Success stories/failed attempts on switching to ophthalmology?

[bb912]

I just wanted to ask if anyone on here has switched/tried to switch from another specialty into ophthalmology? Or have they heard of anyone to do so?
I couldn't find many stories about this online, and I was hoping to get a little bit of insight. I would appreciate it!!

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[Pmr.attendingdoc]

I am also interested in this and was wondering if there is any possibility of doing ophthalmology after completing an entire residency and fellowship in another field.

 

[dantt]

We had an anesthesiologist who changed to ophthalmology...many years ago...

One of my retina colleagues started out as an internist and ended up with a residency/fellowship at BPEI...many years ago...

 

[alsonamedbort]

Started out in rads. Made the switch after one year of that. It was the right choice for me.

 

[mjohnsonets]

I have worked with a couple docs who started as internal med and switched. I have seen both completed residencies and intra-residency(is this the right term haha) switches. I seems very doable.

 

[linevasel]

Very doable. One of my junior mentors did IM residency then matched straight into ophtho. I think a mature but teachable attending who isn’t too old is an excellent stabilizing force in a residency program. I think your app would be received well. If you don’t mind me asking, I hear lots of good about PMR. Why the switch

 

[cal75]

Started out in rads. Made the switch after one year of that. It was the right choice for me.

I’m interested in rads and ophth, what made you initially pick rads and then switch?

 

[AQ888]

I believe there was a similar thread previously, you should search for it. In short, there have been many instances of physicians switching from Internal Medicine to Ophthalmology, some of these people are in top academic positions right now.

Definitely doable but you have to be the one to decide if its going to be worth it for you.

 

[DrZeke]

I have known several people. They either finished a whole residency in another specialty or stopped a residency in the middle to pursue ophthalmology. I will say that ALL of these people were competitive applicants before - to be clear they could have matched into ophthalmology had they wanted to if that was their choice from the beginning. I haven't met many that were borderline applicants that then made the switch later.

 

[RetinaDude]

Agree with DrZeke. I started as an Ortho resident, and then switched to ophthalmology. I loved ortho but my residency was back before duty hours were restricted, and I was Not enjoying working 120+ hours per week. Luckily, I had the grades and scores to successfully secure an ophth spot. If I had not had the grades/scores, and I really wanted to do ophth, then I probably would’ve gone to do a year of research at a place where I wanted to train

 

[mjohnsonets]

Agree with DrZeke. I started as an Ortho resident, and then switched to ophthalmology. I loved ortho but my residency was back before duty hours were restricted, and I was Not enjoying working 120+ hours per week. Luckily, I had the grades and scores to successfully secure an ophth spot. If I had not had the grades/scores, and I really wanted to do ophth, then I probably would’ve gone to do a year of research at a place where I wanted to train

I've always been curious about these times when this amount of work was allowed. 120/week works out to just over 17 hours per day; 120+ WOW. I won't even ask about sleep, How was this actually manageable for things like going to the grocery store or just any of the little things in life that need to be taken care of?

This is off topic so might need to go into pm

 

[RetinaDude]

I would get to the hospital at 4AM to start rounds on the previous night’s ortho trauma. I’d be on call that night, and would not get off until 5-7:00 the following afternoon. So, right there would be 36-39 straight hours at work. Usually an hour of broken up sleep. If you are on every other night call, you go home and then get to start this hell all over again the next day. Another 36+ hours. Do that for an entire week and it would usually come out to between 115-123 hours per week. Luckily, on call was not always every other night, but even every third night was bad enough. I was in a very busy trauma program in Chicago so we saw a lot of ortho trauma

 

[mjohnsonets]

I would get to the hospital at 4AM to start rounds on the previous night’s ortho trauma. I’d be on call that night, and would not get off until 5-7:00 the following afternoon. So, right there would be 36-39 straight hours at work. Usually an hour of broken up sleep. If you are on every other night call, you go home and then get to start this hell all over again the next day. Another 36+ hours. Do that for an entire week and it would usually come out to between 115-123 hours per week. Luckily, on call was not always every other night, but even every third night was bad enough. I was in a very busy trauma program in Chicago so we saw a lot of ortho trauma

Was this type of schedule ultimately ended due to effects on patient care?

 

[RetinaDude]

Was this type of schedule ultimately ended due to effects on patient care?

I cannot recall the exact reason. It was changed long after I finished my training. I believe there’s still a question how today’s training effects patient care, because of loss of continuity of care since residents are not there quite as long, all at one time

 

[DrZeke]

I cannot recall the exact reason. It was changed long after I finished my training. I believe there’s still a question how today’s training effects patient care, because of loss of continuity of care since residents are not there quite as long, all at one time

Yes sir. Bad handoff's can be awful. I can't tell you how many times I've gotten a call from the person in the ED that just took over from another resident and what they tell me about the patient is 50-75% wrong. I always ask, how familiar are you with this patient? and they tell me what they know...

 

[LightBox]

Was this type of schedule ultimately ended due to effects on patient care?

Mostly because of the snowflake generation demanding it.

 

[dantt]

Mostly because of the snowflake generation demanding it.

Of course most of the ophthalmologists posting on this thread to a large degree chose ophthalmology for a similar reason.