Hey clovermom,

So I am currently in the process of switching back to EM residency from psych. long story, started EM, thought I wanted to do psych, switched (which involved moving away from family), found out I was pregnant, then with twins, had my twins, realized that I wanted to be close to family and to go back to EM, and am switching back. I am scared because I don't like being away from my kids at bedtime/at night, but am really excited because career-wise it is the right move, and I really want my kids to be close to family.

I think you can make anything work. and congrats on your pregnancy! I know it feels hard now, but your baby will bring more joy to your life than you ever thought possible.

I don't think the hours are worse in EM than in any other specialty. psych was really cushy- and I was always home at night which was nice, but it wasn't for me. and I would have had to moonlight A LOT to make ends meet here. The hours in EM were better than IM or peds for me.

have you thought of taking a year off? It might give you time to figure out what you really want, and what is best for you both.

anyway, if you ever want to chat PM me. and best of luck!

One more thing- this has been a really challenging couple years for me as well, with the babies and some other personal tough stuff. And I did not feel at all excited about my career for a while. I just regretted choosing this path, and was quite depressed. but anyway, that passed, and now I feel so blessed. blessed that I have these two beautiful people in my life, and blessed that the field has been so supportive of me to allow these specialty switches. and really excited to get back to EM. just wanted you to know you are not alone!

wow jasb, I'm glad to hear that is possible. I've switched from ob to IM and miss ob somedays and people think I'm insane (oh, the fields are so different, why can't you choose etc). heartening to hear of other's paths.

Clover, I would not apply to 2 specialties... when programs get wind of this they decide you don't really want "their" field, and they discount you. If you don't match in ER you can alwyas scramble into FP, and then do urgent care type work later if you want. It's hard to make any decision when you are pregnant in the 1st trimester (which ought to just be code for hormonally crazy!) but there you are. Life marches on... and you need to sit down and really believe you CAN do this. I would go to your school's counseling/ psych support system if possible, they are used to dealing with stressed out med students and can offer a lot of support. Good luck!

Hey everyone,

the problem I see with applying to one specialty and then potentially scrambling is I won't have any control over my location if I scramble. I think having family nearby is invaluable and am starting to think location should be my #1 consideration.

I am just at a loss about what to apply to. I took a year off (this is my fifth year) because I had trouble deciding last year, so taking another year off is questionable. I don't want to get really rusty with all that time off and I'm very concerned it will decrease my competitiveness to be out so long.

I've tossed around the idea of applying to obgyn in my home area, but am terrified that the schedule is going to be so bad that I will never see my child. I know having my family (including mother) around is a huge help, but I worry that I will really miss out on the first years, while I'm doing such a tough residency. But, I do like the work of obgyn and I enjoy surgery. I'm just so hesitant because of the hours and lifestyle. (plus all of the obgyns who post on this board seem unahppy with the specialty)

I've thought about applying to pediatrics, internal medicine, or psychiatry. Obviously psychiatry would offer great hours. I was a psychology minor in undergrad and like studying the material. But I don't feel completely sold on it either.

I hated internal med my third year and am only really considering it because I'm not sure if I want to do primary care and it would give me the option of specializing....

pediatrics, I did a ward month as a fourth year and actually almost applied, but don't feel as comfortable with kids compared to adults. plus, I wasn't sure if I would like such a procedure-light specialty...

So here I am, it's september, and I don't have it narrowed down in the slightest. I was excited about the shift work that ER offered and it was a better fit, because I like to work fast and enjoy procedures. But since they don't have it in my home area, I think it would be too hard to pull of an ER residency with a baby.

Thanks for all of the comments everyone. Hopefully I'll work this all out... I need a job next year, most of all. I need to remember that I CAN switch into another specialty later, like jasb and frogger.

Jasb- can you elaborate on why you've decided to switch back to ER from psychiatry? Just in your personal experience, what was your mindset and the drawbacks in each field that led you to switching?

Frogger- I'm also curious about your switch. Why did you decide to switch out of obgyn? why are you questioning your decision now?

I'd love to hear your perspectives!

Oh goodness, I am one of the disenchanted obgyns. Please don't let anyone's comments including mine, keep you from doing what you want to do and will love doing!! There are so many specialties because not only are there so many types of medicine, but there are also so many types of people who become doctors!

