What is like to be a pediatric hematology/oncology fellow?

[gus7826]

I am a PGY 2 pediatric resident in NYC and heme/onc and child abuse fellowships are in my mind.

I want to know if there are any peds hem/onc fellows around that can tell me how it is like?

Are you almost inpatient or outpatient?
Do you do Night floats and/or 24 frequently?
Do you spend most of your time in research or inpatient seeing and following the patients?

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[PHOfellow]

Heme/onc fellow at a large academic program checking in. I'll start by saying I think of child abuse and heme/onc fellowships as very different, both in terms of the medicine involved and the overall setting/lifestyle. PHO is one of the more busy fellowships (although it's no cardiology), in part because of the variety: inpatient service, consults, outpatient, and depending on the fellowship/job structure often 2 or 3 of those at the same time when on service. It's also intense clinically and emotionally, which I love but I know others find tiring. This can vary a lot by fellowship, but service time is typically quite front-loaded. First years are usually on call anywhere from q3-6 at most programs, whereas depending on program 2nd and 3rd year fellows may be on call 2-5 times a month, at some places even less. First year is very clinical with most places at least half-3/4 of your time on inpatient/consult service, with the rest of the time in clinic and maybe a couple electives. Years 2/3 are about 20% clinical time plus call, with the rest being research. Lifestyle as an attending can vary a ton depending on what kind of setting you're working in, but almost all PHO attendings have academic appointments (with varying levels of academic output/duties). PHO fellowship is a lot of work and commitment, but I love the medicine that I do. It is not for everyone, though; you should think hard about what you want your life in and outside of medicine to look like and chat with mentors in both fields before making a decision.

 

[gus7826]

Heme/onc fellow at a large academic program checking in. I'll start by saying I think of child abuse and heme/onc fellowships as very different, both in terms of the medicine involved and the overall setting/lifestyle. PHO is one of the more busy fellowships (although it's no cardiology), in part because of the variety: inpatient service, consults, outpatient, and depending on the fellowship/job structure often 2 or 3 of those at the same time when on service. It's also intense clinically and emotionally, which I love but I know others find tiring. This can vary a lot by fellowship, but service time is typically quite front-loaded. First years are usually on call anywhere from q3-6 at most programs, whereas depending on program 2nd and 3rd year fellows may be on call 2-5 times a month, at some places even less. First year is very clinical with most places at least half-3/4 of your time on inpatient/consult service, with the rest of the time in clinic and maybe a couple electives. Years 2/3 are about 20% clinical time plus call, with the rest being research. Lifestyle as an attending can vary a ton depending on what kind of setting you're working in, but almost all PHO attendings have academic appointments (with varying levels of academic output/duties). PHO fellowship is a lot of work and commitment, but I love the medicine that I do. It is not for everyone, though; you should think hard about what you want your life in and outside of medicine to look like and chat with mentors in both fields before making a decision.

By on call do you say you are IN the hospital or just by PHONE if there is a consult?

 

[PHOfellow]

By on call do you say you are IN the hospital or just by PHONE if there is a consult?

With most places it's home call.

 

[Spock]

I am a PGY 2 pediatric resident in NYC and heme/onc and child abuse fellowships are in my mind.

I want to know if there are any peds hem/onc fellows around that can tell me how it is like?

Are you almost inpatient or outpatient?
Do you do Night floats and/or 24 frequently?
Do you spend most of your time in research or inpatient seeing and following the patients?

Agree that PHO and child abuse are quite different. Furthermore, different PHO programs are quite different from each other.

For my program, we're almost all inpatient in the first year (ie 10 months of inpatient/consult, 1 month outpatient, 1 month vacation). Then outpatient in subsequent years with a handful of weekend calls in years 2-3, with the option for internal moonlighting for overnight shifts. At my program, year 1 is very clinically demanding, while years 2-3 are designed to protect your research time.

I will say that frankly, for PHO the job market has gotten to the point where I think you really need to care about the name of the program you go to and whether that program will protect your research time in years 2 and 3. Most of us get into it because we're drawn to the patients, but in academia the number of strictly clinical jobs are quickly vanishing, so you have to play the game and produce the kind of research that can score a grant (or two). It's really hard to do that in 2 years as a fellow, and nearly impossible if your time isn't protected, so at the end of the day you honestly should look for a program that jam packs as much clinical into the first year if it means you have time to be productive in years 2-3 (and ideally year 4, if they can guarantee it).

Job market is a bit better if you're interested in heme or BMT.