fan_med Posted April 14, 2012 Report Share Posted April 14, 2012 Hi there, I have been matched to Fam Med of Ottawa University this year. But I really have intention to apply for changing to Rad Onc. Do you think that this idea will be feasible ? Many thanks your comment ! Fan_med Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FamilyGuy Posted April 16, 2012 Report Share Posted April 16, 2012 It is possible. Many have switched out of rad onc in the past few years due to a lack of jobs upon finishing (note: I'm not sure if the lack of jobs is true or not, I've only heard rumours). As a result, some spots have opened up in rad onc. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rock* Posted June 16, 2012 Report Share Posted June 16, 2012 Rad Onc isn't popular for a reason though. We had 3 people transfer from Queen's Rad Onc to Family, including 2 PGY4s(!). People are stuck doing fellowship after fellowship with no end in sight and the pay when you do get a job, which is likely going to be a small regional center, is oftentimes worse than family med from what those residents told me. Something to consider... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ubcredfox Posted June 25, 2012 Report Share Posted June 25, 2012 Rad Onc continues, and remains, one of the most popular specialties in the USA. If you are in Rad Onc in Canada and are interested in making vastly more money, then the US is a very viable option. The trade off is living in the US and working in their healthcare system. So it's not a total dead end road if you are willing to re-locate outside of the country. Certainly there would be hoops, but not insurmountable ones. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HycrestJIT Posted June 26, 2012 Report Share Posted June 26, 2012 One of the most underrated aspects of family medicine is the freedom to set up anywhere and be your own boss and not be at the behest of hospital administrators who have no clinical background. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HycrestJIT Posted June 27, 2012 Report Share Posted June 27, 2012 I'm actually thinking about this now. I like being my own boss, yet finding a job in my current field that has even a quantum of professional autonomy is difficult. On personal principles I have a very difficult time accepting orders from administrators that clash with my duties to patient care. FM in my medschool days was lame: well-baby checks and worker's comp with the occasional noncompliant obese diabetic and antidepressants for people who just needed a good vacation. Fairly mundane. It seemed that the family doc was an integrator of care rather than a decision maker, and frankly I think that describes a nurse more than a physician. How does this differ in the rural setting? Does the FM make more decisions autonomously? Can they completely never even touch OB ever in life? Can they focus on one thing like emerg? Urban family physicians have as much an opportunity to make more autonomous decisions as rural docs do, provided they feel comfortable taking the initiative to do it. Unfortunately in a rural setting, you often don't have the luxury of backup and are somewhat guided into a role of further autonomy (though specialist consults are only a phone call away and a physician should never partake in anything which to they do not feel comfortable doing). The amazingly awesome thing about rural is that you get to do everything in your community. Obs? You provide the low-risk obstetric service (and if you have FP-A or GP Surg training, you act like a mini-consultant within that community). For example, one of the residents who graduated a year ago from my program did an extra 6 months of training to provide sections, tubals, D & Cs, endo ablations and laparoscopies. So on top of his regular office-based FM practice, he delivers his own babies and does sections for the patients of other colleagues, works ER, admits inpatients, does a half-day of elective O&G surgery/week and provides long-term care service. Another example: two of the family docs in my home community passed their ECG certification exam then did a month training with Cards. Now they both interpret ECGs within that community and they also perform exercise stress tests in that very same northern community of 6500 peeps. One of those docs does it for 2 full days/week cause he loves it and he still feels swamped. The rural setting is comprehensive: it covers all aspects of care delivery. It's demanding, the hours are really long and exhausting, and the work can be super stressful when you're in over your head and there's no way to get backup. It's not for everyone, but it's uniquely rewarding for those up for the challenge. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HycrestJIT Posted June 29, 2012 Report Share Posted June 29, 2012 If I ever thought about it I would only want to do emerg in a rural setting, with maybe some urgent care thrown in during my downtime. I would not really want to do ob or office based FM. Is this a doable thing? Potentially, though I would imagine it would be really hard to have communities of docs agree to this type of arrangement. Otherwise the other option is to stack rural ER locums, which would be really nomadic. The short of the long? If you want to do ER only, plan on doing the FRCP or CCFP-EM route. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SharkLvr Posted August 11, 2012 Report Share Posted August 11, 2012 Rad Onc isn't popular for a reason though. We had 3 people transfer from Queen's Rad Onc to Family, including 2 PGY4s(!). People are stuck doing fellowship after fellowship with no end in sight and the pay when you do get a job, which is likely going to be a small regional center, is oftentimes worse than family med from what those residents told me. Something to consider... Here's what I still don't understand - if the situation with RadOnc is so "bad" here, and so lucrative/rewarding in the US, why aren't more of these Canadian residents taking the USMLEs and trying to pursue a route to the states rather than just dumping Rad Onc all together? I'm sure many of them would be more than willing to re-locate to the states, but then the question becomes: are there unsaid "barriers" to prevent these Canadian Rad Onc residents from entering the American system (aside from USMLEs and Visa's)? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thebouque Posted August 12, 2012 Report Share Posted August 12, 2012 are there unsaid "barriers" to prevent these Canadian Rad Onc residents from entering the American system (aside from USMLEs and Visa's)? Family reasons Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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