Resigned from FM residency after 21 months, any chance of anesthesiology?

[shaggybill]

Be forewarned, before you get too far into this post, you will likely think I'm a dummy. I'm also not anticipating hearing what I hope to hear, but want to ask anyway.

That being said, I'm a DO. I matched into my top choice ACGME FM program in 2016. I completed about 21 months of it and resigned. There were many different reasons, but mostly I just couldn't take another day of family medicine. I thought about the decision for well over a year and pushed myself as far as I could go hoping I would start to like it. That didnt happen, and I was convinced that medicine was a huge mistake for me. I finally dropped the bombshell on my PD that I couldn't do it anymore. She was very sympathetic and after getting into the details of my struggles with FM she agreed that family medicine probably was a mistake for me. About the same time, my inlaws, who own a successful company (non-medical), starting talking to my wife and I about taking it over and letting them phase themselves out. The temptation was great, and I admit that it ultimately influenced my decision to leave residency. What I didn't anticipate were some family issues (serious substance abuse) that arose and complicated the family business and effectively removed any chance of something happening there.

In the past few months, I've been having a lot of regrets that I'm not using my degree. I did 2 anesthesiology rotations in med school and thoroughly enjoyed both of them. I'm a hand-on type of guy, I LOVE procedures, I like fast pace, I like moving around, and I really like physiology. I hate rounding, I hate working up/treating/managing disease, I hate getting an inbox full of lab results everyday that I ordered last week on a patient I don't even remember. I hate walking into a room and the patient complains of left side pain, foot pain, fingernail ridges, and had 23 hairs fall out last week, "what is that?" Unfortunately, I didn't realize how much I hated it until I was in the thick of it. I was going to apply to anesthesiology as an MS4 but was convinced by a FM mentor that there were far greater options in medicine with FM. He wrote me a glowing letter of recommendation and the fact that I felt like I had a great chance of matching at the program in mine and my wife's hometown convinced me to do FM. Yeah, I matched there but, ugh...what a mistake.

I'm entertaining the idea of maybe reapplying for residency, but I know at this point my chances are slim to none. If I have any chance whatsoever, I know it's going to have to be at the lowest tiered programs in the country. At 37 years old, with meh/average COMLEX scores, not much in the way of research, no publications, and a failure in my second block of med school (neuroanatomy), I don't really think I have much of a chance.

So to get to the point of the post, are there programs out there that may be a good bit less competitive that I could take a chance on applying to? Besides anesthesiology, I'm not really sure there's a whole lot else I'm interested in. Is this a complete pipe dream? I'm thinking the answer to that is probably yes.

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[deleted480308]

I’m not seeing it, sorry

 

[Beeftenderloin]

If you really wanted to do anesthesia in stead of FM, your best move would have been to suffer through the last 15 months of your training and re-enter the match during your last year. People having a whole previous residency under their belt is viewed favorably by a lot of people (not everyone, but a lot) people dropping out almost 2/3 of the way through looks universally terrible. Not trying to be mean, just honest. Good luck to you.

 

[chudat]

I would save ur time and money. Sorry man, competitions tough out there.

 

[IMGASMD]

Very very slim chance. How long have you been out? What have you been doing for those years? You need to do something medically related. Research maybe unpaid, likely redo internship. You need to find PD that would take a huge chance on you.

Not for nothing. Maybe you should just finish FM..... you will probably have better chances then.

 

[shaggybill]

Figured as much. Thanks for the honest replies.

 

[hununuh]

Very very slim chance. How long have you been out? What have you been doing for those years? You need to do something medically related. Research maybe unpaid, likely redo internship. You need to find PD that would take a huge chance on you.

Not for nothing. Maybe you should just finish FM..... you will probably have better chances then.

Plus, if you finish FM, at least you have a fall back plan in case you dont match into anesthesiology, which unfortunately would be a likely scenario. You toughed it out for 21 months. You are more than half way there. Tough it out for another 15 months as you prepare for anesthesia application cycle. Good luck

 

[BLADEMDA]

To the OP: Suck it up Slim.

That means ask for your old position back and make up the lost time by agreeing to extend your residency. You can say that the time off was for mental health and that is a big deal theses days. You got your Sh@t together and want to finish the program.

Once you complete FM then plan on applying to Anesthesiology if you still have the desire to pursue it.

 

[dannyboy1]

I have a buddy who does FM. Works in the clinic for one of the big health systems. 40 hrs/week. No weekends. Makes around 300k. It’s not bad......

 

[deleted547631]

To the OP: Suck it up Slim.

That means ask for your old position back and make up the lost time by agreeing to extend your residency. You can say that the time off was for mental health and that is a big deal theses days. You got your Sh@t together and want to finish the program.

Once you complete FM then plan on applying to Anesthesiology if you still have the desire to pursue it.

This answer makes the most sense for your particular situation. Do the mental gymnastics required to ask your PD for a chance to return to FM residency.

 

[NICMAN]

Go and become a surgical device sales rep. Some of those people make more than the surgeons. My neighbor is one and lives in a much much nicer home than mine (>$1 million). Pacemaker reps make more on pacemaker implants than cardiologists.

 

[AdmiralChz]

I don’t see it happening. Up and leaving residency is a show-stopping red flag, and your lack of USMLEs and average COMLEX scores don’t help. It doesn’t sound like you’ve been doing much clinically the last 2 years or so - again, red flag. Plus you have no anesthesia (or even recent surgical) exposure or letters. A career change may be needed for you, but I don’t see a way for you easily to break into this field without doing something out of the ordinary like being a research assistant in some lab for a while. Maybe if you did a surgical prelim year, impressed, and then applied... sounds like a lot of work.

To be completely honest it is going to be hard for you to break back into a residency at all with the limited info we have.

 

[WholeLottaGame7]

OP, you were also a little vague about the serious substance abuse issues in the family that prevented you from inheriting the family business. Presumably the person was not you, but you also didn't say it WASN'T you, and if that's the case, I'd think long and hard about whether or not a career in anesthesia (with high stress levels and easy access to controlled substances) is the best decision for you personally.

 

[Consigliere]

As we like to say in South Philly....FUHGEDABOUTIT.

 

[IMGASMD]

Disagree with all of these responses. In my program, I was with folks who dropped out of urology and gen surgery residencies. I had another classmate who got booted from two DO neurosurgery residencies for anger management issues. Another classmate graduated from medical school more than 10 years prior to applying, and came back from another career. I think you have a chance. Go for it

Urology =\ FM
Neurosurgery =\ FM
What did this person do for 10 years?

you want to just share your programs name, send OP some good vibe?

 

[Wkrdoc]

To the OP: Suck it up Slim.

That means ask for your old position back and make up the lost time by agreeing to extend your residency. You can say that the time off was for mental health and that is a big deal theses days. You got your Sh@t together and want to finish the program.

Once you complete FM then plan on applying to Anesthesiology if you still have the desire to pursue it.

Straight up what he said. You need to finish FM without question

 

[deleted697127]

In addition to reaching out to your program director, I would reach out and ask for an appointment with your medical school dean of students. Email them directly and address your situation concisely. Don’t hide important details that they may feel blindsided by if they decide to touch base with your program director. Your schools reputation is on the line if you become a graduate who can’t find work. Usually people become deans because they genuinely like helping people. Just by sheer numbers, i would bet it is not that uncommon that they have experience helping redirect graduates who have changed career courses or lost their residency spots. Barring bad behavior you haven’t disclosed with us, I can’t imagine that deciding a specialty isn’t for you blackballs you from a career in medicine. Best of luck.