fellowship decision

OK, we have 16 months left to go until a (somewhat) normal life and call from home, when my husband comes home and announces he's seriously considering a fellowship. Ack! Of course he wants my input and of course I want to support his professional development, but the more I think about it the less thrilled I am about 3 more years of call and meager income. The worst thing is the possibility of moving somewhere else for just a short time - it's so hard to feel like getting 'moved in' to a place, making the effort to find friends, etc, when you're just going to leave.

Tom's aware of all these drawbacks, of course, and is torn about what to do. So, how did the rest of you handle this decision point? ONe of the big questions is how much more he would make as a peds GI specialist as opposed to general peds. Any idea how we could find this out? The grapevine is full of wild rumors on this point...

So is impatience to get on with life going to lead him into regret 5 years from now? And if he decides to do the fellowship, how will I keep from screaming over 3 more years of 'training'? ANy thoughts, anyone?

Kaaren

OK, we have 16 months left to go until a (somewhat) normal life and call from home, when my husband comes home and announces he's seriously considering a fellowship. Ack! Of course he wants my input and of course I want to support his professional development, but the more I think about it the less thrilled I am about 3 more years of call and meager income. The worst thing is the possibility of moving somewhere else for just a short time - it's so hard to feel like getting 'moved in' to a place, making the effort to find friends, etc, when you're just going to leave.

Tom's aware of all these drawbacks, of course, and is torn about what to do. So, how did the rest of you handle this decision point? ONe of the big questions is how much more he would make as a peds GI specialist as opposed to general peds. Any idea how we could find this out? The grapevine is full of wild rumors on this point...

So is impatience to get on with life going to lead him into regret 5 years from now? And if he decides to do the fellowship, how will I keep from screaming over 3 more years of 'training'? ANy thoughts, anyone?

Kaaren

OK, we have 16 months left to go until a (somewhat) normal life and call from home, when my husband comes home and announces he's seriously considering a fellowship. Ack! Of course he wants my input and of course I want to support his professional development, but the more I think about it the less thrilled I am about 3 more years of call and meager income. The worst thing is the possibility of moving somewhere else for just a short time - it's so hard to feel like getting 'moved in' to a place, making the effort to find friends, etc, when you're just going to leave.

Tom's aware of all these drawbacks, of course, and is torn about what to do. So, how did the rest of you handle this decision point? ONe of the big questions is how much more he would make as a peds GI specialist as opposed to general peds. Any idea how we could find this out? The grapevine is full of wild rumors on this point...

So is impatience to get on with life going to lead him into regret 5 years from now? And if he decides to do the fellowship, how will I keep from screaming over 3 more years of 'training'? ANy thoughts, anyone?

Kaaren

[Phoebe]

Kaaren- I understand your concerns about the fellowship. My husband started a three year fellowship in neonatology this year after completing his peds residency.



Our situation was a little different because we engaged, but not married when he began applying for the fellowship. I was part of the whole process in deciding where to go. At that point, I was wide eyed and bushy tailed about marriage and his fellowship that I was happy to support him at all costs. He began applying mid way through his second year to various fellowship spots. By the end of this third year, even we had decided where he wanted to go, he was questioning his decision because he was so burned out. I pushed him for the fellowship because I knew that he loved neonatology much more than primary care. His residency focused on primary care so he has lots of clinic days which he hated.



The fellowship has been demanding with call schedules much like his intern year. Many times he actually thought of withdrawing and looking for a peds job. He even talked about leaving medicine altogether and doing manual labor. It isn't easy by any means. I can say that I hate his job right now as I never see him and have to do most of the work in our daily lives.



On the flip side, Ron loves his job and the challenges it brings to work with neonatology. I want to support him in that. Money wasn't the deciding factor for him. The pay in his specialty has a big range. Ultimately, I know he will be happier with the fellowship even though he questions it at times. I am not sure how the fellowship your husband is considering compares with neonatology. It isn't an easy decision. Let me know if I can help or answer any more questions. Jennifer

[Phoebe]

Kaaren- I understand your concerns about the fellowship. My husband started a three year fellowship in neonatology this year after completing his peds residency.



Our situation was a little different because we engaged, but not married when he began applying for the fellowship. I was part of the whole process in deciding where to go. At that point, I was wide eyed and bushy tailed about marriage and his fellowship that I was happy to support him at all costs. He began applying mid way through his second year to various fellowship spots. By the end of this third year, even we had decided where he wanted to go, he was questioning his decision because he was so burned out. I pushed him for the fellowship because I knew that he loved neonatology much more than primary care. His residency focused on primary care so he has lots of clinic days which he hated.



The fellowship has been demanding with call schedules much like his intern year. Many times he actually thought of withdrawing and looking for a peds job. He even talked about leaving medicine altogether and doing manual labor. It isn't easy by any means. I can say that I hate his job right now as I never see him and have to do most of the work in our daily lives.



