Rad onc as a second residency?

[Dopamemes]

Hey everyone. I was wondering given how rad onc has been in the match the last few years, how realistic it would be for a mid-career physician (early 40's, 10 years in practice) to get accepted at a rad onc residency program as a second residency?

I was super interested in rad onc as a med student but that was at the height of rad onc's competitiveness. I was an average student at best and ended up going into psychiatry. My psychiatry career has been fine, I'm making 600ksh and have a great lifestyle. However, to be blunt, I've never been professionally satisfied in psychiatry. It's not a field that particularly interests me and I mostly chose it because I was burnt out in med school and wanted a residency that would have a decent work-life balance (I was choosing between psych, PMR, and anesthesia).

Which brings me to rad onc. I know it's not going to be a financially sound decision but at this point in my career, my financial goals have been met. Given how long I've been out of med school and how much general medicine I've forgotten, is it realistic to apply for rad onc? What steps should I take to increase my odds. Any and all advice is appreciated.

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[RickyScott]

Hey everyone. I was wondering given how rad onc has been in the match the last few years, how realistic it would be for a mid-career physician (early 40's, 10 years in practice) to get accepted at a rad onc residency program as a second residency?

I was super interested in rad onc as a med student but that was at the height of rad onc's competitiveness. I was an average student at best and ended up going into psychiatry. My psychiatry career has been fine, I'm making 600ksh and have a great lifestyle. However, to be blunt, I've never been professionally satisfied in psychiatry. It's not a field that particularly interests me and I mostly chose it because I was burnt out in med school and wanted a residency that would have a decent work-life balance (I was choosing between psych, PMR, and anesthesia).

Which brings me to rad onc. I know it's not going to be a financially sound decision but at this point in my career, my financial goals have been met. Given how long I've been out of med school and how much general medicine I've forgotten, is it realistic to apply for rad onc? What steps should I take to increase my odds. Any and all advice is appreciated.

are you us Md without a criminal record? 100% chance you match a top 25 program.

 

[NotMattSpraker]

Hey everyone. I was wondering given how rad onc has been in the match the last few years, how realistic it would be for a mid-career physician (early 40's, 10 years in practice) to get accepted at a rad onc residency program as a second residency?

I was super interested in rad onc as a med student but that was at the height of rad onc's competitiveness. I was an average student at best and ended up going into psychiatry. My psychiatry career has been fine, I'm making 600ksh and have a great lifestyle. However, to be blunt, I've never been professionally satisfied in psychiatry. It's not a field that particularly interests me and I mostly chose it because I was burnt out in med school and wanted a residency that would have a decent work-life balance (I was choosing between psych, PMR, and anesthesia).

Which brings me to rad onc. I know it's not going to be a financially sound decision but at this point in my career, my financial goals have been met. Given how long I've been out of med school and how much general medicine I've forgotten, is it realistic to apply for rad onc? What steps should I take to increase my odds. Any and all advice is appreciated.

Haha you are going to get some interesting responses on here. You could definitely apply and statistically, based on the NRMP data, you'd have an extremely high chance of matching if you interviewed at just 6 or 7 programs.

You might face some discrimination at some institutions for being non-traditional and/or for being "non-competitive" (as viewed through a traditional lens).

You will almost certainly take a pay cut even in independent practice though. 600K is above the national median and many new grads make between 300-400K. You will also substantially reduce your geographic mobility and choice of jobs. Its a very small field, even big cities in a great market have just a handful of jobs. This is a huge deal and would be so different than your current field that I would think carefully about this aspect. It sounds awesome to be financially independent as a physician and do whatever you want, but you may still not be able to find or get a job in the place you want to live.

Statistically you are extremely likely to be employed by an academic network or large hospital system. You should not expect to be a solo independent doc, that is a dying breed in this field.

I am assuming you have shadowed or rotated with a radiation oncologist recently? If not, do that before anything else. It is a unique day to day job, so make sure you actually would feel fulfilled. Lots of nice people in this field, depending on where you live Im sure someone on this board could hook you up.

If we were talking more in depth, I'd ask why you like radiation oncology in particular among all the oncology-related fields, because you might find yourself happier doing palliative care, community medical oncology, cancer rehab (PMR, although still hyper competitive I think), or something else.

