...anesthesia has less LEVERAGE...
Ha, ha, ha...
Don't listen to Substance, Derm155, he has no idea of what he is saying. Anesthesia has
less leverage? Ha, ha, ha... If he knew anything about anesthesia, he would have said,
"Anesthesia has NO leverage."
Now, if after knowing all of this, you still want to change, go ahead and change, but I feel like we have to put you in touch with a suicide hotline.
Getting a little more serious, for your reactions to matching in that program and your concerns for your family, I gather that you must be an older graduate and your family is more established than others. If that is the case, really put a lot of thought into the change you are proposing, because the residency routine in anesthesia is not for the older person. You are going to hate it and your family is going to hate it even more. And after residency, if you don't get one of those nice, exclusive, posh jobs that are so difficult to find and everybody covets, your family is going to be even more unhappy.
By the way, anesthesia has no leverage not only in this situation, but later in life, when you are an attending, whether in private practice or any other setting, is exactly the same way.
In the final analysis, you are the one who will have to decide, and if you are going to be unhappy in dermatology, we don't want to be responsible for it. We are not in your skin, we are not in your brain, we are not in your family, we are not in your situation. It is just that, looking at it from the outside it is a no-brainer, especially looking at it from our viewpoint as anesthesiologists.
Look at it this way: you are trying to condemn your family to a four year grueling residency where they will not see their mom or wife, that every time she comes home she is too tired for them, and that will be even worse after residency.
What does your husband think about all this? Does he know what you are trying to do? Have him read this thread and some others in this forum, and then ask him for his opinion. Don't make this decision alone.
Keep us posted.