Taking a break in surgical subspecialty fellowship

[ru4real1666]

Hey all,

I am currently in a surgical subspecialty fellowship. In residency, all I ever wanted to be a good surgeon. I have excelled so far in medical school, residency, and fellowship (great feedback, academically productive), but considering taking a year to pursue an idea I have had in the startup world.

I was wondering if anyone has any information on whether a year-long break (that is not disciplinary) is allowed or frowned upon? I am at the junction where I am ready to commit for a year to this idea, but there is no way to make this a reality with surgical training happening at the same time. Ideally, I would split the time 50-50 in this and my surgical career, but I don't have a crystal ball to be able to tell the future and the only way I can even try is to take a year to devote to it.

If anyone can find any resources or offer any information/wisdom, I am open to hearing it. I was trying to search my subspecialty board site and couldn't find much.

EDIT: I guess I am concerned about the credentialing aspects of this in terms of it affecting my ability to obtain a job or practice independently so if anyone has any information on that I would be appreciative.

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[Wordead]

So are you done with fellowship or partway into a 3 year or what? Is your program on board with this idea? That would be the only thing that really matters.

Once you finish training, you can just tell your next job you dont want to start for a year or so. With credentialing and all that crap it takes some time anyway and plenty of people take some time to travel and whatnot.

You can pursue your startup while working as an attending, by the way. You're usually on a salary guarantee anyway for a couple years. This obviously depends on how involved you're planning to be in the startup and whether your job allows for outside pursuits.

 

[ru4real1666]

@Wordead Currently in the middle of the fellowship year. Have another year left but this is a little bit time sensitive so I rather take a break now before being an attending. I haven't broached the conversation yet officially with the fellowship leadership but my mentor indicated it should not be an issue.

 

[operaman]

I’ve definitely seen people do this for non-acgme fellowships. Not sure the exact details for acgme ones, but seems like it should be doable.

 

[ru4real1666]

I’ve definitely seen people do this for non-acgme fellowships. Not sure the exact details for acgme ones, but seems like it should be doable.

Thank you! I agree this would be easier for non-acgme but unfortuantely this is an ACGME accredited fellowship.

 

[Smurfette]

1. I'm not sure how fellowships work in your field, but it may mean they have to accept one less person in a future year to have things time out appropriately for you to go out and then back in. If this is the case, they need to know about this before they match future fellows in order to make the numbers work. Is there a chance you wouldn't go back and finish? It is hard to be out of training all together and jump back in.

2. From a proceduralist point of view, taking time out does lead to skills loss and would be a "flag/gap" to be explained going forward. That's not a big deal if you finish fellowship before getting a job, but could be an issue if you are looking for a job and haven't done any operating in a year. A full year off will make some people skittish to hire you straight after the gap. In addition, some places do have a time frame where if you haven't been working, you need to meet additional requirements/be mentored/do some sort of skills assessment before being fully credentialled.

3. Consider doing occasional locums work during the year off just to keep some skills and make some income. You could control your schedule and avoid potential issues with #2, depending on your ultimate career goals.

 

[ru4real1666]

1. I'm not sure how fellowships work in your field, but it may mean they have to accept one less person in a future year to have things time out appropriately for you to go out and then back in. If this is the case, they need to know about this before they match future fellows in order to make the numbers work. Is there a chance you wouldn't go back and finish? It is hard to be out of training all together and jump back in.

2. From a proceduralist point of view, taking time out does lead to skills loss and would be a "flag/gap" to be explained going forward. That's not a big deal if you finish fellowship before getting a job, but could be an issue if you are looking for a job and haven't done any operating in a year. A full year off will make some people skittish to hire you straight after the gap. In addition, some places do have a time frame where if you haven't been working, you need to meet additional requirements/be mentored/do some sort of skills assessment before being fully credentialled.

3. Consider doing occasional locums work during the year off just to keep some skills and make some income. You could control your schedule and avoid potential issues with #2, depending on your ultimate career goals.

Thank you! Those are very insightful comments/suggestions. There is a chance I wouldn't go back and finish....but there is no way to tell unless I fully devote my time to this other idea and actually be in that space full time. If this idea did not work out or I find myself gravitating back to surgery, I would come back and finish up my fellowship which has an additional year and look for jobs at the same time. I agree Locums may be a great time to keep skills/make income.