FutureERDoc Posted December 8, 2018 Report Share Posted December 8, 2018 I'm really interested in ophtho, but could see myself working in the ER as well (see my username lol). Would it be a good idea or a good strategy to gun for ophtho, and backup with FM? I'd like to backup with FM pretty much only to do EM (I don't want to be a general FM GP). Thoughts? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NeuroD Posted December 8, 2018 Report Share Posted December 8, 2018 Probably a good idea to backup with FM, but keep in mind that EM +1 is very rare. You could do EM in "rural" hospitals though. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FutureERDoc Posted December 9, 2018 Author Report Share Posted December 9, 2018 5 hours ago, PhD2MD said: Probably a good idea to backup with FM, but keep in mind that EM +1 is very rare. You could do EM in "rural" hospitals though. Really? Isn't it an entire career path? When did the FM + 1 EM become a rare path? Are there stats or websites on how the +1 specialization works? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
medigeek Posted December 9, 2018 Report Share Posted December 9, 2018 5 hours ago, PhD2MD said: Probably a good idea to backup with FM, but keep in mind that EM +1 is very rare. You could do EM in "rural" hospitals though. I wouldn't call it very rare... <50% match rate but a lot of those are people applying to just 1 program. Very hard to match? Yes. But very rare makes it seem beyond unattainable. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FutureERDoc Posted December 9, 2018 Author Report Share Posted December 9, 2018 Like realistically ophtho is still far more competitive right? I'm considering the FM-EM as a "backup" but honestly I can't see myself in pure FM alone Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rmorelan Posted December 9, 2018 Report Share Posted December 9, 2018 29 minutes ago, FutureERDoc said: Really? Isn't it an entire career path? When did the FM + 1 EM become a rare path? Are there stats or websites on how the +1 specialization works? It is hard to get - there are many more people that want it than spots for it (say around a 60% success rate on average). I think that is in part because people that backed up with family but really don't want family see a route they can take to do something else. Plus it is only one extra year so some people talking to me about it have a "why not?" approach to it as well. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rmorelan Posted December 9, 2018 Report Share Posted December 9, 2018 13 minutes ago, FutureERDoc said: Like realistically ophtho is still far more competitive right? I'm considering the FM-EM as a "backup" but honestly I can't see myself in pure FM alone True but it is still really competitive - last year as an example there was roughly a 65% success rate. Two years before that it was worse if I am remembering this right. That isn't ophtho bad but it is worse than most other things. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Intrepid86 Posted December 9, 2018 Report Share Posted December 9, 2018 2 hours ago, FutureERDoc said: Like realistically ophtho is still far more competitive right? I'm considering the FM-EM as a "backup" but honestly I can't see myself in pure FM alone If you have no real interest in general practice, then I don't recommend you back up with it. At the end of the day, you do you, but don't regret your choice, because there have been more than a few around here who did. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JohnGrisham Posted December 9, 2018 Report Share Posted December 9, 2018 If you only want FM to go the EM path, I would strongly not reccomend it. Chances are if you dont want general practice, you won't do well enough in your FM residency to shine and become competitive for the EM +1s. Even then, its still quite competitive for the +1. The alternative is to go rural for a number of years and try to challenge the EM exam. Again all things that dont seem to line up if you truly want ophtho first and foremost. You know yourself best. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jfdes Posted December 10, 2018 Report Share Posted December 10, 2018 If you really want ophtho your best bet may be to write and ace the USMLEs and use the US as a backup. You'll know your score well before match date and so will be able to assess your chances - score high enough and you should have a good chance of matching if Canada doesn't work out. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JohnGrisham Posted December 12, 2018 Report Share Posted December 12, 2018 On 12/10/2018 at 1:00 PM, jfdes said: If you really want ophtho your best bet may be to write and ace the USMLEs and use the US as a backup. You'll know your score well before match date and so will be able to assess your chances - score high enough and you should have a good chance of matching if Canada doesn't work out. US ophtho is insanely competitive also, so its not much of a backup. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Aetherus Posted December 12, 2018 Report Share Posted December 12, 2018 The Ophthalmology match actually happens before Canada and therefore you wouldn’t be able to back up with it. You could however attempt to match to Ophtho and then if you go unmatched do a research fellowship, write your USMLE with the view of acing them and reapply the following year. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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