Should Allergy replace Anesthesiology in the "ROAD" to success?

[patel2]

An equal number of people will tell you there is nothing to be concerned about with the path job market, check the path forums and other message boards. If the possible job market 4-6 years from now (when a current 4th year med student would need to worry about it) is a major reason in deciding what specialty you want to go into, you might want to talk to some advisers... For a premed, it might be a decade before you have to worry about the job market, so it's a little premature to be concerned now.

true, but the situation in path seems different than others. When other specialties talk about bad prospects, it's usually that they feel the salary isn't high enough, the market is too saturated or the location of the high paying jobs are in undesirable areas. But they rarely have problems finding a job pretty much anywhere they want, it just may come with some costs.

In path, it almost seems like law where there are actually people out there who cannot find work after finishing residency (as if there were less positions available than graduating pathologists each year). But maybe it's overblown, I don't know that much about the market other than a few threads on sdn about it

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[Pedsbro]

true, but the situation in path seems different than others. When other specialties talk about bad prospects, it's usually that they feel the salary isn't high enough, the market is too saturated or the location of the high paying jobs are in undesirable areas. But they rarely have problems finding a job pretty much anywhere they want, it just may come with some costs.

In path, it almost seems like law where there are actually people out there who cannot find work after finishing residency (as if there were less positions available than graduating pathologists each year). But maybe it's overblown, I don't know that much about the market other than a few threads on sdn about it

Therein lies the problem.. Not many people who have little or no problems finding jobs will go online and post it (though some do). You tend to only find the people venting on SDN and other boards who have had trouble. Talking to residents and new and current pathologists, the problem is there in certain markets, but has become overblown in the rumor mill.

Anyway, probably don't want to hijack this thread to start a path job market war anyway. I still like that "RAPIDO" mnemonic...

 

[Law2Doc]

"Likely provides less biased salary figures." Based on what?....

headhunter and search firm data is generally suspect. Their goal is to get you to call them and utilize their services, so they provide pie in the sky numbers. There are a few services that list absurd numbers as "average", (and often get latched onto by the premeds in preallo as gospel), but if you read the footnotes and fine print, this average was based on a small and not very generic sample of the specialty. It's part of the whole "bait and switch" mentality that is pervasive in this industry. You call them up because of some very lucrative job listing, only to find that that job has been filled (if it even ever existed), but they have another "just as good" job at a lesser salary with worse hours in a less desirable location. So year, there is a bias to a lot of these numbers, and you have to throw most salary info you come across out if such biases exist.

 

[IlDestriero]

headhunter and search firm data is generally suspect. Their goal is to get you to call them and utilize their services, so they provide pie in the sky numbers. There are a few services that list absurd numbers as "average", (and often get latched onto by the premeds in preallo as gospel), but if you read the footnotes and fine print, this average was based on a small and not very generic sample of the specialty. It's part of the whole "bait and switch" mentality that is pervasive in this industry. You call them up because of some very lucrative job listing, only to find that that job has been filled (if it even ever existed), but they have another "just as good" job at a lesser salary with worse hours in a less desirable location. So year, there is a bias to a lot of these numbers, and you have to throw most salary info you come across out if such biases exist.

MGMA numbers are not from search firms, etc. They are very accurate for anesthesia. I can't comment on other specialties, though they are considered the gold standard for negotiations in my field. Academic $$ is closer to the 25%, usually. As for not including bonuses, etc. that can be very misleading. My annual bonus is 18% of my salary. It makes a modest salary actually quite good. Some systems may not account for overnight call compensation either, depending on how it's paid out, that could easily be $40k per year for a couple anesthesia calls/month. Before you go throwing out data, understand what it really represents. My neurosurgery pals make around 3000/night for call. 3000*120 calls/year = mad loot. Suddenly their modest salary is actually very competitive. If you look at reported government numbers for anesthesia they're nonsense. Who knows where they came from. CRNAs can make more.
The biggest factors in pay are profit sharing and payor mix.

 

[cowme]

^^^amen. you take L2Ds medscape figures, take out the academics, and add PP bonuses, and the numbers are probably identical to mgma private practice figure.

 

[shadowfox87]

I still like that "RAPIDO" mnemonic...

thx, it's been patented

 

[Radonkulous]

thx, it's been patented

You could make it RAPPPIDOE to include psych, pmr, and em haha.

 

[Elbowstoopointy]

Shadowed an Allergy/Immunology specialist and it was such a cush job. Very comparable to the Dermatologist I shadowed but with less procedures of course. Also their income is ~$250k which makes it not much less than Derm. With CRNA's treading on anesthesiologists should Allergy take its place as the "A" in "ROAD"?

No for the following reasons

-Its an IM fellowship
-It has nothing to do with step 1 scores....since you apply after residency

 

[410322]

No for the following reasons

-Its an IM fellowship
-It has nothing to do with step 1 scores....since you apply after residency

Translation: I can't come to SDN and brag if I get into it.