[blanche]

completely torn. there are other threads on this topic ... search around. (i believe i started on this summer). my personal statement actually talked about how i was torn between the two. i actually didnt decide on psych until after my personal statement was written. (i wrote it in july, decided in august after a child psych elective). you should look into developmental/behavioral peds, which is a subspecialty of peds. in my opinion, there should be a stronger link between child psych and developmental/behavioral ... there are huge gaps in the social system/structure of pediatric mental health .... (which includes both developmental/behavioral and psychiatry...)

was in the same boat, but decided the other way (peds)....hard decision. i've heard of pediatricians going on to train in psych afterwards to eventually do child/adolescent psychiatry. right now, i can still consider all the cool peds subspecialties, and explore a bit more in residency. if i decide along the way i really want to do psych, it's still very possible.

of course, it means 2 extra years training... but i think perhaps in peds more than adults having a more extensive medical background is useful. pediatric psych issues are completely intertwined with normal and abnormal development, which you will become very knowledgable in during a peds residency. in the end, these are two awesome fields and i don't think you can make a wrong decision!!

 

[maranatha]

if i decide along the way i really want to do psych, it's still very possible.

of course, it means 2 extra years training...

How can you do child psych in two years without doing adult psych first or in combination???? I don't see how you could do this in less then 4 years (one year less then the 5 years b/c of your ped's training)...

I've heard of a push to allow pediatricians to "fast track" into child psych without having to do the adult part, but I didn't realize this was possible NOW. Is this what you're talking about?

Thank you.

 

[blanche]

my bad...i mean't two EXTRA years on top of a psych residency plus child/adolescent fellowship, not do it all in two years.

i've heard also of the push to allow pediatricians to fast track the adult stuff, but that's not what i was referring to. does anyone know more about this?

you're correct, it would be four extra years after peds residency (3 yrs). you have to do an entire psych residency combined with a child/adolescent fellowship (4 years, internship is already done) which comes to 7 years total. ok, that sounds miserable now, but keep in mind that ALL peds fellowships are a guaranteed + 3 extra years taking you to PGY-6 (exceptions-child neuro, allergy-immuno, ?) so really, it's not that much more than if you want to subspecialize in anything else peds!🙂

 

[raspberry swirl]

What was it about child psych that sold you?

runny noses, tummy aches, and ear infections are really boring. if i had done peds, i definitely would have subspecialized anyway. for me, academically, psych is more interesting, and the field offers more variety. in peds, you're either a general practitioner (hospitalist or private practice) or you are a subspecialist. there's not a whole lot of inbetween. in psych you can do inpatient, outpatient, consult, child, forensic, sleep blah blah blah. i just think its more interesting and there's more options. plus with psych, you are pretty much gauranteed job security in any part of the country. its a boring practical reason to consider it, but a reason no less.