So I'm more confused than ever. Loving Family Medicine. Loving Emergency Medicine. I have no idea what to do. I start my EM rotation next week... so hopefully that will put things into a little better perspective for me.
Here's my PROS/CONS list thus far
EM PROS:
1. Um, everything? It rocks
2. Shift work, flexible schedule, flexibility to pick up more or less shifts.
3. No "practice" to run
4. Fun, amazing, fast paced
5. Diverse pathology
6. No patient follow-up
7. Can move hospitals/cities easily
8. TRAUMA !!!!!
9. Procedures!!!
10. The residency process is awesome
EM CONS:
1. No patient followup... will that bother me eventually??
2. Will I get tired of shiftwork?
3. Possibly more difficult to practice rurally?
4. Only 1 program in the city I live in... so I may need to move... which I REALLY don't want to do.
FM PROS:
1. Diverse pathology
2. Treating all ages, lots of procedures, managing cards, psych, neuro, etc. cases... essentially everything!
3. Can do a general surgery fellowship
4. Continuity of care
5. Day to day life is pretty damn nice
6. Get to do inpatient medicine and be an intensivist
7. Tons of procedures
FM CONS:
1. Responsible for a practice/ difficult to get away, take vacation, etc
2. Might get tired of routine office visits... URIs and UTIs can get boring
3. I don't think I will enjoy the residency process... with tons of months on wards.
Thoughts from Y'all??
A Family's Cry...
5 years ago
here's the thing about an FM residency - you're still eligible to work in an ER. in fact, a lot of rural ERs are staffed by FM doctors who are looking to make extra money/transition out of a practice. I currently have 2 very good friends who want to work in EM, but who are doing it through FM residency programs. and this was with the blessing of their school counselors.
ReplyDeleteI would vote going the FM route just because you have the flexibility to do both types of medicine, but with the bonus of a much less stressful residency schedule. that's my 2 cents, but hopefully this helps!
I don't know, but good luck! Didn't you mention a dual residency program before? Maybe you can do that and put off the ultimate decision a while longer.
ReplyDeleteFlip a coin.
ReplyDelete