SportsRockandHardPlace
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- Jul 27, 2018
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I'm a current intern. My goal has always been to pursue sports medicine, so the final two specialties I decided between were family medicine and PM&R. Ultimately, I chose to pursue PM&R using the best information I had at the time of my application. It wasn't until I got to do some elective rotations spring of my 4th year that I felt like I had a full picture of the landscape though, which did alter my thinking on some things. They allowed me to really visualize my ideal practice - doing sports full-time (possibly with some admin/research/teaching mixed in), seeing patients from peds to geriatrics, with a mix of true sports injuries and injuries of aging (i.e.-arthritis), and having some team coverage (anywhere from high school to college).
The struggle I'm now having is that in realizing that, a non-insignificant part of me feels I chose the wrong primary specialty. Now that I'm into residency and getting to talk with physicians, it seems like family controls the sports landscape, especially in the market where I hope to practice one day. In the city where I'm completing my internship, family controls access to all the team coverage from high school up, so it's hard for me to get involved. The PM&R docs I've talked to are not doing research, or at least not true sports research, and the family ones aren't acknowledging my emails. The PM&R docs in my advanced program, even sports fellowship trained, are not doing sports in the way I envision - they are doing much more spine. This has left me without any good mentors who I can talk with about my career aspirations. I also worry how it will affect my exposure to sports as I move through residency.
If I'm honest with myself, I still like general PM&R more than general family. However, since I ultimately hope to do sports full-time, it seems like family might better help me get there. On the one hand, I know if I stick with PM&R and do the right things during residency, I should be able to get a sports fellowship. It also seems like just because I switch to family, that switching would be a big enough red flag that I may struggle to get into a program which is a good fit. In this case, getting the fellowship may be easier if I don't switch, as once I commit I've burned that bridge to go back. On the other, I feel like should I make it, the job market would be more friendly if I went through family, although maybe there aren't many full-time sports jobs out there period.
I guess this is just a very long way of asking, what advice do you have? It's starting to feel to me like the dream career I envision isn't attainable. I'm not necessarily asking for a yes/no on whether I should switch, just input from those who've come before me that might help reassure me that I can actually get where I want. Thanks in advance for your help.
The struggle I'm now having is that in realizing that, a non-insignificant part of me feels I chose the wrong primary specialty. Now that I'm into residency and getting to talk with physicians, it seems like family controls the sports landscape, especially in the market where I hope to practice one day. In the city where I'm completing my internship, family controls access to all the team coverage from high school up, so it's hard for me to get involved. The PM&R docs I've talked to are not doing research, or at least not true sports research, and the family ones aren't acknowledging my emails. The PM&R docs in my advanced program, even sports fellowship trained, are not doing sports in the way I envision - they are doing much more spine. This has left me without any good mentors who I can talk with about my career aspirations. I also worry how it will affect my exposure to sports as I move through residency.
If I'm honest with myself, I still like general PM&R more than general family. However, since I ultimately hope to do sports full-time, it seems like family might better help me get there. On the one hand, I know if I stick with PM&R and do the right things during residency, I should be able to get a sports fellowship. It also seems like just because I switch to family, that switching would be a big enough red flag that I may struggle to get into a program which is a good fit. In this case, getting the fellowship may be easier if I don't switch, as once I commit I've burned that bridge to go back. On the other, I feel like should I make it, the job market would be more friendly if I went through family, although maybe there aren't many full-time sports jobs out there period.
I guess this is just a very long way of asking, what advice do you have? It's starting to feel to me like the dream career I envision isn't attainable. I'm not necessarily asking for a yes/no on whether I should switch, just input from those who've come before me that might help reassure me that I can actually get where I want. Thanks in advance for your help.
