Nirvanesthesia Posted October 15, 2021 Report Share Posted October 15, 2021 I know it sounds odd because they are such different specialties, but I am seriously considering both now that I am doing my psychiatry core. Here are my thoughts on the two. Radiology Pros: I am a visual, observant, and detail-oriented person. I enjoy diagnosing and figuring out the problem. I love technology and am excited about AI. I am an introvert and appreciate the relatively calm, predictable environment and independent work. My CaRMS application is super radiology-focused and I've done electives in it, so I feel I have a good sense of what it's like and can see myself doing it. Cons: I see how stressful and busy it can be because of the sheer workload. There is a ridiculous amount of information, it seems, that I would need to memorize, and I already feel like so much content in medicine is pointless to memorize. I don't want to feel like I'm doing assembly-line work. I may miss talking to patients and being at the heart of seeing and treating the patient. I worry I may be missing out in terms of life experiences with people if I'm spending the majority of my working hours in front of a computer. Psychiatry Pros: I find the human mind so interesting. I love hearing people's stories, and truly getting to know who they are and how they think. I like that there is relatively more time to spend per patient so that I can dig deep. I feel like I would be taking care of the most important part of the person as I would be addressing the psychosocial aspects. Outpatient practice seems very calm while emergency psychiatry seems exciting. Cons: It seems much time is spent getting to know each patient but at the end of the day, those nuances don't seem to translate to treatment so I may stop caring over time. It may be triggering to always be hearing about patients with depression, relationship issues, experiences of abuse, etc. I don't care much for the treatment component: I don't particularly care for the pharmacotherapy aspect of it while the therapy component seems to be referred off to other health professionals. Also, it seems many patients do not "get better" and it is an ongoing struggle to get them to comply with treatment. There is so much documentation. I am introverted so always talking with people at length about their problems may eventually become draining. Finally, I have 0 psychiatry-related things on my CV and do not have enough experience in it to know if I can truly do this. I have not experienced patients who are badly behaved, drug-seeking, or unwilling to listen so I do not know how I would react in those situations. What do you guys think? Would love to hear thoughts especially from radiologists or psychiatrists! Thank you. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shikimate Posted October 16, 2021 Report Share Posted October 16, 2021 If you don't like dealing with people's social problems, probably shouldn't do psychiatry. I enjoy thinking about people's psychiatric problems, but got super frustrated trying to deal with the patients. My 2c here: A. they have compliance issues often, sometimes due to their own fault, sometimes not their own fault, but that's a different discussion. So like seriously why are we sitting there talking about solutions when it isn't' gonna happen? B. treatment takes forever to take effect, and even if something changes, it's all subjective, and who knows if it's because of treatment, or something else that's happened in the months since treatment started? C. I like decisive action and neither psychiatrists or their patients are known for that lol. It's not like something that you can incise, drain and close lol. D. do patients ever get discharged or they just voluntarily "lost to followup"? I feel like there's no end point lol. E. My emotional stamina runs out after like the 2nd interview lol. Also I might get DVT sitting in a chair all day. Nirvanesthesia 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LostLamb Posted October 18, 2021 Report Share Posted October 18, 2021 I know a rad who transferred to psych in or around pgy3… you can apply to both, I’d say switching to something more “competitive” (always subjective from year to year) to less competitive is easier than vice versa. BUT…stranger things have happened. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LostLamb Posted October 18, 2021 Report Share Posted October 18, 2021 Oh…and you would be at higher risk of DVT in both fields…lol Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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