Surgery resident here looking for advice about transferring to an anesthesiology program, hopefully into a CA1 spot. To keep things as anonymous as possible I'll not share a lot of details as to why I want to change programs/specialties. I am resident in good standing with my program and I still very much enjoy surgery. However I am to the point were I am not sure if I can finish the residency. I am working about 14-16hrs per day and I am on a 24hr call/back-up every other week which leaves barely any time to study for the in-service exam, let alone enjoy some free time. Whatever free time I can find I use it to sleep because I am tired all the time and cant concentrate enough to study. At this point, because I haven't been doing well on the in-service exams I don't think I can get into my preferred fellowship. I understand residency is not easy, especially surgery, but I feel like what I am doing is futile since I will be miserable if I continue with this program. I am not the only one that feels this way in my program.
Do you guys have advice for me or know about residents/attendings that have made the transition? Btw, I am choosing anesthesiology because I find it very interesting and was actually one of my 2 specialties when applying for residency as a 4th year (kind of regret choosing surgery to some degree now). Thanks.
EDIT: I am not a PGY-1 nor a PGY-5, I am somewhere in between those two years.
DogguieUp,
First of all, I'm sorry you find yourself in this situation. Take whatever comfort you can in knowing that you are in a boat with perhaps thousands of other residents across the country who are coming to understand that there is a vast gulf between the reality of training and the preview trailer you get during medical school. Since you are asking for advice about transferring now, its probably safe to assume that you didn't submit an ERAS application this year. What you should do in the immediate future is avail yourself of whatever support resources your institution has to see if you can find some ways to help you manage.
Now...I think its time for you to be a little more honest with yourself and with everyone else. One the one hand, you are saying that you are choosing anesthesiology because you have always found find it interesting. But on the other hand, you told us you still very much enjoy surgery and are currently a resident in good standing in your department. In fact, the only reasons you are dissatisfied with your current experience revolve around the time commitment and operational tempo your program is requiring of you.
Unless you have totally misrepresented your situation, it is abundantly clear that you are not thinking of changing specialties because you find one more interesting or professionally satisfying than the other. You are thinking of changing specialties because you want your residency experience to have a different work life balance.
That doesn't mean that you shouldn't switch. Plenty of people have made the switch and have done well. I've had dozens of residents who have come from surgical backgrounds and have thrived. I have a dozens upon dozens of applications right now from people wanting to switch. But before you jump over to where you think the grass is greener. How much anesthesia have you actually done? You do realize that for every long 14-16 hour surgical day or 24 hour call you have, there are anesthesia residents on the other side of that. Yes, their aggregate weekly hours could very well be less, but those long and grueling shifts exist on this side of the drape too. And that doesn't count all the non-OR areas that you will have to rotate through. OB, ICU, acute and chronic pain, off-service, etc.
The advice I have for you at this stage is to take a hard look at what's going on. You are are currently a resident who is successfully completing training and are currently enduring hard times. Are you just having some hard rotations with the workload lessening in the months and years ahead? After training, you have much more freedom to determine your own hours. Most people would say 30-40 years of a career you enjoy and find fulfilling is worth a temporary period of difficulty. Since you are between a PGY-2 - PGY-4. After this year, you will have between 1 and 3 years before graduating. If you make the switch next year, that's at least another 4 years from now before graduation...think about that.
But if you look in the mirror and still want to switch, then get as much experience actually doing anesthesia as possible. Come application season, there are a variety of reasons why residents decide to switch and successful change specialties. The common thread between them all is that the ones we try to take are the ones that are honest about it.