On the flip side, Ron loves his job and the challenges it brings to work with neonatology. I want to support him in that. Money wasn't the deciding factor for him. The pay in his specialty has a big range. Ultimately, I know he will be happier with the fellowship even though he questions it at times. I am not sure how the fellowship your husband is considering compares with neonatology. It isn't an easy decision. Let me know if I can help or answer any more questions. Jennifer

[Phoebe]

Kaaren- I understand your concerns about the fellowship. My husband started a three year fellowship in neonatology this year after completing his peds residency.



Our situation was a little different because we engaged, but not married when he began applying for the fellowship. I was part of the whole process in deciding where to go. At that point, I was wide eyed and bushy tailed about marriage and his fellowship that I was happy to support him at all costs. He began applying mid way through his second year to various fellowship spots. By the end of this third year, even we had decided where he wanted to go, he was questioning his decision because he was so burned out. I pushed him for the fellowship because I knew that he loved neonatology much more than primary care. His residency focused on primary care so he has lots of clinic days which he hated.



The fellowship has been demanding with call schedules much like his intern year. Many times he actually thought of withdrawing and looking for a peds job. He even talked about leaving medicine altogether and doing manual labor. It isn't easy by any means. I can say that I hate his job right now as I never see him and have to do most of the work in our daily lives.



On the flip side, Ron loves his job and the challenges it brings to work with neonatology. I want to support him in that. Money wasn't the deciding factor for him. The pay in his specialty has a big range. Ultimately, I know he will be happier with the fellowship even though he questions it at times. I am not sure how the fellowship your husband is considering compares with neonatology. It isn't an easy decision. Let me know if I can help or answer any more questions. Jennifer

Hi Karen!

I sortta know what your going thru as phill and i also are trying to make a decision.They have asked him to be medical director for all their Urgent Care centers.I know how that job also will affect our personal life and marriage.We have both agreed that we won't let his work interfere with the lttle personal time we have together now so we are getting more info from them and telling them more of what we won't accept or do in the new job.We still haven't made out minds up yet.Like they say hindsight is 20/20.Phill has already acheived so much in his career and doesn't have to work his way up anymore.Plus he knows the price he had to pay with ex wife and kids was much too high.In your case your husband still has to work his way up and make a name for himself.Thats is very important when they are just starting out...but then again the price they pay with the wife and family is very high too.So i think you have to go into it knowing what will happen.As for finding out what the pay would be,read Medical Economics.It is my fav of all of phills journals!They have the issue every year on what doctors make and if the pay has gone up or down.They even break it down to parts of the country.Today i just looked in JAMA at the classifieds.I was surprised at a job for General Surgery that only paid $115,000.a year and another job for Othro.Surgery that only paid $150,000 a year.So things aren't like they used to be.The ME issue is updated each year and it will show you the incomes,plus lots of other things that go along with all that.Maybe after you read it it can help you to better make your decision of wether the fellowship will be worth it.I hope this at least gives you a direction to start with.Let me know if i can answer anything else about it.good luck and let us know what you decide!

Lynn

Hi Karen!

I sortta know what your going thru as phill and i also are trying to make a decision.They have asked him to be medical director for all their Urgent Care centers.I know how that job also will affect our personal life and marriage.We have both agreed that we won't let his work interfere with the lttle personal time we have together now so we are getting more info from them and telling them more of what we won't accept or do in the new job.We still haven't made out minds up yet.Like they say hindsight is 20/20.Phill has already acheived so much in his career and doesn't have to work his way up anymore.Plus he knows the price he had to pay with ex wife and kids was much too high.In your case your husband still has to work his way up and make a name for himself.Thats is very important when they are just starting out...but then again the price they pay with the wife and family is very high too.So i think you have to go into it knowing what will happen.As for finding out what the pay would be,read Medical Economics.It is my fav of all of phills journals!They have the issue every year on what doctors make and if the pay has gone up or down.They even break it down to parts of the country.Today i just looked in JAMA at the classifieds.I was surprised at a job for General Surgery that only paid $115,000.a year and another job for Othro.Surgery that only paid $150,000 a year.So things aren't like they used to be.The ME issue is updated each year and it will show you the incomes,plus lots of other things that go along with all that.Maybe after you read it it can help you to better make your decision of wether the fellowship will be worth it.I hope this at least gives you a direction to start with.Let me know if i can answer anything else about it.good luck and let us know what you decide!

Lynn

Hi Karen!

