Peace Posted March 7 Report Share Posted March 7 Hi All, I would like to get some advice if anyone has any insight! I have been struggling to decide on a specialty as I am nearing the end of my second year. I have entered medical school with ophthalmology in mind and started a few things. However, I am doubting if optho is really what I want as I am not a surgical person or very good with technology. I am also questioning whether I really find the eye interesting and sometimes think the pathology is a little creepy. I am someone who needs a low-stress environment, as I am a generally anxious person and kind of an indecisive person (I need for there to be clear answers on what to do). I am also a bit older, so the next few years are critical for starting a family, so I do not want a residency with terrible hours and many calls. I thought maybe dermatology would be great if I am second guessing optho, as I have always been interested in skin and wanted to do it since I was younger. Derm would also have a great lifestyle with low calls. However, I am not interested in cosmetic dermatology (botox, etc.), so wondering if this would limit me? I am also wondering whether I would find the pathology gross as many do. I do not mind rashes, eczema, psoriasis, etc., but not sure how if I would be okay with all the genital derm. I have shadowed but feel like shadowing does not give you a complete picture and you need to do the job to know how it feels (hopefully clerkship will help, but I need to decide now for competitive specialties). I am also an undecisive person which makes this difficult. I know that I value lifestyle as I do want to have a family the next few years. I feel like having the best lifestyle possible during residency is ideal. I also LOVE children, but Peads I heard has a tough residency and many calls. I would appreciate any insights anyone has and any recommendations for particular programs and schools. I would prefer to stay in southwestern Ontario and don't need a large program like UofT. I would be happy in a smaller city like Waterloo. Thank you Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bearded frog Posted March 7 Report Share Posted March 7 Optho and derm are the two most compeditive residencies in Canada. If you're halfway through medical school and don't already have multiple derm things going on (research etc.) and are at all limited by geography then sure you can apply but I would have a solid back-up specialty in mind. Peace and Pakoon 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
robclem21 Posted March 7 Report Share Posted March 7 Why not family? 2-year residency: light on call, you can customize your practice to whatever you want, can do residency in a smaller city. You can do some derm and peds. garceyues, TopChef, Peace and 3 others 6 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
attempt2 Posted March 7 Report Share Posted March 7 Peds derm (peds then +1 in derm at SickKids or derm then +1, these are not accredited fellowships as far as I understand) might be a good use of your dual interests. No cosmetics and potentially no call. Also, it is a misconception that you absolutely need derm research. It is probably favored at some institutions, but people definitely get in with non-derm publications or a strong CV in other areas. Lastly, derm is not a lifestyle residency. It is entirely institution dependent and there is a lot of variability. Some programs put you closer towards internal medicine-like schedules, while others are vastly more "chill", but still not in entirety as the hours tend to pick up towards PGY3/the first two years on service. With approximately 18-22 english spots per year, it is difficult to aim and match to one specific program and you will need to be mentally willing to go anywhere in Canada. Peace 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hero147 Posted March 7 Report Share Posted March 7 2 hours ago, attempt2 said: Peds derm (peds then +1 in derm at SickKids or derm then +1, these are not accredited fellowships as far as I understand) might be a good use of your dual interests. No cosmetics and potentially no call. Also, it is a misconception that you absolutely need derm research. It is probably favored at some institutions, but people definitely get in with non-derm publications or a strong CV in other areas. Lastly, derm is not a lifestyle residency. It is entirely institution dependent and there is a lot of variability. Some programs put you closer towards internal medicine-like schedules, while others are vastly more "chill", but still not in entirety as the hours tend to pick up towards PGY3/the first two years on service. With approximately 18-22 english spots per year, it is difficult to aim and match to one specific program and you will need to be mentally willing to go anywhere in Canada. Derm residency is as lifestyle as you're going to get in residency. minus off service rotations. Others include rad onc and physiatry. Peace 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dooogs Posted March 8 Report Share Posted March 8 From what ive seen on rotation ophtho is not a lifestyle speciality lol. Stick to derm for that Peace 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
attempt2 Posted March 8 Report Share Posted March 8 8 hours ago, hero147 said: Derm residency is as lifestyle as you're going to get in residency. minus off service rotations. Others include rad onc and physiatry. Hard to ignore off-service when it is 2 years, and can be very internal medicine heavy with call. While on service, derm residents do end up staying up to/past 6 PM routinely after clinics to review consults when on call (call is also usually 1 week at a time continuous, with no post call day), and can very often end up staying that long on normal days. At my institution, psych/urban family appear to have better hours, but I assume there will be natural variability between programs. Peace 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Artier Posted March 8 Report Share Posted March 8 On 3/6/2024 at 8:13 PM, Peace said: However, I am doubting if optho is really what I want as I am not a surgical person or very good with technology. Would recommend staying away from ophtho if this is true Peace 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shikimate Posted March 8 Report Share Posted March 8 derm is neither low stress nor for the indecisive mind like derm workflow is fast and consults are seen quickly. Decisions are usually made quickly. You don't get to spend 30 min doing a history and physical on someone lol. Have you been to a derm clinic? The dermatologist is usually in-and-out before you even blink lol. I think you should do public health, basically a 9-5 office job otherwise you are asking for a lot of pluses and seems you aren't willing to take many minuses. There aren't many specialties in medicine that give you all those pluses you want. You can pretty much rule out anything related to IM/peds, surgery, even radiology. garceyues and Peace 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
1D7 Posted March 9 Report Share Posted March 9 Have you considered PM&R, radonc, public health, or allergy? Peace 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pakoon Posted March 9 Report Share Posted March 9 So you just happen to like 2 of the most competitive specialities? Unfortunately you, many others do. The only difference is a lot of individuals would have been grinding to build a strong application since almost day one. Another point to mention is although research (which typically takes the most time to build on a CV) isn't a requirement to match, I'm willing to die on the hill that there is an extremely high correlation between it and the number of interviews applicants received (and then subsequently matched). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hero147 Posted March 9 Report Share Posted March 9 On 3/8/2024 at 12:46 AM, attempt2 said: Hard to ignore off-service when it is 2 years, and can be very internal medicine heavy with call. While on service, derm residents do end up staying up to/past 6 PM routinely after clinics to review consults when on call (call is also usually 1 week at a time continuous, with no post call day), and can very often end up staying that long on normal days. At my institution, psych/urban family appear to have better hours, but I assume there will be natural variability between programs. Oh no, I don't mean to say it is easy. Theres a lot to read and learn about for dermatology. But most other fields also have to do off service rotations. You could make an argument that fam med only has to do a year or so and thus is an easier residency, but amongst 5 year programs, I would still classify derm as more lifestyle than not. Calls and postcall days are super dependent on how busy you are. Most after hour consults I would imagine can wait till the morning. attempt2 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
attempt2 Posted March 10 Report Share Posted March 10 12 hours ago, hero147 said: Oh no, I don't mean to say it is easy. Theres a lot to read and learn about for dermatology. But most other fields also have to do off service rotations. You could make an argument that fam med only has to do a year or so and thus is an easier residency, but amongst 5 year programs, I would still classify derm as more lifestyle than not. Calls and postcall days are super dependent on how busy you are. Most after hour consults I would imagine can wait till the morning. That is fair. I am indeed in the boat that FM is a far "chiller" residency given the shorter program duration and shorter time needed on rotations with call. I am also hoping to set the expectation to OP that even for "lifestyle" specialties, it is never simply 9-5. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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