Really confused between FM and IM! Need help

[MedZZZ 16]

Hi all,

I am at the end of my clerkship and in the process of choosing my electives for next year. I am very torn between FM and IM, some days I'm leaning towards FM and other days I am thinking more about IM.

In terms of interest, I enjoyed pretty much all of my rotations and I can't say I really loved CTU, although the idea of being a specialist and have the opportunity to spend more time with the patient and really delve into their complex problems sound appealing to me and I was more thinking of doing GIM, or clinic-based IM (Rheum/Endo). On the other hand, when I think about 3 years of residency, 1-4 calls, applying to CaRMS for the second round with possibility to not matching to my desired location, unstable job market and possibility of working in an undesired location makes me to think about my decision. 

Family medicine on the other hand is very flexible with only 2 years, stable jobs, ability to do whatever I enjoy (EM, women's health, etc) seems appealing. Financial aspects is not really part of my decision as I think FM can be quite decent in terms of compensation with optimum billings from what I understand and not too much different from GIM or clinic-based IM.

So right now, I am doing 6-8 weeks of FM and 12-14 weeks of IM. I am from BC and I really want to stay in BC. Knowing that IM is very competitive and FM in BC has always been competitive, makes me think that I should make my decision and direct all of my electives towards one or the other. If I have to go OOP for FM, it's fine since it's only 2 years but I know I can't do 5 years of tough IM residency away from family and significant other. As I get closer to CaRMS and finalizing my electives, I feel very anxious and I would really appreciate if I could have anyone's suggestions/advice

[McBurneysPoint 3]

I was in the same boat during clerkship and decided to pursue FM. I enjoyed the cerebral aspects of IM and really digging deep into patients' issues, however, realized that I am one of those people who work to live, not the other way around. I wanted the flexibility and time to spend it with my significant other and the thought of relocating potentially three to four times up until staff life was not something I wanted. At the end of four years, I just wanted to be 'done' and move on with life, rather than go through another gruelling 5-6 years of stress and uncertainty. 

 I did 4 weeks of FM and the rest CTU/sub spec electives. Matched into my top choice of FM. No need for 6-8 weeks of FM I'd say (granted I had 8 weeks of core FM at my school).

[MedZZZ 16]

On 3/5/2020 at 11:01 AM, McBurneysPoint said:

I was in the same boat during clerkship and decided to pursue FM. I enjoyed the cerebral aspects of IM and really digging deep into patients' issues, however, realized that I am one of those people who work to live, not the other way around. I wanted the flexibility and time to spend it with my significant other and the thought of relocating potentially three to four times up until staff life was not something I wanted. At the end of four years, I just wanted to be 'done' and move on with life, rather than go through another gruelling 5-6 years of stress and uncertainty. 

 I did 4 weeks of FM and the rest CTU/sub spec electives. Matched into my top choice of FM. No need for 6-8 weeks of FM I'd say (granted I had 8 weeks of core FM at my school).

Thanks for your insight. How many weeks of electives did you have in total?