The bad part is that I cry. A lot. I don't know how to overcome this particular obstacle. My boyfriend thinks I am too sensitive to be a peds geneticist. His attitude is basically "Holy shit woman, you're crazy enough with no reason to cry.... I can't handle you working in a place where there really is reason to burst into tears all day long." Fair enough. But I still love it. The things I don't love about it? Most genetic diseases aren't treatable. It's like "Yup, you've got disease X, sucks for you". Also, about 100% of genetics work is in the clinic or the lab. Two things I'm not totally hip on. No procedures, no surgery, nada. Unless you combine pediatric genetics with something like critical care... but sheesh... that's a whole lotta years of residency. Yikes.
Well, we'll see. I'm just thrilled that something has grabbed me.
i have a 12 year old daughter with full trisomy 18. but she doesnt have rocker bottom feet. we are in colorado and i kiss her all the time.
ReplyDeleteYour sensitivity is what brought you to medicine. It isn't your enemey. However, you should be aware of your emotional limitations. Something that really tears you up every day may either cause you to break down or harden--neither of which is good.
ReplyDeleteI thought about Peds Onc and Psych in med school, both appealed to my empathy with the heart-breaking patients. I ended up choosing neither because I doubt a sensative doc like me could have held it together in those field without turning mean.
I'm not sure Pediatric Genetics is really a clinical specialty yet. Sub-Sub Specialists that work on diseases with no cures are almost never fully clinical. If you want to help kids like this as a Peds Geneticist you'll almost certainly spend a lot of your time on research. If spending most of your days away from your patients in a lab crunching numbers or studying cells appeals to you then you could probably do a lot of good in this field.
My guess, thought, Ella is that you are more of a clinical person. Looking forward to hearing more on this.
Dr. D. Peds/Genetics is totally a specialty. There are many combined pediatrics and medical genetics residencies. Mt. Sinai has a great one.
ReplyDeleteAnd Jude - you are so lucky to have your daughter for 12 years. That is so rare, you must have amazing karma. How wonderful for you!
I think what Dr. D is trying to say is that it's mostly a specialty of physician scientists, and that you seem to be more interested in clinical medicine than in research. I know several people who practice clinically in the area of peds genetics, and every single one of them runs a lab too.
ReplyDeleteInteresting? A 100% clinical time specialty? I didn't know that.
ReplyDeleteCongratulations you stumped an attending! I'm sure it won't by your last time at that.
Ah, Dr. D. I didn't understand what you meant. Yes, I would guess that everyone in this field spend a good chunk of their time doing research. Bleh.
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