I'm an MS1 mulling over a preliminary list of specialties I'd like to learn more about through electives this year or shadowing this summer. Main two things I'm interested in at this point are quality of life (I'm a mom, so reasonable hrs are more important than money) and doing procedures (love to use my hands, although straight-up surgery is not for me). So far people have mentioned anesthesiology, EM, and derm as being things I should look into. Is that about right? Anything else fits this? I have liked most everything I'm learning in med school and I know that I don't have to decide now, but I'm a planner, lol. Would love any feedback!
What specialities fit this?
- Thread starter RedPeony
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Anesthesiology, PM&R (lots of injections)
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Quality of life + doing procedures (but not straight up surgery) screams Derm.
......but there's a reason that Derm is the holy grail for women who want to have a quality family life. The competition will be stiff.
......but there's a reason that Derm is the holy grail for women who want to have a quality family life. The competition will be stiff.
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I'm even farther out than you, but I've been thinking about this and doing a lot of asking around. My criteria were similar but not the same: lifestyle, patient contact, broad scope, reasonable training time.
Here are some of the suggestions I've gotten (clearly they don't all fall right in with all my criteria, but I figured I'd throw them out there):
- Hospitalist or Intensivist - peds, IM, or OB (laborist)
- Oncology, and Hematology in particular
- Radiology with a focus (breast in particular, lots of biopsies)
- EM
- Anesthesia
- Family Medicine
- Infectious Disease
Here are some of the suggestions I've gotten (clearly they don't all fall right in with all my criteria, but I figured I'd throw them out there):
- Hospitalist or Intensivist - peds, IM, or OB (laborist)
- Oncology, and Hematology in particular
- Radiology with a focus (breast in particular, lots of biopsies)
- EM
- Anesthesia
- Family Medicine
- Infectious Disease
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Think long and hard before deciding on anesthesia.........In anesthesia, you will have to take call and you will have to be up in the middle of the night to do these procedures yourself or supervise someone doing them. If you plan on doing the 7-3 M-F mommy track you need to make sure you find the right practice that will allow this a lot of them don't have room for that. If and when you do find this you will never be treated like a partner or be an equal because you don't take call and you will not be on a partnership track. EM sounds like a great field for you because you can work part time or full time and it's not a big deal because shift work is shift work and a group can always hire someone else to work more shifts if needed. The same cannot be said in anesthesia
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I dunno, I wouldn't say that. They're a busy crew, but not quite surgery style. Not to mention the dramatic difference in personality of the field.
OP: given your lifestyle focus, I'd say EM or derm. Being a hospitalist might be a distant third.
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I'll 2nd the Rads with a breast fellowship as an option most don't know about.
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Could consider Rheumatology, can't beat the lifestyle, and lots of joint injections (but that's probably it).
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A lot of these specialties are tough to get into, but based on what you described:
Derm, Ophthalmogy, ENT, Maybe urology, pm&r, EM, radonc (they do some radioactive implants), family (w/ or w/o sports med fellowship), palliative (no real hands stuff)
Rule out:
Gen surg, ortho, neuro/ct surg, cards, interventional rads, OB/gyn, probably anesthesia
Derm, Ophthalmogy, ENT, Maybe urology, pm&r, EM, radonc (they do some radioactive implants), family (w/ or w/o sports med fellowship), palliative (no real hands stuff)
Rule out:
Gen surg, ortho, neuro/ct surg, cards, interventional rads, OB/gyn, probably anesthesia
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Definitely explore PM&R. If you enjoy it then you can rest easy for medical school as it is fairly noncompetitive, whereas you will likely have to grind away the hours in order to stack up for derm (I'm assuming this will be difficult since you're a mom). The people I know in PM&R LOVE their work and it is a great lifestyle - by doctor's standards - even in residency.
Some of the others listed above are great once residency is complete (EM, ENT, etc), but still have a tough couple years in residency where you may not be getting as much at-home time as you'd like.
Some of the others listed above are great once residency is complete (EM, ENT, etc), but still have a tough couple years in residency where you may not be getting as much at-home time as you'd like.
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No one really knows what they do.
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Lifestyle + procedures = derm, urology, ENT (good lifestyles after residency), ophtho, EM, rads-->IR, PM&R, maybe anesthesia (although I'm not convinced it's either too much of a lifestyle field or all that procedural), FM if you specialize in derm, maybe GI but IM residency will be rough
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Anesthesia offers the no call, no weekend, 7-3 mommy track jobs as well as full time in an ambulatory surgery center. Not all groups will hire for this, so you'd have to be willing to move to get the job you want. If you like anesthesia, you could make this work.
5 year residency + Fellowship= ouch! That's a big upfront time commitment!
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PMR is not competitive because like above poster said, no one knows what they do, and also payout is significantly lower than the others.. derm, ent, op, rad.. etc
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Pm&r
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I second this.
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When you factor in only averaging 50-60 hours per week during residency, it's still great.
That's not that unreasonable. Interestingly enough I was actually speaking to a PGY-4 Radiology resident today that's pursuing a fellowship because the job market is rough. Either way you cut it though, 6 years is a long time.
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With the new boards basically all radiology residents will be doing fellowships so that's another thing to consider. 6 years is a long time but the vast majority of sub specialty fields require 6 or more years so it's all relative.
