RAAPM vs. CCM - Is either relevant in PP world?

[Stillwater45]

CA-2 Resident debating a career path. My problem is that I really would be happy doing just about anything. With all the uncertainty coming down the pipe I am trying to make some decisions to secure my career longterm.

I would be happy in Academics but would love to join a strong secure PP group although I question whether those PP groups will still be around in 15 years.

I am considering a Regional Acute Pain fellowship vs CCM fellowship vs No fellowship. The Regional fellowship may be helpful if it incorporates an "Acute pain service" aspect which may be something to be desired with the new HCAP pillar of pain control. CCM for obvious reasons of an entire second career if need be. I also feel like CCM would make me a better physician overall. Regional would likely be a better lifestyle in academics which is a factor to me, but not an absolute.

Ultimately I think I could work in Academics with either fellowship and from the few PP I have talked with it looks like they don't care about either fellowship. Anyone in PP have any thoughts of either of these fellowships?

Also if anyone has a crystal ball re: the next 10 years in our profession please let us know ;-).

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[imfrankie]

Pedi Cardiac if you want absolute job security IMHO

 

[2ndyear]

I would first decide academics versus private practice and then go from there. CCM pretty much ties you to academics or some quasi academic setup if you want to practice it. I would guess a regional fellowship would help you in a lot of academic practices. In my private group you would be equal to a non-fellowed person. Why? Not to sound harsh but everyone does the same cases. We wouldn't pay you more because you spent a year learning some sexy blocks. We all do acute pain and blocks. If you bring a pain fellowship to the table, fine, you can do pain clinic. But you'll still take anesthesia call.

If you want to do private practice, just go for it, it's fun. Find a large, high volume group and put your time in. You'll get better at everything you do compared to where you are as a resident and hone your skills. Challenge yourself though, don't take some cushy done by noon every day job, you can always slow down but you'll only have one chance to get better, faster and more experienced.

 

[PMPMD]

CA-2 Resident debating a career path. My problem is that I really would be happy doing just about anything. With all the uncertainty coming down the pipe I am trying to make some decisions to secure my career longterm.

I would be happy in Academics but would love to join a strong secure PP group although I question whether those PP groups will still be around in 15 years.

I am considering a Regional Acute Pain fellowship vs CCM fellowship vs No fellowship. The Regional fellowship may be helpful if it incorporates an "Acute pain service" aspect which may be something to be desired with the new HCAP pillar of pain control. CCM for obvious reasons of an entire second career if need be. I also feel like CCM would make me a better physician overall. Regional would likely be a better lifestyle in academics which is a factor to me, but not an absolute.

Ultimately I think I could work in Academics with either fellowship and from the few PP I have talked with it looks like they don't care about either fellowship. Anyone in PP have any thoughts of either of these fellowships?

Also if anyone has a crystal ball re: the next 10 years in our profession please let us know ;-).

I don't think CCM matters much to PP groups unless they staff ICUs which most don't.

 

[RussianJoo]

I was told by a regional master that the only reason to do a regional fellowship is to go into academics and do research to further advance the field. PP for the most part don't care if you did a regional fellowship or not because like it was said above, everyone does blocks, all the young guys use ultrasound and you don't need a fellowship to be good at ultrasound guided peripheral blocks. He also said as long as you know how to do interscalene, Supraclavicular, and Axillary blocks you're set for the upper ext, and Femoral, Sciatic, and Popliteal you're all set for the lower ext. So that's 6 blocks really and will cover 99% of your practice.