Trying to decide...

[phillystudent]

Hello all - this is my first posting...

I'm a 6th year combined degree student at Penn, and I'll be applying for residency next year. I had been thinking I would do Path for various reasons, but after recently realizing the crappy job opportunities in Path (especially if I end up not doing academic research), I'm not so sure. A couple of my friends from med school who are now residents have told me a little about radiology, and it's sounding pretty attractive to me. So I have a few questions for anyone who knows more about radiology that I:

1 - Are the pay and lifestyle in radiology really as good as some people have told me? It sounds almost too good to be true.

2 - Does anyone have a feel for whether the radiology job market will be as good in 7 or 8 years as it is now? Radiology seems to be the hot thing now, but maybe by the time I'm done with residency it will be overpopulated?

3 - How important are the clinical grades for getting into top rads programs? I have good board scores and I'll have a PhD. I did a couple of clinical rotations before taking time off for my PhD, and unfortunately I got a High Pass in Medicine rather than Honors...I'm hoping that won't be a problem. I'm also about to do surgery in January after all this time off.

Thanks to anyone who has time to reply.

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[utlonghorn50]

I think you will find that high board scores and a phD will not overcome your high pass in medicine. Are you kidding me? Good luck but I dontthink you will need it.

 

[oldandtired]

1 - Are the pay and lifestyle in radiology really as good as some people have told me? It sounds almost too good to be true.

What have you heard? It is pretty good compared to most other fields in medicine.

2 - Does anyone have a feel for whether the radiology job market will be as good in 7 or 8 years as it is now? Radiology seems to be the hot thing now, but maybe by the time I'm done with residency it will be overpopulated?

You are right. Maybe it will be over populated. But have you heard of too many unemployed MDs? Do what you like.

3 - How important are the clinical grades for getting into top rads programs? I have good board scores and I'll have a PhD. I did a couple of clinical rotations before taking time off for my PhD, and unfortunately I got a High Pass in Medicine rather than Honors...I'm hoping that won't be a problem. I'm also about to do surgery in January after all this time off.

Every little bit helps, but high passes shouldnt take you out of the running.

 

[phillystudent]

What have you heard? It is pretty good compared to most other fields in medicine.

Pay: A friend of mine who's in his first year of radiology residency said he's expecting at least 300k when he gets out.

Lifstyle: Another friend told me it's possible to work four days a week or take off a couple months a year and still make 500k. I think he might have been talking about working in the mid-west though.

 

[volvulus]

I actually hope the inflated rads salaries come down a little. I have a feeling if these high salaries continue it will ruin our slalary prospects when we finish rads residecy. I mean high rads salaries can't continue when the cost of healthcare is so high. As for the supply, I don't know if it really is going to change much. I mean the number of spots have increased a little but I don't know if it can keep up with demand.

 

[oldandtired]

Pay: A friend of mine who's in his first year of radiology residency said he's expecting at least 300k when he gets out.

Lifstyle: Another friend told me it's possible to work four days a week or take off a couple months a year and still make 500k. I think he might have been talking about working in the mid-west though.


Pay: Even higher is possible

Liefestyle: After partnership

 

[phillystudent]

Thanks. My fiance just told me to stop being so money hungry, so now I feel bad for asking about salaries.

But to be honest, the way I see it is that job satisfaction, lifestyle, and money are all obvious parts of the equation for career happiness that everyone is looking at, and anyone who pretends they don't care at all about what they are going to be paid is either lying or fooling themselves. Sure, I wouldn't do a job I hated just to get rich, but if I have the option of having both, why not?

P.S. Dr. Cuts - please tell me that the picture below your name isn't really you...

 

[peehdee]

I think you will find that high board scores and a phD will not overcome your high pass in medicine. Are you kidding me? Good luck but I dontthink you will need it.

did you mean to say, it WILL overcome or 'will not'? with a PhD and high boards?
which means, are you saying you have to honor pretty much all your clinicals to get into a top rad program? what about 'just to get in anywhere'?

cheers

 

[phllystyl]

did you mean to say, it WILL overcome or 'will not'? with a PhD and high boards?
which means, are you saying you have to honor pretty much all your clinicals to get into a top rad program? what about 'just to get in anywhere'?

cheers

me thinks the batteries in your sarcasometer are a bit low.

 

[peehdee]

me thinks the batteries in your sarcasometer are a bit low.

umm... there was no hint of sarcasm in my question.
it was a serious question. and i would like a serious one

 

[phillystudent]

umm... there was no hint of sarcasm in my question.
it was a serious question. and i would like a serious one

peehdee - I think what phllystyl meant was that the original reply by utlonghorn50 was sarcastic...i.e. utlonghorn50 was saying a high pass won't kill me.

 

[daelroy]

The latest recruiter faxes to my program include one for General Rads right out of residency for 500K with 12 weeks off/year somewhere in the West and one for an MSK fellow for 617K in Southern California.

Really? I thought radiologists earn closer to 300-350K unless you live in the midwest or south. Don't get me wrong 300-350K is a lot of money but it's not 400K-500K like I thought. For those of us who want to live in a major metropolitan city, can you earn 500K + in diagnostic rads?

 

[Goober]

The latest recruiter faxes to my program include one for General Rads right out of residency for 500K with 12 weeks off/year somewhere in the West and one for an MSK fellow for 617K in Southern California.

Ahh still listening to recruiters eh? They are one step below used car salesman in my book.

Well as a MSK rads, not a newly minted fellow, working in southern Cal, I can pretty much tell you that recruiter is completely FOS. I have pretty much either know about or have interviewed or talked to every MSK job in the LA area. Nobody is making close to that much even as partners. You *might* be able to make that much if you owned your own imaging center by yourself or certain premium rare jobs as a senior partner (which would never go through recruiters), but you ain't getting anywhere close to that much coming out of training. LA rad groups are famous for screwing young rads over by stringing them along and firing them before they become partner or giving them some ridiculously huge buy-in so your supposed 400k salary will be more like 200k for another 5 years while you are trying to finish your buy-in. BTW most LA rad groups are very much on the low end nationally incomewise and are well below 500k. I am sure the recruiter is selling one of those screw jobs from an unethical group because that is the type that all the locals know to stay away from.