PM&R vs Anesthesia for interventional pain

[axm397]

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I am posting a copy of the question posed on the sticky on this thread so as not to clutter that sticky. i will erase the posts on the sticky.

Quote:
Originally Posted by strangedoc
Hi, I'm currently a PGY-1 surgical resident, and I am thinking of changing my career. I would like to go into interventional pain management. I know that there are a couple ways of going about it, but I don't know which is better. Should I go with PM&R or Anesthesia? If someone could let me know I would greatly appreciate it. Pros and Cons very much appreciated. Thanks.



Strangedoc,
In the end, it really matters what interests you more. Either way will lead to the same goal. And I understand that (soon) the pain fellowships will be standardized and require skills in all subsets (anesth, pmr, neuro, psych) of the discipline.
As for me, I am going the PMR route because I feel it gives me a better background for the clinical side of pain as we deal with this issue (along with spine, msk) everyday. I have spoken with a LOT of pain and anesth attendings who recommend a surgical internship, a pmr residency, and an anesth pain fellowship. I believe that this pathway has been suggested more than once in this forum as well. Again, you'll get out of your residency what you want. In anesth, if you want to become skilled in your neuromusculoskeletal exam then you will find time to do so. Hope this helps a little.
Also, you might want to read through some prior posts in this forum (and pmr/anesth forums) to see what others have stated.

Bry T

 

[Triathlon]

Boy, this forum dies over the weekend! Anyway I was reading the above post and my interest was sparked by the idea of doing a surgical internship. I have never heard of this. Is it common? How can I do that? Do all programs go for that? Any info would be great!

 

[drusso]

Boy, this forum dies over the weekend! Anyway I was reading the above post and my interest was sparked by the idea of doing a surgical internship. I have never heard of this. Is it common? How can I do that? Do all programs go for that? Any info would be great!

According to the ACGME PM&R program requirements, a fundamental clinical skills year (aka "internship") is an internship is an internship. For PM&R, you can do either a prelim medicine internship, a prelim surgery internship, an ACGME Transitional Year, or an AOA-rotating internship. It really doesn't matter...

I think for PM&R the broader you can keep your experience the better. I did an ACGME Transitional Year with rotations in neuro, ortho, ER, rheum, gen surg, ICU, and peds. It was great. If you do a prelim surgery year you probably won't be seeing the OR as much as you think as usually "the -terns" run the floor! My advice, keep it broad and supplement with PM&R-relevant electives.

 

[Triathlon]

That sound better. I was hoping to get some good medicine skills.

 

[Finally M3]

That sound better. I was hoping to get some good medicine skills.

You'll get enough of that doing your ICU months, and maybe a month or two of inpatient calls.

On the flip side, I wish I did a neurosurg month (not av) to get familiar with some of the procedures we see postop.