I sortta know what your going thru as phill and i also are trying to make a decision.They have asked him to be medical director for all their Urgent Care centers.I know how that job also will affect our personal life and marriage.We have both agreed that we won't let his work interfere with the lttle personal time we have together now so we are getting more info from them and telling them more of what we won't accept or do in the new job.We still haven't made out minds up yet.Like they say hindsight is 20/20.Phill has already acheived so much in his career and doesn't have to work his way up anymore.Plus he knows the price he had to pay with ex wife and kids was much too high.In your case your husband still has to work his way up and make a name for himself.Thats is very important when they are just starting out...but then again the price they pay with the wife and family is very high too.So i think you have to go into it knowing what will happen.As for finding out what the pay would be,read Medical Economics.It is my fav of all of phills journals!They have the issue every year on what doctors make and if the pay has gone up or down.They even break it down to parts of the country.Today i just looked in JAMA at the classifieds.I was surprised at a job for General Surgery that only paid $115,000.a year and another job for Othro.Surgery that only paid $150,000 a year.So things aren't like they used to be.The ME issue is updated each year and it will show you the incomes,plus lots of other things that go along with all that.Maybe after you read it it can help you to better make your decision of wether the fellowship will be worth it.I hope this at least gives you a direction to start with.Let me know if i can answer anything else about it.good luck and let us know what you decide!

Lynn

Hi...well, my thoughts on fellowship are that your spouse is going to be spending an awful long time in medicine and that Fellowship is time well spent if it will make them happy in the long run. (Can anyone believe that I am saying this? I am having trouble myself! )



We had done almost 6 years of residency when Thomas began his fellowship, so I know how exhausting it can be. We ended up opting out of the three year and going down to two because we financially and emotionally just couldn't do it anymore. (We were lucky that he could do this!)



Kaaren, it is hard, it really is...but it is just a few more years and at the end of the day it will be worth it if your husband is satisfied. Specialists in some fields are still earning more than the generalists so that can be good...of course, if you count the salary and benefits that you have lost while training it probably just evens itself out.



What kind of a fellowship would he do?



Kris

Hi...well, my thoughts on fellowship are that your spouse is going to be spending an awful long time in medicine and that Fellowship is time well spent if it will make them happy in the long run. (Can anyone believe that I am saying this? I am having trouble myself! )



We had done almost 6 years of residency when Thomas began his fellowship, so I know how exhausting it can be. We ended up opting out of the three year and going down to two because we financially and emotionally just couldn't do it anymore. (We were lucky that he could do this!)



Kaaren, it is hard, it really is...but it is just a few more years and at the end of the day it will be worth it if your husband is satisfied. Specialists in some fields are still earning more than the generalists so that can be good...of course, if you count the salary and benefits that you have lost while training it probably just evens itself out.



What kind of a fellowship would he do?



Kris

Hi...well, my thoughts on fellowship are that your spouse is going to be spending an awful long time in medicine and that Fellowship is time well spent if it will make them happy in the long run. (Can anyone believe that I am saying this? I am having trouble myself! )



We had done almost 6 years of residency when Thomas began his fellowship, so I know how exhausting it can be. We ended up opting out of the three year and going down to two because we financially and emotionally just couldn't do it anymore. (We were lucky that he could do this!)



Kaaren, it is hard, it really is...but it is just a few more years and at the end of the day it will be worth it if your husband is satisfied. Specialists in some fields are still earning more than the generalists so that can be good...of course, if you count the salary and benefits that you have lost while training it probably just evens itself out.



What kind of a fellowship would he do?



Kris

Hi Kaaren this is Kristens husband

I am just finishing my fellowship after my residency and I must say it was worthwile.

I don't know much about Peds Gi all of my friends who did a fellowship in Peds went into neonatology or PEDS Critical Care.

Generally speaking peds subspecialists are paid less then Medicine subspecialists.I am not sure why probably because that is the way it always has been.So I sure your husband is not in it for the money but has a genuine interest.

If you have to do something for the rest of your life you have to be happy with it.

And by the way the call for fellows is usually from home and don't forget there is an intern and a resident who get called first.

He might be able to moonlight.I could easily double my income by working in an ER

Hi Kaaren this is Kristens husband

I am just finishing my fellowship after my residency and I must say it was worthwile.

I don't know much about Peds Gi all of my friends who did a fellowship in Peds went into neonatology or PEDS Critical Care.

Generally speaking peds subspecialists are paid less then Medicine subspecialists.I am not sure why probably because that is the way it always has been.So I sure your husband is not in it for the money but has a genuine interest.

If you have to do something for the rest of your life you have to be happy with it.

And by the way the call for fellows is usually from home and don't forget there is an intern and a resident who get called first.

He might be able to moonlight.I could easily double my income by working in an ER

Hi Kaaren this is Kristens husband

I am just finishing my fellowship after my residency and I must say it was worthwile.

I don't know much about Peds Gi all of my friends who did a fellowship in Peds went into neonatology or PEDS Critical Care.

Generally speaking peds subspecialists are paid less then Medicine subspecialists.I am not sure why probably because that is the way it always has been.So I sure your husband is not in it for the money but has a genuine interest.

If you have to do something for the rest of your life you have to be happy with it.

And by the way the call for fellows is usually from home and don't forget there is an intern and a resident who get called first.

He might be able to moonlight.I could easily double my income by working in an ER