Thinking of switching to peds

[epsilonprodigy]

Junior level surgery resident here, asking some heavy life questions ('tis the season for such things.) I have a background working in peds critical care before med school. I loved it and did very well. Unfortunately, I seriously undervalued the importance of personality match when it comes to specialty. I can't tell you how many times I heard "how are you NOT going into peds, you're perfect for it!"

Don't get me wrong, I still love surgery. It's just that the personalities, culture and learning environment are a serious mismatch. I'm sure I could get myself through and be a competent surgeon- but I know I could be a GREAT PICU/ peds ED doc. And at some point, isn't part of being a grown-up realizing where your niche is and going with it?

In general, how is transferring into peds seen? Especially from surgery- I don't want people to think I'm going for "lifestyle" reasons, since that's not it at all. Also- how competitive are NICU, PICU and peds ED these days?

Thanks all.

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[FrkyBgStok]

as someone who has kinda followed your story from the sideline, it seems like it may be a good move for you. i have a laid back, fun loving personality and i wanted that environment. i get that in peds every day. i absolutely love what i do and love almost every day of residency. it fits my personality.

as someone who is interested in those specialties, i have been told in each of those that i won't have any problems matching. could be a personality thing, could be a drive thing, but i was not a stellar med student, a DO, and i come from a community program. So if i won't have a problem, i can't imagine that you would have a problem.

i don't think you see many surgery to peds, but i highly doubt it is because it is tough. they are just drastically different personalities in general. peds draws a higher proportion of "i want to work part time in the future" and surgery draws a higher proportion of "i am the most important person in the world" comparatively. so if you personality fits with peds, i would bet that you would be welcomed with open arms.

And at some point, isn't part of being a grown-up realizing where your niche is and going with it?

this comment makes me laugh because i deal with it every day. when i told people i was interested in NICU they would be supportive, but when i said i was actually more interested in PICU, people almost unanimously said "yeah you aren't a NICU doc, you are a PICU/ED doc."

 

[Step Up]

To answer your latter question... Overall, matching into pediatric residency is not competitive. Matching into NICU/peds critical care/PEM is similar. The top fellowship programs will be very competitive and to match there you'll have to present a strong case for being a promising researcher. Matching into those fellowships period, in general, should be no problem, unless you have red flags.

I wouldn't worry about whether or not you can match into these specialties. Obviously the most important thing is deciding what speciality is right for you and whether to jump ship from surgery residency.

 

[physicsnerd42]

We have a former surgical intern in our Peds intern class. It’s not that unusual. As someone who is training in both Peds and Anesthesia, I’d recommend also thinking about Anesthesia (which is an even more common transition).

 

[mvenus929]

Remember that to get to peds critical care, you have to go through a peds residency, which means a fair amount of gen peds and general floor work/outpatient medicine. If that's not your cup of tea, consider applying to EM instead. I'm not sure if it would meet your personality better, but it's much easier to go to peds EM from EM rather than peds (and the pay is better if you do adult EM).

Generally, peds fellowships are not competitive. However, NICU, PICU, and EM are among the most competitive fellowships (one of the main reasons being that the pay is actually better in the long run than gen peds). Last year for PICU, there were 188 applicants for 187 positions (9 people didn't match, so there were some open positions at the end). For PEM, there were 214 applicants for 180 positions. This has been pretty consistent for the past few years. NICU had 248 applicants for 254 positions.

 

[oldbearprofessor]

It's common. If it's what you want to do, go for it. People like having residents who come in with surgical knowledge.