should I consider this spine/pain fellowship?

[medtour]

I just graduated from a PM&RS residency and was going to start working for an ortho spine physician that does interventional pain management procedures. He is offering me to work with him and offers to continue training me in some of the interventional procedures as a "fellow" so I can start seeing patients ASAP in his office and continue training in spine procedures. I already started applying for medicare, MPN and insurances...which I learned takes months to get approved... and have not included anywhere I will do a "fellow".
Was wondering if the fellowship can this be done this way, is there a minimal requirement for a physician to have a non ACGME spine fellowship?

If anybody has any info regarding this?

---

Members don't see this ad.

 

[nleeds24]

I just graduated from a PM&RS residency and was going to start working for an ortho spine physician that does interventional pain management procedures. He is offering me to work with him and offers to continue training me in some of the interventional procedures as a "fellow" so I can start seeing patients ASAP in his office and continue training in spine procedures. I already started applying for medicare, MPN and insurances...which I learned takes months to get approved... and have not included anywhere I will do a "fellow".
Was wondering if the fellowship can this be done this way, is there a minimal requirement for a physician to have a non ACGME spine fellowship?

If anybody has any info regarding this?

My friend did a similar thing with another physiatrist who taught him a ton of stuff. Unfortunately when he left after 2 yrs there was some resentment due to the fact he would be working near his mentor. Caused a lot of problems because the mentor wouldn't verify he actually did a "fellowship" just that he performed procedures. If I were you I would take this job if it pays well and learn what you can while at the same time apply for an accredited/unaccredited fellowship to start 2011. Probably too late for 2010. And if you go to an unaccredited spot try to pick one affiliated with a university. Increased recognition helps with job search.

 

[PMR 4 MSK]

Non-ACGME = can make just about any claim they want - no standards.

Medicare takes about 60 days to get approved, all others vary, but some are quick. If you need speed, there are companies that can assist you for a fee.

I see nothing wrong with this arrangement as long as you are both happy with both the training and financial compensation. Just make sure the contract says everything you want it to say. And keep track of all procedures you do and that he proctored you.

 

[medtour]

Thanks for the info, very helpful in my case...

 

[axm397]

does that mean for the time you are a "fellow" he's going to pay you like a fellow?

 

[medtour]

does that mean for the time you are a "fellow" he's going to pay you like a fellow?

Actually he is paying more than a fellow. The idea of the fellowship is that I can see patients right away that were referred to him. He would modify the original contract to include that I will train as fellow so I can see these patients and at the same time I get more training in interventional procedures, that he does.

 

[SSdoc33]

My friend did a similar thing with another physiatrist who taught him a ton of stuff. Unfortunately when he left after 2 yrs there was some resentment due to the fact he would be working near his mentor. Caused a lot of problems because the mentor wouldn't verify he actually did a "fellowship" just that he performed procedures. If I were you I would take this job if it pays well and learn what you can while at the same time apply for an accredited/unaccredited fellowship to start 2011. Probably too late for 2010. And if you go to an unaccredited spot try to pick one affiliated with a university. Increased recognition helps with job search.

take this with a grain of salt, i dont agree with most of this statement.

anyway, the situation is not necessarily a bad one, but i would be sure that your "mentor" knows what he is doing. i dont know too many ortho spine surgeons that are well versed in good intervtional technique and practice. there are some our there, but they are few and far between.

 

[mille125]

take this with a grain of salt, i dont agree with most of this statement.

anyway, the situation is not necessarily a bad one, but i would be sure that your "mentor" knows what he is doing. i dont know too many ortho spine surgeons that are well versed in good intervtional technique and practice. there are some our there, but they are few and far between.

totally agree....there is one near me doing procedures...what a mess........

 

[Jcm800]

totally agree....there is one near me doing procedures...what a mess........

i have found that surgeons that are doing interventional procedures are usually either not that busy, or fear "loosing" the patient by sending them somewehre else, and rarely are very methodical about it. The ones i see do 3 epidurals to say they did them, then operate.

The spine surgeons i have seen do intervetions are not very good at it. that being said, I do a lousy ALIF. Why, because i was never trained...

i think it is the same reason that a cardiac surgeon probably is not very good at angiograms and stenting...

go the legit route. Not that this is illegitimate in the legal sense, but you are better off getting formal training from an accredited institution, often regardless of the actual quality of the training, unfortunately. Sometimes you just have to get the exposure, and the piece of paper, then really learn what you are doing...

best of luck