I am a second year resident (not in the US). I have been finding radiology a little more painful and stagnant feeling that I had thought it would be. As well, my director just advised me he thinks radiology is not for me... One the most enjoyable aspects has been the simple procedures such as US guided injections, CT epidurals etc. I have done emerg for 2 years already (not on the program - similar to UK here) I was thinking of pain medicine as an alternative. Am I totally insane?
Radiology to Pain med?
- Thread starter drpopeye
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C
cowme
I don't know, but I couldn't imagine anything worse than dealing with chronic pain patients on a daily basis. Why don't you do IR? You can do plenty of simple procedures there
I think that I needed to clarify it isn't the imaging that is the problem but the interactions with the other consultants. It is a very negative environment.
I actually was trying to figure out how I could salvage a career with some of the skills I learned. I know radiology helps with all fields but this is really depressing for me. I think it is more of a work environment issue. Essentially I have the PD and the director of training wanting me out. I have had some health issues but haven't actually missed work. I am actually quite worried about the idea of having to give up radiology. There has not been a formal process. (ie, no specified areas to fix before a certain date).
Essentially everyone is telling me I am SOOL in this situation. I am going to try and make it work. I can apply for the same year position at other hospitals as there is some degree of lateral movement that occurs. I have completed all of my college requirements and passed the initial exams. I haven't technically failed any of my 6 monthly assessments even though my current PD is unhappy with me. I am not getting in big confrontations. They are just unhappy with my progression and my presentation skills. I know I suck in certain areas but I just finished first year so I have 4 years to improve. It is just starting to feel like I had better have a back up plan. I am at total burnout with this but going to try and fight for a spot.
I actually was trying to figure out how I could salvage a career with some of the skills I learned. I know radiology helps with all fields but this is really depressing for me. I think it is more of a work environment issue. Essentially I have the PD and the director of training wanting me out. I have had some health issues but haven't actually missed work. I am actually quite worried about the idea of having to give up radiology. There has not been a formal process. (ie, no specified areas to fix before a certain date).
Essentially everyone is telling me I am SOOL in this situation. I am going to try and make it work. I can apply for the same year position at other hospitals as there is some degree of lateral movement that occurs. I have completed all of my college requirements and passed the initial exams. I haven't technically failed any of my 6 monthly assessments even though my current PD is unhappy with me. I am not getting in big confrontations. They are just unhappy with my progression and my presentation skills. I know I suck in certain areas but I just finished first year so I have 4 years to improve. It is just starting to feel like I had better have a back up plan. I am at total burnout with this but going to try and fight for a spot.
Radiology is pretty competitive here. We are like the UK. You don't even get on to a program like rads until 3 years out of med school. So you do an intern year + house officer style jobs. And yes, the program is 5 years without the fellowship. So I am now at my 5th year post med school but just only recently finished 1st year of rads.
Why would the consultants be at my mercy?
We get 6 monthly assessments. It was outlined at the last one I needed to improve. They have no specified plan for improvement however.
Basically they are unhappy with how I am progressing.
This location has a high success rate on the exams and doesn't want that tarnished by someone repeating them more than once. That is the general message.
If I switch to another 5 year program like rad onc, anesthetics etc, I will be over 40 by the time I finish and 10 years after I graduated med school here.
Why would the consultants be at my mercy?
We get 6 monthly assessments. It was outlined at the last one I needed to improve. They have no specified plan for improvement however.
Basically they are unhappy with how I am progressing.
This location has a high success rate on the exams and doesn't want that tarnished by someone repeating them more than once. That is the general message.
If I switch to another 5 year program like rad onc, anesthetics etc, I will be over 40 by the time I finish and 10 years after I graduated med school here.
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Most doctors are insane anyway, so even if you are insane you are not alone.
No one is in the position to tell you whether you are suitable or not for a specialty. They may think so but it's up to you to decide for yourself.
So don't give up too easily. Stay in the game unless someone actively kicks you out. Don't kick yourself out voluntarily unless you hate the field (not talking about current bosses, but radiology the field itself if you were self employed and can have things your way). The people are just temporary. Once you get your fellowship, you can move as far away from them as possible and be laughing.
You need to do a root cause analysis. Shamelessly and sincerely go ask for the people who are failing you or inviting you to quit, ask them to go over specific areas of weaknesses and invite them to help you come up with a game plan to improve. You will also need to have some sort of objective measurements eg. fortnightly brief assessments to show you are improving gradually.
There should also be some sort of support network for trainees in trouble. Some sort of liaison network. Also ask for help from your peers and people just one year above you. Again just let them know you are desperate and are on the verge of quitting, would really need advices, constructive criticisms etc. from them. In addition try to find a couple of nicer consultants and also get regular feedbacks from them.
Hey good luck! A big part of medicine is perseverance.
(But then again if you love pain medicine, then go for it. We all have our attributes and suitable path. We need more good Pain doctors. The waiting list for patients at the moment is just ridiculously long).
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Several interventionalists implement pain management as a staple into their practices - it's a part of many neuro fellowships as well. Neuro and msk should also offer avenues into pain...But probably more IR and neuro for spine
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Most of the pain jobs I've seen require training in either Anesthesia or PMR. Not sure if a rads trained doctor would qualify as a pain doc even with additional training. Someone correct me if I'm wrong.
You are wrong.
The OP asked about procedures and not necessarily being a pain specialist.
Regarding pain procedures including spinal and joint injections, a lot of radiologists are doing it at least in the US. These include MSK, Neuro and IR people. It is pretty easy to learn these skills for a radiologist. You just need to know the anatomy and need to know where to stick the needle.
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Ok. So if a radiologist got sick of rads and wanted to do pain medicine, you are saying that they could do a pain fellowship and join a pain group then? I was under the impression that's what they were asking, maybe not.
Also, curious as to what year training you are, and what type of rads are you going into? Pp? academic? fellowship type?
D
deleted103644
Yeah, I'm fairly sure most pain fellowships would welcome someone with an IR background, they just usually aren't interested.