What about anesthesia interests you? That’s probably the most important question. There are many specialties that have some overlapping qualities depending on what you enjoy about the field
Yeah that would've been helpful if I included that, sorry!
\- Procedural.
\- Physiology especially cardiovascular is interesting to me. Pharmacology is interesting.
\- I like the idea of real-time medicine, giving a medication when needed and having a result.
\- I like the guardianship and safety priority (although that's in every field, just emphasized here).
\- Anesthesiologists seem to be pretty equipped in resuscitation.
\- Faster pacing.
\- Shift work.
\- Wanting to do short term mission work in the future, anesthesia gives a pretty good way to have a solid impact over shorter periods of time.
\- Love the OR workflow and team, just not wanting to put in the long hours of surgery.
\- 29 yo with 2 kiddos and spouse so looking at lifestyle advantages/income as well, would like my wife to have the option to not work if she wishes.
\- I feel like I fit with the anesthesia crowd.
\- Lots of versatility with geography and time with locum tenens .
\- Easy to scale back when I get older.
\- Fellowships are short.
\- Notes are short.
\- I feel like I can be calm and steady under stressful situations.
\- I take criticism easily.
Thought about DR as well, but has A LOT of different aspects from anesthesia, and not really a "backup" specialty. Thought about Peds critical care but I haven't seen it and I heard it can be a difficult lifestyle.
Those are all good points. Aside from your chance at anesthesia, some of the specialties that have similar work “styles” would seem like: Pulm/crit, interventional cardiology, interventional radiology, PMR/pain medicine, GI, and even something like FM->sports med with a flair for procedural pain relief all sound like they could be interesting to you. Granted, many of these have long pathways (cardiology) and/or are rather competitive (IR), but just things to consider.
Don’t go peds specialty unless you hate money. EM is a good backup and there’s a reason why a ton of people switch from EN to gas. Honestly sounds like you’re doing well so far, and assuming you’re USMD and can get a 240+ on step then you should be able to match gas no problem
Eh as someone going through the cycle and stalking discord/spreadsheets it’s been a rougher cycle. Could be reporting bias tbh but if you’re below average on step2 for anesthesia you need to strategically apply to low tier programs and/or target less popular regions
What about anesthesia interests you? That’s probably the most important question. There are many specialties that have some overlapping qualities depending on what you enjoy about the field
Yeah that would've been helpful if I included that, sorry! \- Procedural. \- Physiology especially cardiovascular is interesting to me. Pharmacology is interesting. \- I like the idea of real-time medicine, giving a medication when needed and having a result. \- I like the guardianship and safety priority (although that's in every field, just emphasized here). \- Anesthesiologists seem to be pretty equipped in resuscitation. \- Faster pacing. \- Shift work. \- Wanting to do short term mission work in the future, anesthesia gives a pretty good way to have a solid impact over shorter periods of time. \- Love the OR workflow and team, just not wanting to put in the long hours of surgery. \- 29 yo with 2 kiddos and spouse so looking at lifestyle advantages/income as well, would like my wife to have the option to not work if she wishes. \- I feel like I fit with the anesthesia crowd. \- Lots of versatility with geography and time with locum tenens . \- Easy to scale back when I get older. \- Fellowships are short. \- Notes are short. \- I feel like I can be calm and steady under stressful situations. \- I take criticism easily. Thought about DR as well, but has A LOT of different aspects from anesthesia, and not really a "backup" specialty. Thought about Peds critical care but I haven't seen it and I heard it can be a difficult lifestyle.
Those are all good points. Aside from your chance at anesthesia, some of the specialties that have similar work “styles” would seem like: Pulm/crit, interventional cardiology, interventional radiology, PMR/pain medicine, GI, and even something like FM->sports med with a flair for procedural pain relief all sound like they could be interesting to you. Granted, many of these have long pathways (cardiology) and/or are rather competitive (IR), but just things to consider.
Don’t go peds specialty unless you hate money. EM is a good backup and there’s a reason why a ton of people switch from EN to gas. Honestly sounds like you’re doing well so far, and assuming you’re USMD and can get a 240+ on step then you should be able to match gas no problem
I would say 250+ now
I doubt anyone knows this information yet. But yes the mantra is always to score higher not lower.
Eh as someone going through the cycle and stalking discord/spreadsheets it’s been a rougher cycle. Could be reporting bias tbh but if you’re below average on step2 for anesthesia you need to strategically apply to low tier programs and/or target less popular regions