PM&R Questions

[jessjlstar]

Hey all!

Currently, I am an Exercise Science major, as I would like to go into occupational therapy. Occupational therapy is an appealing profession (in my opinion) because of the diversity in the settings that one can work in and the patients that one can treat. Often times, an occupational therapists' day will never be the same! Furthermore, occupational therapy combines the physical therapy and psychological aspects into one profession--two things I absolutely love! And, most importantly, it will give me time to spend with my (future) family. All these aspects are appealing to me.

However, I thought I should branch out and get information before I set it all in stone. At the hospital that I will be volunteering at next semester, the Director of Inpatient Rehab is a PM&R physician. Of course, I did not know what that was, and paid little attention to it. Coincidentally, a few days later, my advisor brought to my attention that if I was willing to pursue medicine, I should definitely look into PM&R. I searched it immediately after leaving the office, and... I LOVE IT. It appears as if it combines everything I love into one profession. However, I have a few questions that I figured you guys could answer:

1) Was going through medical school as hard as everyone makes it seem? By that, I mean do you have literally NO free time? That's one reason I switched from pre-med; I am not sure about the vigorous course load and time commitment of medical school.
2) Is PM&R a specialty that is difficult to find jobs for?
3) Do PM&R use techniques that physical/occupational therapists would use? This is a MAJOR one for me; I want to enjoy my work, obviously.
4) Can DO's easily achieve a residency in PM&R? I will apply to both MD and DO schools if I choose this route, but I prefer the DO route over the MD.
5) Do you have time for you family/spouse? I grew up very close to my family, so I want to be just as close to my own. I want to make sure that 60-70+ hours a week are not the norm, as it is with other specialties.

Thanks guys!

---

Members don't see this ad.

 

[SSdoc33]

Hey all!

Currently, I am an Exercise Science major, as I would like to go into occupational therapy. Occupational therapy is an appealing profession (in my opinion) because of the diversity in the settings that one can work in and the patients that one can treat. Often times, an occupational therapists' day will never be the same! Furthermore, occupational therapy combines the physical therapy and psychological aspects into one profession--two things I absolutely love! And, most importantly, it will give me time to spend with my (future) family. All these aspects are appealing to me.

However, I thought I should branch out and get information before I set it all in stone. At the hospital that I will be volunteering at next semester, the Director of Inpatient Rehab is a PM&R physician. Of course, I did not know what that was, and paid little attention to it. Coincidentally, a few days later, my advisor brought to my attention that if I was willing to pursue medicine, I should definitely look into PM&R. I searched it immediately after leaving the office, and... I LOVE IT. It appears as if it combines everything I love into one profession. However, I have a few questions that I figured you guys could answer:

1) Was going through medical school as hard as everyone makes it seem? By that, I mean do you have literally NO free time? That's one reason I switched from pre-med; I am not sure about the vigorous course load and time commitment of medical school.
2) Is PM&R a specialty that is difficult to find jobs for?
3) Do PM&R use techniques that physical/occupational therapists would use? This is a MAJOR one for me; I want to enjoy my work, obviously.
4) Can DO's easily achieve a residency in PM&R? I will apply to both MD and DO schools if I choose this route, but I prefer the DO route over the MD.
5) Do you have time for you family/spouse? I grew up very close to my family, so I want to be just as close to my own. I want to make sure that 60-70+ hours a week are not the norm, as it is with other specialties.

Thanks guys!

it boils down to this:

do you want to DO the therapy or do you want to ORDER the therapy. PMR docs direct a team and essentially get patients where they need to be. the therapists are the ones working with the patients 1-on-1 to get the to improve their function. as a PMR doc, i know what PT and OT does, and order specific therapies, but i rarely, if ever, actually DO the therapy.

med school, etc, isnt necessarily "hard", so much as it is "long. from your spot right now (junior or senior in college), plan on 10 years until you are a practicing physiatrist. that can be a tough pill to swallow

 

[Tromner]

Agreed. For your prospective, you should decide between medical school and not medical school (instead of PM&R vs PT/OT). As the last poster said, med school is long. It's not "literally" no free time, but it is easier to swallow if you go into it thinking it will be really hard and demanding of all your time. If you hated pre-med courses enough to switch, you might hate med school just as much.

Set up some shadowing time with a physiatrist. It's often more thinking than doing, more diagnosis than treating.

And go to a DO school if you want.

PS. I knew 1 or 2 athletic trainers in med school that went into other fields even though everyone assumed they'd do PMR. Picking a specialty is like how you change your undergrad major once or twice before deciding.

 

[jessjlstar]

it boils down to this:

do you want to DO the therapy or do you want to ORDER the therapy. PMR docs direct a team and essentially get patients where they need to be. the therapists are the ones working with the patients 1-on-1 to get the to improve their function. as a PMR doc, i know what PT and OT does, and order specific therapies, but i rarely, if ever, actually DO the therapy.

Ahh, that is a very good question indeed.

If you hated pre-med courses enough to switch, you might hate med school just as much.

I actually hadn't even started the courses; I'm not going to lie, the idea of that time commitment freaks me out a bit!

 

[RUOkie]

I actually hadn't even started the courses; I'm not going to lie, the idea of that time commitment freaks me out a bit!

my wife was an OT. Her OT courses were difficult as well. No matter what you do in life, there will be a time commitment if you want to excel in it. Take the premed courses. You would need them to get into a MSOT program anyway (well, except Calc and Organic, and those would help you anyway since it will put you in a higher level physics class) and then decide. I won't lie, Med school was very time intensive. But the information is not difficult. It is all volume. If you are not willing to put in that kind of time commitment, become a shift worker/laborer. My friends who went to good MBA programs worked just as hard as I did in my MD program

 

[Jitter Bug]

Agree with above, you need to decide if you would like to be a doctor, or something else.

Once you commit to being a doctor the medical school process will expose you to all the possible specialties including PM&R.