What is the most lifestyle-friendly residency if you have other things to do ?

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Billy2018

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Hello , What is the most lifestyle-friendly residency with minimal patient contact ? Is it Pathology , Radiology , Clinical Pathology ? I would like to explain my situation. I'm not living in the US , So my situation is not typical. I would like to choose a very lifestyle-friendly residency because I have other interests other than clinical medicine. I'm an avid reader. I spend most of my time reading books , programming & Solving problems in theoretical physics. I have been always interested in physics and mathematics. Not medical physics but High energy theoretical physics like string theory & Quantum field theory. Now , I have completed 7 years of medical school with high grades & I'm now 26 years old. But I don't have an undergraduate degree in physics or mathematics which are the subjects my real passion lies. Is it possible to do a clinical pathology residency and continue to do my hobbies as I have been doing before ? Or is it best to leave medicine & Try to apply for PhD Programs & Take the GRE test ?

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Follow your passion and do physics. Life is too short to do something that you don't like.

Medicine is a good field but needs a lot of dedication and eats MOST of your time. I am overall happy with what I have done but if I went back, I would never do medicine again. The amount of time and dedication required in medicine is beyond what people think. It just makes you a different person. Not necessarily bad or good, but just different. You have to sacrifice a lot in your life in order to become a physician and in order CONTINUE practicing as a physician. It is not worth it.
 
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You can't just jump from M.D. -> graduate study in physics or mathematics. Most likely you haven't had many, if any, of the requisite math courses and only a few physics courses. You'd probably have to start as a Year-2 physics/math undergraduate, if that.
Unless you have considerable family wealth, I think pragmatic economics needs to play into it. Not just money cost and money lost, but also time.

Edit: Not to mention risk. Have you even done any professional work in the field? Are you sure you have the ability to do complex mathematics, carry out physics experiments, or whatever else you are considering? Would it be possible to return to medicine if you fail?
 
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You can't just jump from M.D. -> graduate study in physics or mathematics. Most likely you haven't had many, if any, of the requisite math courses and only a few physics courses. You'd probably have to start as a Year-2 physics/math undergraduate, if that.
Unless you have considerable family wealth, I think pragmatic economics needs to play into it. Not just money cost and money lost, but also time.

Edit: Not to mention risk. Have you even done any professional work in the field? Are you sure you have the ability to do complex mathematics, carry out physics experiments, or whatever else you are considering? Would it be possible to return to medicine if you fail?

I don't have the slightest concern about not being able to do math or physics and I believe starting as a Year 2 undergrad is , for me , an unacceptable waste of time. I have self-studied all of the undergraduate curriculum in mathematics & physics. The problem is that I don't have academic transcripts of physics/math coursework that are required for graduate school applications.
 
Based on what I've read, it is my opinion that you would be a poor fit for medicine.
 
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I don't have the slightest concern about not being able to do math or physics and I believe starting as a Year 2 undergrad is , for me , an unacceptable waste of time. I have self-studied all of the undergraduate curriculum in mathematics & physics. The problem is that I don't have academic transcripts of physics/math coursework that are required for graduate school applications.

Can you imagine if one were to go to the medical licensing board and said "Going to medical school is an unacceptable waste of time, I have already self-studied all of the medical school curriculum, just let me practice medicine right now"?

Even if you were really as good as you say, you can't expect people to take you seriously just because you said so. At the very least, you'd need to do research and publish or crush some graduate level courses so there will be evidence of your ability.

It is not clear why you went to medical school in the first place.
 
Hello , What is the most lifestyle-friendly residency with minimal patient contact ? Is it Pathology , Radiology , Clinical Pathology ? I would like to explain my situation. I'm not living in the US , So my situation is not typical. I would like to choose a very lifestyle-friendly residency because I have other interests other than clinical medicine. I'm an avid reader. I spend most of my time reading books , programming & Solving problems in theoretical physics. I have been always interested in physics and mathematics. Not medical physics but High energy theoretical physics like string theory & Quantum field theory. Now , I have completed 7 years of medical school with high grades & I'm now 26 years old. But I don't have an undergraduate degree in physics or mathematics which are the subjects my real passion lies. Is it possible to do a clinical pathology residency and continue to do my hobbies as I have been doing before ? Or is it best to leave medicine & Try to apply for PhD Programs & Take the GRE test ?

In my opinion, you should continue with medicine. I highly doubt you are as well versed in math and physics as you think you are--you've been studying medicine for 7 years which leaves little time for any other serious study. If you really hate medicine, just choose the least loathsome specialty and complete the residency. Get your fulfillment from your hobbies, family and friends. Work part-time in medicine, if possible. Or perhaps your family is well-off and you don't have to repay any loans--in that case do whatever you want. But it's easy to mistake a hobby for a dream career.
 
In my opinion, you should continue with medicine. I highly doubt you are as well versed in math and physics as you think you are--you've been studying medicine for 7 years which leaves little time for any other serious study. If you really hate medicine, just choose the least loathsome specialty and complete the residency. Get your fulfillment from your hobbies, family and friends. Work part-time in medicine, if possible. Or perhaps your family is well-off and you don't have to repay any loans--in that case do whatever you want. But it's easy to mistake a hobby for a dream career.

I don't have to pay any loans. Medical education is free in my country. I actually did spend most of my time studying physics & mathematics. I did not have to study medical topics seriously until about 1 or 2 months before the final year examinations every year.
 
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Can you imagine if one were to go to the medical licensing board and said "Going to medical school is an unacceptable waste of time, I have already self-studied all of the medical school curriculum, just let me practice medicine right now"?

Even if you were really as good as you say, you can't expect people to take you seriously just because you said so. At the very least, you'd need to do research and publish or crush some graduate level courses so there will be evidence of your ability.

