subspecialty

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If you are a FP who has practiced for 10 or 15 years is it possible to apply for a IM subspecialty or do you have to start over and do a internal medicine residence? I really like FP but would like the options of going on to do a IM fellowship down the road.

 

[deleted87716]

If you are a FP who has practiced for 10 or 15 years is it possible to apply for a IM subspecialty or do you have to start over and do a internal medicine residence? I really like FP but would like the options of going on to do a IM fellowship down the road.

FM residency is not an available pathway to IM subspecialty training.

If you want to hedge your bets, consider a dual residency in FM/IM (there are a couple of these out there), or an IM program with a primary care track.

 

[MDWoochie]

If your a flea, then please go into IM. I think it is possible to have an interest in FM, but specializing completely is out.

 

[raptor5]

A Flea?

 

[MDWoochie]

Good explanation. They also tend to get stuck on topics and lose the big picture. An example is talking about things like uremic frost, or some other zebra, and not being able to move on!!!

 

[elizabeth5863]

If you are a FP who has practiced for 10 or 15 years is it possible to apply for a IM subspecialty or do you have to start over and do a internal medicine residence? I really like FP but would like the options of going on to do a IM fellowship down the road.

There are not many options for subspecialities in FM except for sports medicine, geriatrics, OB, and adolescent medicine. On my fp interview trail, I've heard of a fellowship in heme-onc in New York for just fp docs, but this is a new program and not many people know about it.

If you know that you absolutely don't want to do some subspecialities like infectious diseases, GI, endocrine, cardiology, pulmonology, critical care, etc. and if you really like FM, then I'd do FM. But if there's a possibility that you would like the other IM fellowships, I'd do IM.

Hope that helps! Good luck!

 

[lateness]

There are not many options for subspecialities in FM except for sports medicine, geriatrics, OB, and adolescent medicine. On my fp interview trail, I've heard of a fellowship in heme-onc in New York for just fp docs, but this is a new program and not many people know about it.

If you know that you absolutely don't want to do some subspecialities like infectious diseases, GI, endocrine, cardiology, pulmonology, critical care, etc. and if you really like FM, then I'd do FM. But if there's a possibility that you would like the other IM fellowships, I'd do IM.

Hope that helps! Good luck!

i suppose its theoretically possible that person, could after FM do IM , then apply to a fellowship, after that? of course who would really torture themselves like that..not I.. i have heard some stories though like ive heard of a guy who did surgery for years, then did a pulm/crit care IM fellowship. is that even possible without and IM resideny? i dont know. i also heard of a guy who did IM for a few years, then went back and did a radiology residency, i still dont understand who would want to torture themselves like that. 😴 im sleepy

 

[Faebinder]

i suppose its theoretically possible that person, could after FM do IM , then apply to a fellowship, after that? of course who would really torture themselves like that..not I.. i have heard some stories though like ive heard of a guy who did surgery for years, then did a pulm/crit care IM fellowship. is that even possible without and IM resideny? i dont know. i also heard of a guy who did IM for a few years, then went back and did a radiology residency, i still dont understand who would want to torture themselves like that. 😴 im sleepy

I am sure they used their residency rotations to fill in a year or two of the internal medicine residency...they wouldn't have started from scratch. Sides, radiology takes surgical interns and it's common to switch careers out of surgery to ER/Rad/Anesth cause of surgery malignancy....

 

[deleted87716]

Most of the people who switch residencies or go back and do a second residency receive credit for at least their intern year. Thus, if you did FM and later changed your mind and decided to do IM, you'd probably only have to do a couple of years of IM. It would depend on how you negotiated things with the program, however. You'd have to meet all of the AGCME requirements for IM in order to graduate.

We had a guy in my program who had finished his peds residency, and decided to do FM instead. I think he had to do something like 2.5 years of FM to finish.