I too am interested in hearing about those who have switched specialties.

There are so many factors in a specialty decision. I definitely think you need to start by liking the specialty. But if you like a few, a tough question to answer, but important to consider, is where do you see yourself in 10 years? What kind of daily life do you want for you and your family? You will know soon, and are already realizing, that children change your life in so many ways (time, priorities, etc). It is hard to do, but think about what you could be happy doing day after day. In med school and residency you get variety. You switch rotations every few weeks or months, maybe going from an impossibly busy service to a light service, back and forth, and you don't often see what the balance is like for a specialty. Maybe you could talk to a few of the attendings that you feel comfortable with in the fields and find out what life is like day to day.

For example, you mentioned that you liked obgyn and you mentioned liking the surgical aspect. In the real world if you do both ob and gyn, probably most of the surgical cases you will do are c-sections, especially when you first start out. Depending on how busy your group is, you may do a few per week. Most general gyn docs are in the office every day and might have one or two half days for surgery each week, so maybe a few cases each week. With the in office procedures and IUDs, fewer hysts are being done (although they are still out there). Where I am going with this is that in med school (at least mine) you see all the L&D call and the gyn surgeries, but you don't usually spend lots of time in the office setting with a mix of gyn and ob patients, which is where I would say general obgyns spend most of their time. Maybe others can give their perspectives on other specialties.

Maybe put some thoughts into words, like a pro/con list. Maybe talk it out with some of your med school buddies who know you well. Wow. I am not usually that long winded.

Congratulations! And good luck!

First of all, DO NOT apply to more than one residency! pick one and stick to it. FM is not better hours than EM IMHO from my experience rotating and seeing these residents. EM is family friendy because it is SHIFT WORK and once done with residency you may be able to pick (depending on location) the amount of shifts YOU DO.

hey efex101,

I wholeheartedly agree that EM is a very family friendly field, and really enjoyed my fourth year elective in EM, and actually was applying to EM when I found out I was pregnant. My issue with doing EM is that there is NOT an EM residency close to my family... and since EM residency is a lot of nights and seems like a very hard specialty to arrange childcare if I'm a single mother with no nearby family... this is why I am reconsidering other specialties, because I'm trying to be close to my family.

My mother has already agreed to shouldering a lot of the childcare and with a nanny as well, I know residency close to family is going to be a huge help.

Becco- I have followed your posts, this is true. It is disconcerting to see so many disenchanted ob/gyns. I was hoping to be able to work part-time after finishing residency, which seems to be impossible in ob/gyn. I'm afraid that even if I like the field, I will end up exhausted and burned out, with not enough time and energy left over for my family. With the endless call demands that come along with ob, I'm not sure if I'm willing to sign up for it... that said, I do really enjoy women's health and the mix of procedures and surgery, so it's a tough call. sometimes I think I should heed others' advice and "do what I enjoy" and other times I think I should consider how much my life is going to change after this baby gets here.
I've heard so many women say their priorities changed once they became mothers and spending so much time at the hospital didn't seem so rewarding or fun anymore.

I'm just really in a conundrum. I really appreciate everyone's advice/input!

My vote is you can apply to more than one residency. In fact, I did it the first time around (applied to family medicine and ob/gyn). It only hurt me at one place, where there is a combined FM/OB tract, and they knew about this because they shared faculty and asked me about it. However, I don't actually know how much it "hurt" as I didn't rank them highly anyways.

I do think you should try to apply to only things you could see yourself enjoying.

in regards to my switch: I love ob/gyn. Pretty sure I like it more than medicine. But i think there are things in medicine I will like. And I didn't like the person i was/was becoming in ob/gyn. As I see it know (could change) I had to choose between between the career that would make me happy professionally but unhappy personally, versus one that I hoped might be less rewarding professionally but in which I would have options to see my kids, pursue interests outside of medicine, etc. Why am I questioning it now? because its a crummy choice to have to make, and once upon a time someone told me I could have it all....

(FYI, there is a single mom EM resident where I am now, was a single mom resident in FM where I did med school. both away from family...) Family near can help alot; so can a family friendly residency program though where people pitch in to help you. Also, bear in mind people are more likely to help you when they aren't overworked and hanging from a thread themselves.