It is not clear why you went to medical school in the first place.

I was 17 in the first year of medical school. Besides , The educational systems is complete rubbish in my country. I did not realize that theoretical physics is my passion until I was 19 years old but It was too late because I couldn't change the course by then.
 
I was 17 in the first year of medical school. Besides , The educational systems is complete rubbish in my country. I did not realize that theoretical physics is my passion until I was 19 years old but It was too late because I couldn't change the course by then.
 
Go be a theoretical physicist. Don't waste your life in medicine. You are probably still under 25. Go apply to graduate schools. At the very least, you can get out of the rads forum. It is obviously not for you.
 
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Lets approach the issue from 2 perspectives:

1st Perspective: Centred on you:
I think you are asking wrong question? Why stuck at residency? You won't be a resident for rest of your life.
Post residency lifestyle is what your concern should be. Would that fit with whatever you wish to do.
Why not just complete medicine (~residency) and then continue with whatever you wish to do?
Why so bothered about 3 years only. I think you can wait, Physics and Maths are not going to "break up" with you if you ask them to wait 3 years.:p Unless they have given you the ultimatum : "Honey, its now or never".
The question is whether you wish to practice medicine afterwards or not. This is a sophisticated way to ask yourself a more fundamental question: "Whether you need to practice medicine to earn for yourself?".
If you are rich and don't need to work to pay your bills, droping out pursuing your dream would be right thing to do.
If not, then complete a residency, no matter how tough. And then choose the amount of hours per week you would practice.

2nd Perspective: NOT centred on you:
:wtf:
In case you do pursue residency and then drop out, you would be wasting a residency spot and causing a loss of " 1 Doctor ". All the resources spent on your medical training would go waste. Have you ever thought about this? If you don't wish to practice medicine, you should not be wasting a residency spot (plus your time).

PS: I can't say for everyone, but I have seen that most physics, maths and tech lovers accidently stuck in medicine don't usually have doubt over speciality choice. There preferred choice is Diagnostic Radiology, Most of the time.
 
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well, you can do EM or FM and work evenings and nights in slow urgent care where you can go all "a beautiful mind/goodwill hunting" on the tracking board or, if you are lucky, glass doored patient rooms. just be sure to wipe if off before the psychiatrists come in at 9:30am or they might haldol you. you could work 2-3 nights a week and make enough to support yourself while you complete remedial mathematics at a local college and go to office hours with the professors where you explain your theoretical physics theories and try to get an in to graduate school there. if you can get funded in graduate school you might only need to work 2 saturdays a month at the urgent care for some extra spending material. dry-erase markers for the tracking board do start to get expensive, and you might need to buy adderall or methylphenidate to better fuel your late night fourier transforms and differential equations. that's what i would do, anyway
 
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Well either you are truly genius ie ramanujan or you just think you are. I've met more in the latter category than the former. Therefore from a statistical standpoint you should stick with your day job.


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I have a practical suggestion for the OP:

Take the physics subject GRE. If you make 950+, it will prove to everyone that your self-study of physics/math was not a complete joke (although a perfect score on the physics GRE still does not mean you will succeed as a theoretical physicist). The GRE score would also help you get into a physics PhD program, should you decide that you want to go that route. Most competitive international applicants to the US physics programs have 950+. If you don't make the score, stick to medicine and keep physics as a hobby. Theoretical physicists often produce a lot of their best work in their 20's. You are already halfway past that age.
 
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Still don't get this obsession that rads = maths/physics... Rads is medicine!! Don't go to rads just because you think you will be a physicist. It has everything to do with pathology/surgery/internal medicine. If you don't like medicine go away from rads and choose something specific such as ophtalmology
 
As a physics major perusing these threads, I HIGHLY doubt you are "solving theoretical physics problems". Are you finding solutions to Einstein's tensor notation field equations? Did you self teach yourself linear algebra, partial differential equations, multivariable calculus, and differential geometry? Are you playing around with dirac notation in solving quantum mechanics problems? Or experiencing the math behind 11 dimensions and looking at how string theory solves the problems of singularities and the incompatibility of general relativity and quantum mechanics?

I'm not saying this is impossible, but find it highly unlikely that you are learning this things while in medical school.

Stick with medicine dude.
 
Take the GRE physics subject test, and see how you score. That will be your first unbiased test/evaluation. And prepare hard for it.

I was a math minor, and it is possible to teach yourself calculus up to differential equations. I taught myself basic calculus in high school, so I believe someone smarter than myself should be able to teach themselves advanced calculus.

If you can score 950+ on the GRE physics test, that will say something. Perhaps you could pursue a PhD in applied physics addressing problems in medicine and biology.
 
Still don't get this obsession that rads = maths/physics... Rads is medicine!! Don't go to rads just because you think you will be a physicist. It has everything to do with pathology/surgery/internal medicine. If you don't like medicine go away from rads and choose something specific such as ophtalmology

it's certainly more physics and math based than any other field in medicine.
 
it's certainly more physics and math based than any other field in medicine.

I think randonc could arguably have more...


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I think randonc could arguably have more...


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which spawned from radiology

we can nitpick for days. those 2 are leaps and bounds more math/physics than other medical specialties. the point is if you like math or physics but also want to help people and use your hands instead of doing a bunch of theoretical BS that rarely pans out, rads or rad/onc seem like good choices
 
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which spawned from radiology

we can nitpick for days. those 2 are leaps and bounds more math/physics than other medical specialties. the point is if you like math or physics but also want to help people and use your hands instead of doing a bunch of theoretical BS that rarely pans out, rads or rad/onc seem like good choices

Fair point, was only meaning to throw another potential specialty into the mix.


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