Trying to decide between Anesthesia and Rads?

[shoneek]

OK, here are my stats, first of all, to get it outta the way:

Step 1- 244
Year 3- All HP's and 1 Honors so far (one rotation to go)
One summer of research (although it was derm)
I've set up to do rads research starting in may, if I want, that will likely end in a publication... not sure
Southern Cal Med School (literally)

Want to end up somewhere good for residency (so/nor cal... not sure yet, would consider good east coast program w/ connections to land me back in so cal after residency).

My problem is that although I am a hard worker, lifestyle and good pay are both VERY important to me, as is the idea of having a job that I like (this thread is for honesty, right). As of now, the most exposure to either field has been peripheral (rads- on the surg and med rotation and anesthesia- on the surg rotation).

So, for you anesthesiology residents/hopefuls, or anyone who had the same dilemna as me, help me out. What are some of the issues I should be looking at, that I may not be seeing. ANY advice or opinions are appreciated.

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[UTSouthwestern]

I don't think you can go wrong with either field in all honesty. I fielded Rads as a possibility but I just didn't have the interest as much as I tried to be interested in it. I also wasn't too keen on being some aspects of the field when it came to occupational exposures. Still, I don't think I would be unhappy if I had chosen rads.

You have put yourself in a great position to be able to choose whatever field you want to go in so I would advise you to do formal rotations in both to get more experience, and failing that, use your extra time to just sit in with a radiologist and anesthesiologist to pick their brain on the job about their motivations and whether or not they are content with their jobs.

 

[powermd]

OK, here are my stats, first of all, to get it outta the way:

Step 1- 244
Year 3- All HP's and 1 Honors so far (one rotation to go)
One summer of research (although it was derm)
I've set up to do rads research starting in may, if I want, that will likely end in a publication... not sure
Southern Cal Med School (literally)

Want to end up somewhere good for residency (so/nor cal... not sure yet, would consider good east coast program w/ connections to land me back in so cal after residency).

My problem is that although I am a hard worker, lifestyle and good pay are both VERY important to me, as is the idea of having a job that I like (this thread is for honesty, right). As of now, the most exposure to either field has been peripheral (rads- on the surg and med rotation and anesthesia- on the surg rotation).

So, for you anesthesiology residents/hopefuls, or anyone who had the same dilemna as me, help me out. What are some of the issues I should be looking at, that I may not be seeing. ANY advice or opinions are appreciated.

The fields are very different. In anesthesiology you talk to, and physically touch the patient, doing very invasive things to him or her. A soothing voice, calm manner, and empathy for the anxious surgical patient is very important. In anesthesiology you will face potentially terrifying life-threatening emergencies as part of your daily job responsibilities. In anesthesiology you tend to think of patients more in terms of their physiology than their anatomy. If structural relationships and anatomy are important to you, consider that this is not a central feature in anesthesiology. You use a little anatomy when doing blocks, lines, and pain procedures. In anesthesiology pharmacology is central to what you do, not so in radiology.

Unless you really don't care what you're doing, and money/lifestyle are ALL that matter to you, picking one field or the other should not be too difficult.

 

[jennyboo]

My advice is to quit thinking about it and just do the rotations. If one of them is definitely not for you (with such a huge disparity of type of work, mentality and environment, you'll probably have this experience) it will be apparent pretty much right away. By the end of two weeks of one (or the other) you'll be ready to shoot yourself.

 

[sevoflurane]

OK, here are my stats, first of all, to get it outta the way:

Step 1- 244
Year 3- All HP's and 1 Honors so far (one rotation to go)
One summer of research (although it was derm)
I've set up to do rads research starting in may, if I want, that will likely end in a publication... not sure
Southern Cal Med School (literally)

Want to end up somewhere good for residency (so/nor cal... not sure yet, would consider good east coast program w/ connections to land me back in so cal after residency).

My problem is that although I am a hard worker, lifestyle and good pay are both VERY important to me, as is the idea of having a job that I like (this thread is for honesty, right). As of now, the most exposure to either field has been peripheral (rads- on the surg and med rotation and anesthesia- on the surg rotation).

So, for you anesthesiology residents/hopefuls, or anyone who had the same dilemna as me, help me out. What are some of the issues I should be looking at, that I may not be seeing. ANY advice or opinions are appreciated.

I also was in this boat at one time. One of my attractions to radiology was the pathology aspect of the field, the direction the field is heading, IR and lifestyle. However, i love the OR and I'm all about procedures (even if it's starting an IV in a 300lb dialysis dependant patient). I also like pharm in action (much more fun to treat high BP's in a matter of seconds rather than a matter of months). I found that applied physiology, and for that matter figuring out why a persons vitals are behaving the way they do was more attractive to me than reading films. The one exception is Interventional radiology. This branch of radiology is super-sweet.... you get to do tons of super cool procedures all day long- your interventions are life changing and major sugery sparing.

You should defenitely do formal rotations in the areas of interest to you... specialized areas would be better. As a cc4 i did a month of cardiothoracic anesthesia and that did it for me. You need to put yourself in your fellow resident/attending shoes and see if you would see yourself in 20 yrs still being pationate about your field of choice. Don't take this lightly for what you choose to do will affect almost every aspect of your life for decades to come. Make sure that above all you will be happy.

As for me, Anesthesia was my chosen path and I'm so incredibly psyched to be part of it.

I hope this helps and... welcome to the forum.

 

[mele]

Shoneek,

The stats you posted should definitely put you in the running (though no guarantees) for interviews for most if not all of the california programs. Like the others said, do a rotation in both rads and anesthesia to help make the best decision for yourself, and keep in mind that anesthesia at SC is not representative of anesthesia culture/training everywhere.

It seems that you are pretty set in being in Cali for residency or at least in the future. In terms of Cali, the 2 bay area programs seem to be more challenging to get interviews at so if you are truly interested in those, I recommend doing an away rotation at one to get to know the program better and help them get to know you.

Good luck with your decision.

 

[mele]

Oops, just re-read your post and saw you were a little more socal focused. If so, a UCLA rotation would be great for anesthesia, though they fill up rather quickly at UCLA so I recommend signing up early summer for one to get the time slot you want. Also, UCLA anesthesia residency comes with a prelim program now (only one in cali that does this) FYI.

 

[cchoukal]

As someone pointed out above, when you do the rotations, really try to put yourself in the attendings' shoes. As a medical student, particularly in these two fields, it's really hard to get a sense for what the work is like. As a med student in IM, you do pretty much what you do as a resident; you're somewhat accountable and have time to try things and see how they go. In that way, you get a little taste for the job. In anesthesiology and radiology, however, there isn't really a great way to make students feel accountable and able to experiment, think about things, offer plans, etc., so in both fields, it sometimes feels a lot like shadowing and, therefore, quite boring.