ICU + Family Medicine Possible???

[pinkyandthebrain]

Does anyone know if it's possible to do GIM with a ICU fellowship and practice as a GP on your off days? Does anyone know of any physicians that do this and what their typical schedule is like, i.e 1 week a month in an ICU in a hospital, 3 weeks/ month practicing as a GP etc?

 

Also, how common is it for intensivists to take 2-3 weeks off a month- i heard some actually do this ? Can you still earn a decent amount if you just work about 12-15 weeks of ICU a year?

 

Any help would be much appreciated,

 

Cheers!

[moo]

Depends on the province. Most provinces won't allow you to be a GP nowadays unless you are either grandfathered in or have the CCFP.

 

I know in BC, you can no longer moonlight as a GP unless you have your CCFP.

 

However, as an ICU doc, why in the world would you want to be a GP? If you really want to do low-key stuff, just be a general internist. Only downside is you need GPs to refer to you.

[physiology]

Yes, there are GPs who do ICU shifts at VGH. They work as "clinical associates" or "CAs" for short. They typically work the night shift. They are generally very skilled and experienced; basically they run the ICU at night.

 

They are not attending staff and function like ICU fellows or internal medicine residents who have ICU moonlighting abilities.

 

Most academic centres wouldn't hire you if you only did 1 week a month and then took the rest of the time off. In those other 3 weeks, they'd expect research, teaching, education, other clinical work associated with your specialty (ie. resp, anesthesia, GIM) or administrative duties.

 

All ICU physicians who complete internal medicine are also certified as general internists. So, you would not be able to work as a GP, but you could work as a GIM. Financially, GIMs get more for new patient visits than do GPs.

 

 

Moo - the current batch of PGY2s who fulfilled their general license requirements will be the last batch to receive the general license