Switching from NICU/PICU back to general pediatrics?

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sandnsurf

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Hi everyone! I'm a med student considering pediatrics. Thanks for making this forum such a great resource for people considering pediatrics!

I had a question please, and one that I couldn't find an answer to after searching this forum (although it may be entirely my fault because I'm searching for the wrong terms or something). I'm wondering if someone becomes a pediatrician and subspecializes in NICU or PICU, for example, when they get to be older and want to slow down, is it possible for them to switch back to general pediatrics in order to avoid burnout?

Thanks in advance! :)

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Hi everyone! I'm a med student considering pediatrics. Thanks for making this forum such a great resource for people considering pediatrics!

I had a question please, and one that I couldn't find an answer to after searching this forum (although it may be entirely my fault because I'm searching for the wrong terms or something). I'm wondering if someone becomes a pediatrician and subspecializes in NICU or PICU, for example, when they get to be older and want to slow down, is it possible for them to switch back to general pediatrics in order to avoid burnout?

Thanks in advance! :)

Burnout? What's that? Nothing that's hit me yet, in nearly 3 decades after finishing residency and doing nothing but neo for clinical work. There are lots of folks who continue to do neo in a level 3/4 setting (the sickest babies) well into their late 60's or early 70's. Those who want to "slow down" will stop taking night call and do more level 1/2 (healthy babies, healthier premies, etc) work as well as more administrative work. I don't know anyone who has gone to doing general pediatrics as a way to avoid burnout and doubt that would actually do the trick for that problem.

BTW, in the United States, going "back" to general pediatrics will become more difficult in the future due to board certification issues. Pediatric subspecialists initially certify in general pediatrics before certifying in their specialty. However, they only need to recertify in their specialty. They CAN recertify general pediatrics but that's a lot of extra work/expense and unneeded to practice the specialty, so I suspect few will do it. It would make what you propose more difficult.

Regardless, if you like taking care of babies/really sick kids, you'll likely find that you still like it when you get old like me. There are plenty of strategies to cut down your work time/stress in NICU (and PICU) without doing general pedi.
 
We have a pediatrician in the community who used to do NICU and now only does general Peds.... Not sure why though.
 
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Thanks for the replies! Especially OBP. I understand it better now! :)

OBP you mentioned, "There are plenty of strategies to cut down your work time/stress in NICU (and PICU) without doing general pedi".

After searching here on SDN a bit about this, possible strategies seem to be (at least as far as I can tell):

-Working part-time
-If someone wants to continue full-time work in the private sector, then joining a larger group (or other organization) with more NICU or PICU physicians so you can share the work
-If someone wants to continue full-time work in academia, then it's possible in academia to do research as well as work in the NICU or PICU

Would these be more or less the strategies you're referring to?

Thanks again! :)
 
OBP you mentioned, "There are plenty of strategies to cut down your work time/stress in NICU (and PICU) without doing general pedi".

After searching here on SDN a bit about this, possible strategies seem to be (at least as far as I can tell):

-Working part-time
-If someone wants to continue full-time work in the private sector, then joining a larger group (or other organization) with more NICU or PICU physicians so you can share the work
-If someone wants to continue full-time work in academia, then it's possible in academia to do research as well as work in the NICU or PICU

Some strategies for decreasing work time/stress as a pediatric intensivist (NICU or PICU).

1. Part-time (common)
2. Stop (or decrease) doing in house night-call (common, causes a proportionate drop in salary).
3. Work in an environment where there are residents and fellows to handle much of the day to day load (mainly works in academics)
4. Work in an environment where there are nurse practitioners to handle much of the day to day load.
5. Work in more level 1/2 environments or at least in environments where there isn't ECMO, iNO, etc.
6. Spend more time doing committee work, quality improvement, etc.
7. Spend more time teaching at all levels.
8. Sleep more during conferences.
9. Spend more time doing community outreach.

I'm sure there are other profitable ways to handle ones time as a neonatologist/intensivist other than running a service of a dozen or more very ill patients, but this gives you some idea. None involve doing general pedi patient care, which is not that stress free or work time saving.
 
Thanks OBP! And #8 looks especially promising. :)
 
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