[quote]ryanbCXG wrote:
Happy bdday i lurk in here once and a while when i can. Its cool to see another med guy in here. I am in my 3rd year and trying to sort out speciaties. How did you like PM&R that is one i kinda like. I also have been eye balling optho much pun intended. Awesome to see you still cranking in work man. Keep killing it. which specialties do you like and what are you going for?[/quote]
Thanks for the birthday wishes. I hope youāre enjoying rotations, assuming you just started them. Iām going to write a lot. If you read it and have questions shoot me a PM and Iāll send you my cell number.
If you have an any interest in optho you need to put yourself in a position to be competitive, ie you need to do research, have done well on boards, and ideally get a mentor in the field. My advice is schedule an elective in optho as early as possible. If you love it stay in contact with the attending your with and go for that field. You can still look into other specialties through your third year rotations. You need to make sure youāre putting yourself in a position to be successful if you choose optho.
For me I knew I wanted to do sports so I was between family, ortho, PM&R and IM. You can do ER as well, but I never looked into it.
Iām currently doing a PM&R rotation at Ohio State. I was about 90% set on going into that field prior to doing this rotation. Having gone through the rotation, Iām back to going into family medicine then doing a sports medicine fellowship. I enjoy outpt clinic, sports medicine, and integrative medicine. I can get all of those doing the family then sports route. I donāt think I could from PM&R. From my experience the PM&R docs did not like medicine. Most programs are starting to get IM hospitalists to handle the medical issues on inpatient rehab. They probably get a better MSK background in residency between US guided injections and the spasticity clinics, but I felt like between my strength background and outside interests it doesnāt really matter for me. You also work with traumatic brain injury and spinal cord injury. Cool fields, but not for me. I felt like if I were to do PM&R I would end up just doing injections in a MSK clinic. The field is very broad and you can do sports, interventional spine and pain (popular now because they make good money with pretty good hours), TBI, SCI, and general rehab. Very laid back and the residents are nice. If interested I highly recommend doing an elective third year.
Optho, derm, ENT, PM&R are all interest fields. You kinda have to think you want to do them early and just try them out.
Iām from Columbus, Ohio and in between my first and second year I hooked up with a local doctor who works with a lot of strength athletes. Heās a family doctor who was a big name in the nutrition industry in the 2000ās. He has been a huge mentor to me and is the primary reason Iām going into family. My goal is to emulate his practice when Iām done. Iāll probably do a sports fellowship just to make sure Iām properly trained with US guided injections and because it helps out with jobs later on. Iāve also considered doing an integrative medicine fellowship.
Ortho: Cool field, not for me. They are masters of MSK, but their job is to operate. Surgery isnāt for me personally, but some people absolutely love it.
IM: I loved it. Their deductive ability is unmatched, IMO. The problem for me is I love outpt medicine. From my experience IM is becoming increasing inpt based and if you do practice outpt medicine you are working with geriatrics primarily. I love old people, but in limited quantities. This field is essential if you plan on going into cardio, endo, whatever. I considered endo because I have an interest in homormones, but I enjoy diversity in what Iām doing.
- I hope you killed boards
- every rotation write down what you like and what you donāt like about the field
- the hardest thing is separating the field from your attending. you may love and attending and think that you love the field because of it. Make sure you love the field. Youāll be doing this for the rest of your life, most likely.
- Have an outlet and talk to people not in the medical field. Medical school turns us into loser nerds. Donāt be a loser nerd. If you bounce around during clinicals and donāt see your friends, stay in touch with people. You need social support. It can get lonely and youāll feel insignificant because you donāt matter during clinicals. Find an outlet.
Let me know if you need anything.