Specialty Selection

[DoctaJo]

I am a 3rd year OMS and feel totally incapable of making a decision for residency since I have only really seen FP, Psyc, Surg, OB, Ped.
I know I love procedures and really enjoyed Surgery but I am worried another 5 years of training might be to much.
Is it a bad thing to do an intern year/transitional year if you can't decide on your residency? Will this affect residency options later? Will it count towards other residencies?

Thanks for any feedback

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[Buckeye4life]

I am a 3rd year OMS and feel totally incapable of making a decision for residency since I have only really seen FP, Psyc, Surg, OB, Ped.
I know I love procedures and really enjoyed Surgery but I am worried another 5 years of training might be to much.
Is it a bad thing to do an intern year/transitional year if you can't decide on your residency? Will this affect residency options later? Will it count towards other residencies?

Thanks for any feedback

For what it's worth, an additional 1-2 years of training in a specialty you truly enjoy is better than working 20-40 years in an area you are lukewarm about or hate. Someone told me to read the research journals in a particular specialty you are interested in for a week. If it holds ur attention and u want to know more about the subject, it is possibly a good fit. If it bores you after 15 minutes, pass.

As for switching specialties after graduation, I have seen it done several times, but it is much easier to match the first time and be done with it. I have run into a couple surgery interns that wanted to either switch programs or switched specialties (gen surg to family). There is a lot of behind the scenes stuff going on that students aren't included on. Met a traditional intern who wanted into ortho, but didn't get in and eventually did family med. Know of an ortho resident who ended up switching to ER. Finally know of an ER resident who switched to family med, but it was at the same program.

 

[Doctor4Life1769]

It's not a bad idea. However, I wouldn't advise doing so if you don't have to.
It seems like you like the OR, you like procedures, and you don't want to work for 5 years. Anesthesiology is a good option. EM (works in hospital, shift work) is another good choice if you are into that. Ortho and Gen surg are both 5 years and both hardcore. If you really do enjoy Ortho/Gen surg, go for it. Don't let the 5 years be a turn-off for what you really enjoy doing.

 

[sashIMI]

I am a 3rd year OMS and feel totally incapable of making a decision for residency since I have only really seen FP, Psyc, Surg, OB, Ped.
I know I love procedures and really enjoyed Surgery but I am worried another 5 years of training might be to much.
Is it a bad thing to do an intern year/transitional year if you can't decide on your residency? Will this affect residency options later? Will it count towards other residencies?

Thanks for any feedback

i had a difficult time deciding on a specialty also. i agree with above that you shouldn't let 5 years of training preclude you from picking a specialty. if you end up doing a TRI/TY just to help you figure things out, you may end up extending your training to 4-5 or more years overall anyways bc you might have to take time off to reapply, you might have to repeat intern year depending on the program, it could be difficult to find an open PGY-2 position depending on the specialty, you'd have to take time off during the TRI/TY to interview, etc etc etc. there are a lot of complicated circumstances possible. many people do TRI/TYs to figure things out and it works out well for them, but if you're worried about the time frame of training, then i don't know if it would be the best thing to do...

checking out anesthesia or EM is a good idea too. also have you considered ophtho if you like procedures/surgery (it's a 4 yr residency). you can use early 4th year to schedule some electives for exposure to see if you like those fields before your audition rotations. also...apparently...people switch specialties all the time (i hope i dont end up as one of them!)

 

[JW08]

What fellowships can you do after ER residency?

 

[DrYoda]

What fellowships can you do after ER residency?

Pediatrics
Medical Toxicology
Sports Medicine
Critical Care
Hyperbaric
Research
Administration
Education
EMS
International
Ultrasound
Cardiovascular


Copied/pasted from SAEM:
http://www.saem.org/SAEMDNN/Portals...EMOrganizationsCoatesAndCheng_files/frame.htm


The list is missing neurocritical care which EM is also eligible for.

 

[superiortrunk5]

I would definitely look into PM&R. You get a good amount of procedures in terms of MSK (ultrasound guided joint injections, prolotherapy, PRP, etc...) as well as ample electromyography (EMG) experience. There are also some great fellowship opportunities, like Sports Medicine and Interventional Pain. I was also very procedure oriented, but knew that surgery was not an option for me. I found PM&R to be the perfect fit.