Specialty Job Opportunity Data?

[bearded frog]

First year med student, and casually thinking about potentital specalties to guide elective choices. Easy to see CaRMS data on compeditiveness of residencies for each speciality, but I've heard that while some specalities are tough to match to, some are even harder to find a job in, let alone in a desirable city.

 

Is there a way to see data on what kinda specalties have the most avaliable positions, and any forcasting of trends for the next 5 years? Thanks.

[mavrik13]

Here's a good place to start: http://www.royalcollege.ca/portal/page/portal/rc/common/documents/policy/employment_report_2013_e.pdf

Best way to find out is to talk with upper year residents in programs you are considering.

 

As a first year medical student, worry more about finding a field you enjoy than the job prospects which are 10+ years down the road.

[ralk]

There are some projections, notably a region-by-region one for Ontario, but I wouldn't call them rigorous or reliable.

 

Any estimation of the job market in any one specialty is going to involve a lot of guesswork, so best to gather up what information you can on what the market is currently in specialties you're interested in and, more importantly, why it is that way. Most surgical specialties have poor job markets due to restricted OR times that are eaten up by more senior physicians - think that's likely to change in the near future? That'll tell you more about the likely job prospects when we finish up than anything else, even though it's at best an educated guess.

 

What you consider "a decent city" to be will affect things. Toronto's oversaturated in virtually every specialty. Sudbury has jobs even in some of the fields notable for having trouble finding jobs. Medium centres in between will have a job market for physicians that's somewhere between those two. London's a pretty big centre, yet I certainly know some people who would not consider it "a decent city" - the more you restrict you location, the more you'll restrict your practice options, in any field.

[GrouchoMarx]

Pathology is looking at oversaturation in the near future. Programs have ramped up recruitment in spite of lack of CMG interest, filling the programs with acquiescent weak IMGs. When these guys get into the workforce, they'll work for 50%. Expect incomes to drop.

 

The Ontario Needs-Based Report states that pathology supply and demand are flush. In the future, the balance will swing in the wrong direction given the overrecruitment.

 

Fellowships will become the norm, eating one year of attending income for everyone. You will have to compete with Americans who have two fellowships and want to relocate to Canada because their job market is worse. You'll have to compete with dermatologists to read derm biopsies, and they'll likely get them with their AAD certification, leaving you with the lawsuit-magnet breasts and prostates.

 

I can't really speak for any other field, but the job outlook in pathology is looking bad.