why not PM&R???

[bustbones26]

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This thread I am about to post if for discussion purposes only, not to offend anybody, etc etc.

Okay, lately I have noticed that it is next to impossible to get a residency in the following areas: anesthesia, EM, Rads, ENT, Ortho, and DERM

Why are these areas so competitive? Well its either lifestyle or money. That is what it all somes down to, one of the two.

So here is my question. PM&R docs have a pretty good lifestyle. No they don't make 400K like a radiologist, but they have a great lifestyle. So why isn't anybody that is looking for a career with a good lifestyle looking at PM&R? Why EM, why derm? Why not PM&R?

While I do not agree that person should choose a career based on lifestyle, well, hell, they do anyways, else derm, EM, rads, etc. would not be so competitive. But I just cannot understand why nobody has yet discovered that PM&R is a specialty with a lifestyle just as nice as EM or derm.

 

[drusso]

Perhaps because PM&R is the second smallest medical specialty and most medical schools do not have required PM&R rotations. That is, most people don't know what they're missing!

 

[Dr. G]

I dont know why people think that its not competitive. If you heard some of the numbers I have heard, you may be surprised. I don't know whether the programs are just giving false numbers just to make themselves look more attractive, but this year is pretty crazy. JFK got over 400 applicants, Kessler got over 700, and I heard that some of the NYC programs got over 800 applicants this year. Many of the programs had to add interview dates just to get the opportunity to interview all the qualified candidates. I definitely think it's competitive this year, and will probably get worse as time goes on. The fact that its a small specialty with limited residency positions in each program makes it even more competitive.

 

[Crookshanks]

I dont know why people think that its not competitive. If you heard some of the numbers I have heard, you may be surprised. I don't know whether the programs are just giving false numbers just to make themselves look more attractive, but this year is pretty crazy. JFK got over 400 applicants, Kessler got over 700, and I heard that some of the NYC programs got over 800 applicants this year. Many of the programs had to add interview dates just to get the opportunity to interview all the qualified candidates. I definitely think it's competitive this year, and will probably get worse as time goes on. The fact that its a small specialty with limited residency positions in each program makes it even more competitive.

Okay...bump bump bump b/c I can't get this out of my mind!

I had never heard of PM&R until today. I'm a pre-med, and I have a long way until residency. Pediatrics has always been what has interested me the most...but this, THIS, this just sounds PERFECT. Granted, I don't know nearly enough about it, I just know what I've been reading here...but I am now a believer of love at first sight.

Now, from the sound of it, this specialty will become more competitive as time goes on, most likely, atleast. That being the case, I'd like to know if you believe that to be true for D.O. residency too. Only D.O.'s can apply to those, and that being the case, it might seem like a good idea to go to an Osteopathic school if PM&R started to get very competitive...

I guess first I should have asked if there is a PM&R DO residency out there? Anyone heard of one?

Any thoughts on this idea? Please share.

 

[acolyte28]

Nassau University Medical Center (East Meadow, NY) and Long Beach Medical Center (Long Beach, NY) are two osteopathic PM&R residencies I know of.

 

[Taus]

Okay...bump bump bump b/c I can't get this out of my mind!

I had never heard of PM&R until today. I'm a pre-med, and I have a long way until residency. Pediatrics has always been what has interested me the most...but this, THIS, this just sounds PERFECT. Granted, I don't know nearly enough about it, I just know what I've been reading here...but I am now a believer of love at first sight.

Now, from the sound of it, this specialty will become more competitive as time goes on, most likely, atleast. That being the case, I'd like to know if you believe that to be true for D.O. residency too. Only D.O.'s can apply to those, and that being the case, it might seem like a good idea to go to an Osteopathic school if PM&R started to get very competitive...

I guess first I should have asked if there is a PM&R DO residency out there? Anyone heard of one?

Any thoughts on this idea? Please share.

This really shouldn't be the deciding factor in choosing an Osteopathic vs. Allopathic school for many reasons... but thats a topic for another time/another place. Anyway....there aren't many DO PM&R residencies out there....only 3 listed http://opportunities.osteopathic.org/search/search_results.cfm?CFID=1047497&CFTOKEN=33350814. That being said, I think the unique parts of the training at DO schools fits in very well this specialty. You will usually find several DO's at most big-time PM&R programs. I'm doing a summer program at one of the premier rehab hospitals in the country and the program director, chief resident and several residents per year are DO's. Bottom line....choose your school for other reasons.

 

[OMMFellow06]

This thread I am about to post if for discussion purposes only, not to offend anybody, etc etc.

Okay, lately I have noticed that it is next to impossible to get a residency in the following areas: anesthesia, EM, Rads, ENT, Ortho, and DERM

Why are these areas so competitive? Well its either lifestyle or money. That is what it all somes down to, one of the two.

So here is my question. PM&R docs have a pretty good lifestyle. No they don't make 400K like a radiologist, but they have a great lifestyle. So why isn't anybody that is looking for a career with a good lifestyle looking at PM&R? Why EM, why derm? Why not PM&R?

While I do not agree that person should choose a career based on lifestyle, well, hell, they do anyways, else derm, EM, rads, etc. would not be so competitive. But I just cannot understand why nobody has yet discovered that PM&R is a specialty with a lifestyle just as nice as EM or derm.

It has definitely gotten competitive. Alot more people know about it and it is actually getting a little annoying because more people are going into it solely for lifestyle and not because they are really interested in the specialty. One of the great things about PM&R is that it is a small community of mostly people that really love the field, but I am worried that we will get more people that want it just for the lifestyle. Anyone else worried about this?

 

[gboom22]

Yeah i have a interest in PM&R and who knows how tough it will be to get into 3 years from now. I know the Nassau University Medical Center and Long Beach Medical Center directors taught my class and mentioned how much more competitive obtaining a residency was.

The thing that worries me the most is how much primary care is going to suffer due to the majority running away from it due to lifestyle and monetary reasons.

 

[Crookshanks]

Yeah i have a interest in PM&R and who knows how tough it will be to get into 3 years from now. I know the Nassau University Medical Center and Long Beach Medical Center directors taught my class and mentioned how much more competitive obtaining a residency was.

The thing that worries me the most is how much primary care is going to suffer due to the majority running away from it due to lifestyle and monetary reasons.

hmm...I started working with a D.O. this week, and frankly this is the first doc that I've ever talked to outside of my and my daughter's physicians. He is the director of a residency program in a local hospital, and he loves it. However, he said he used to work in private practice, and he was working 65 to 70 hours a week. He is either FP or IM, not sure which, but by the work he was doing, I've assumed this. I had loads of fun working with him, as his interpreter, but the thought of working a SEVENTY hour work week is CRAZY. I couldn't do that. THAT is what turns people away from primary care. It's a shame, because I think I'd like it A LOT...but those HOURS. I don't care about the money, 100K is GOOD money in my eyes, but it's the hours that make me worry...

I don't know too much about PM&R, but after primary care (IM and peds), it seems to be the specialty that most interests me...and if someone has to choose between two things they like a lot, and include in that choice how many hours they have to work, when we're talking 65-70 hours for the more undesireable situation, which would you expect them to choose?