Can you find work after a solo Nuclear Medicine residency in Canada?

[nucs_girl]

Hi everyone,

 

I'm a M3 who plans to apply to nuclear medicine next year.

 

I really enjoy nuclear medicine and have done a fair amount of research in the field, and think the combo programs are great, but I feel there are better research opportunities at some of the solo programs.

 

I have been reading some of the american forums, plus a recent issue of the Journal of Nuclear Medicine which detail the job market in the US. Which point to a crisis in which residents can't find jobs coming out of training, and are forced to try and retrain in rads just to find work.

 

http://jnm.snmjournals.org/content/52/Supplement_2/3S.full

 

I was curious to know if people can comment on what the job market is like in Canada in their region. I know Quebec nucs are a bit more protective of their turf, but I'm unsure how it is elsewhere.

 

Bottom line, can you find work after a solo nuclear medicine residency in Canada? If so, in which regions?

[Laika]

Don't do a solo NM residency. There's no way you can compete for jobs with someone who has the dual certification. I know a NM PD and several practicing radiologists who think it's a horrible career move to enter into the solo NM residency. This perspective is from Ontario, and may not be representative of the rest of the country.

 

If you have your heart set on nucs (and it's a great field!), your best bet is to do a NM fellowship after a rads residency.

[Lactic Folly]

Don't get me wrong - I think nucs is fascinating and may have ended up pursuing it, if not for the lack of combined training programs in the country. But given that even new radiology graduates are finding the job market tight, you would be pretty brave to go for a solo nucs program.

 

SPECT-CT, PET-CT, PET-MR - you will be at a disadvantage in interpreting combined modalities. How about the isotope shortage? PET access is still restricted in Ontario (not sure about elsewhere). Nuclear medicine imaging volumes may not be enough to support a full time nuclear medicine person. Pretty much everyone in Edmonton is dual trained, which allows them to rotate to different areas as needed.

 

Research opportunities should not be a primary deciding factor here. If you are serious about pursuing research in a future academic career, you would likely be looking at putting in extra time during training, either as part of something like CIP in residency, or as part of a research fellowship. In these cases, you would be able to travel to other institutions to seek the best training. The month-long projects people do in residency are not as conducive to high-level stuff.