It seems cool to be financially independent, go back to train, and re-enter medicine in a field you are passionate about. Good luck!

 

[communitydoc13]

Real or master trolling?

BTW, I can think of few specialties in such desperate demand as psychiatry in the U.S. at this point.

 

[lilshopta]

You are in your early 40s and making 600k in Pysch, and now you are considering rad onc because Psych is not satisfying? Stop just stop. Stay put.

The main issue in rad onc is the lack of quality jobs in decent metros. To go through 4-5 years of training as an already attending only to find out you can't secure a decent job where you want to be is a bad idea, especially since you have a sweet gig right now. Just dont.

 

[NotMattSpraker]

Real or master trolling?

BTW, I can think of few specialties in such desperate demand as psychiatry in the U.S. at this point.

Bah, I wrote all that out and now I feel like I got trolled!

 

[Ray D. Ayshun]

Are you sure rad onc is what you want to do? Are you it's not nothing?

 

[TheWallnerus]

Hey everyone. I was wondering given how rad onc has been in the match the last few years, how realistic it would be for a mid-career physician (early 40's, 10 years in practice) to get accepted at a rad onc residency program as a second residency?

I was super interested in rad onc as a med student but that was at the height of rad onc's competitiveness. I was an average student at best and ended up going into psychiatry. My psychiatry career has been fine, I'm making 600ksh and have a great lifestyle. However, to be blunt, I've never been professionally satisfied in psychiatry. It's not a field that particularly interests me and I mostly chose it because I was burnt out in med school and wanted a residency that would have a decent work-life balance (I was choosing between psych, PMR, and anesthesia).

Which brings me to rad onc. I know it's not going to be a financially sound decision but at this point in my career, my financial goals have been met. Given how long I've been out of med school and how much general medicine I've forgotten, is it realistic to apply for rad onc? What steps should I take to increase my odds. Any and all advice is appreciated.

Apply to some programs. After you do that and report back how that went, we will be better able to tell you your odds. You’re a sui generis case.

 

[mheat3]

What about a career counseling and providing therapy to all of the rad onc malcontents? Best of both worlds no?

 

[MidwestRadOnc]

Hey everyone. I was wondering given how rad onc has been in the match the last few years, how realistic it would be for a mid-career physician (early 40's, 10 years in practice) to get accepted at a rad onc residency program as a second residency?

I was super interested in rad onc as a med student but that was at the height of rad onc's competitiveness. I was an average student at best and ended up going into psychiatry. My psychiatry career has been fine, I'm making 600ksh and have a great lifestyle. However, to be blunt, I've never been professionally satisfied in psychiatry. It's not a field that particularly interests me and I mostly chose it because I was burnt out in med school and wanted a residency that would have a decent work-life balance (I was choosing between psych, PMR, and anesthesia).

Which brings me to rad onc. I know it's not going to be a financially sound decision but at this point in my career, my financial goals have been met. Given how long I've been out of med school and how much general medicine I've forgotten, is it realistic to apply for rad onc? What steps should I take to increase my odds. Any and all advice is appreciated.

You're talking about a 2.5M opportunity cost for 4 years of training with an NPV cost of about a $10M shave off of your net worth at the end of the career vs. just continuing your current job until something more interesting that doesn't require 4 years of retraining, multiple moves (likely to some place you are not going to like), and multiple board exams comes along. If you are truly FI, I would start a business in something that interests you, and if turns a profit great. The risk is personal/familial unhappiness and great financial setback and the reward is ??? what exactly, being less bored at work? Most likely you will have far less professional autonomy than you do now, especially if you are a solo practitioner.

 

[metallica81788]

If you have truly met your financial goals, retire and find other things to do. Or do anything else. Work part time. Become a Walmart greeter.
I would buy a music store or something. You've won the game. Medicine is still just a job in the end.

This has to be a troll - financially independent psychiatrist seeking second residency?
Why not a neurosurgery residency for a real challenge

 

[RickyScott]

Offer to provide Tms for radonc dept. pts Coming daily anyway and many are depressed. Would make a fortune

 

[Bequerel]

do you know a good psychiatrist to run this idea by?

Med onc is only way to go if serious about second career in oncology.

Bud maybe you could start your own psychiatry oncology fellowship and start prescribing cancer drugs in 1 year…neurology did it

 

[drowsy12]

Agree with finding something else to do as being a resident at this stage of your life sucks.

I also know for a fact that many programs will not consider you. It’s not worth it having a 40-45 year old as a resident. Too much potential for drama. But yeah you would probably match somewhere lower tier

 

[Dopamemes]

Thank you everyone for the input. I promise I'm not a troll. Maybe naive and idealistic but not a troll.

I had two family members recently who were diagnosed with cancer and seeing them go through the treatment process reminded me of why I went into medicine in the first place. As cheesy as it sounds, it was to help people and make a difference. Not saying I don't do that in psychiatry. Just not as acutely as I want. It's very much a job and nothing more. I get as much satisfaction going through my billing spreadsheets for my practice as I do providing clinical care.

I'm still very much in the contemplative stage of things right now, not planning on making any drastic decisions. Just gathering info rn.

 

[RadRadRad]

Somewhere above someone mentioned palliative care. Not sure the route it would require from psych to palliative care fellowship. But it seems like your background in psych would fit really well with palliative care.
Downside would be 50% pay cut for palliative care (I’m guessing)

 

[Neuronix]

Most of my thoughts have already been written. In summary: I think you'd be crazy to give up a good lifestyle practice with above average mid career rad onc salary in presumably a location you like with professional autonomy for who knows what outcome in rad onc. Your rad onc outcomes will most likely be employed, spending years to get back to what you're making now, with questionable lifestyle and location compared to what you have now.

Also, I think you'd be a shoo-in for a spot somewhere. You'd be an unusual applicant, so it's hard to know where, but I think it's very likely you'd get a training spot.

What about a career counseling and providing therapy to all of the rad onc malcontents? Best of both worlds no?

While I loled at this, I have another suggestion...

Our center is chronically short of psychiatrists and clinical psychologists. I know a large part of their job is working with cancer patients.

Unfortunately, the pay is almost certainly lower than what you make now, and autonomy and other interactions with the employer are frequent complaints compared to your private practice.

Still, if you're going to make a change, I think it makes a lot more sense to find a lane within your own profession than to go back and re-train for four years and then try to build your professional life back again.

 

[Prehealth1011]

I suggest making an appointment with a financial advisor as soon as possible.

 

[NotMattSpraker]

Thank you everyone for the input. I promise I'm not a troll. Maybe naive and idealistic but not a troll.

I had two family members recently who were diagnosed with cancer and seeing them go through the treatment process reminded me of why I went into medicine in the first place. As cheesy as it sounds, it was to help people and make a difference. Not saying I don't do that in psychiatry. Just not as acutely as I want. It's very much a job and nothing more. I get as much satisfaction going through my billing spreadsheets for my practice as I do providing clinical care.

I'm still very much in the contemplative stage of things right now, not planning on making any drastic decisions. Just gathering info rn.

Not cheesy.

Headed in to med school I expected to be a neurologist and I loved psychiatry, but that is a major reason I did not.

Making an acute difference is important to a lot of people.

 

[deleted1111261]

Man, if I was super rich already, I’d enjoy this job even more.

Do it!

 

[RickyScott]

Not cheesy.

Headed in to med school I expected to be a neurologist and I loved psychiatry, but that is a major reason I did not.

Making an acute difference is important to a lot of people.

DItto

 

[medgator]

Man, if I was super rich already, I’d enjoy this job even more.

Do it!

Can't argue with the job, agree. It's just all of the other factors that come into play. Hands down one of the best jobs in medicine for those in the know

If you have a great employed (oxymoron to some) or great pp setup with a tolerable location, it's a perfect job to be in now

 

[NotMattSpraker]

Man, if I was super rich already, I’d enjoy this job even more.

Do it!

LOL, I have some exciting news for you.

 

[elementaryschooleconomics]

 

[evilbooyaa]

Would definitely formally shadow a RO first.
Be aware of the economic implications.
If you go through both of those and still wish to apply:

YOU WILL MATCH 100% OF THE TIME INTO RO IN 2024.

You may have to move to a city/region that you don't want to live in (both for residency and your future job). You will probably have time for moonlighting if you want/need extra cash.

May the odds be ever in your favor.

 

[SneakyBooger]

Is this post serious?