Two questions

[mytirf]

First - has anyone heard of doing just the first year of a MED/PEDs residency and then finishing two more years in pediatrics? I'm fairly sure I want to work with adolescents or transition to adulthood of congenital disease and the extra experience in adult medicine might be helpful. I don't want a full 4 years, because I'm going to specialize and I'm already old. Any advice???

Second - Does anyone have any clue or know of any real reasons, why pediatric compensation is so much lower than for adults? I realize that percentage wise, more adults are sick, but it seems to me that kids can be just as sick and complicated as adults, so why should their docs get paid less? This is not a real concern of mine, I was just curious if anyone had any insight into the reasoning or policies that govern it.

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[14022]

First - has anyone heard of doing just the first year of a MED/PEDs residency and then finishing two more years in pediatrics? I'm fairly sure I want to work with adolescents or transition to adulthood of congenital disease and the extra experience in adult medicine might be helpful. I don't want a full 4 years, because I'm going to specialize and I'm already old. Any advice???

Keep in mind that med-peds is limited to the required rotations for certification by the AAP and ABIM. Therefore, you have very little elective time in med-peds. If you do a 3 year pediatrics residency, you will have ample opportunity for electives and can probably focus your elective time in adolescent medicine and fields that have a lot of patients entering adulthood with their complicated illnesses (eg, cardiology and congenital heart disease; pulmonary and cf). You may even be able to take adult medicine electives in a pediatric residency. At my children's hospital, we get IM residents (eg, future cardiology fellows) taking an elective in peds cards.

But adolescent med is a three year fellowship. You're looking at a minimum of 6 years regardless.

 

[edmadison]

oes anyone have any clue or know of any real reasons, why pediatric compensation is so much lower than for adults? I realize that percentage wise, more adults are sick, but it seems to me that kids can be just as sick and complicated as adults, so why should their docs get paid less? This is not a real concern of mine, I was just curious if anyone had any insight into the reasoning or policies that govern it.

For the same reason that penalty for killing a 1 year-old innocent baby is much less than killing a 21 year-old drug dealing gang banger: Our society does not value children.

Ed

 

[The Med-Peds Dude]

First - has anyone heard of doing just the first year of a MED/PEDs residency and then finishing two more years in pediatrics? I'm fairly sure I want to work with adolescents or transition to adulthood of congenital disease and the extra experience in adult medicine might be helpful. I don't want a full 4 years, because I'm going to specialize and I'm already old. Any advice???

Second - Does anyone have any clue or know of any real reasons, why pediatric compensation is so much lower than for adults? I realize that percentage wise, more adults are sick, but it seems to me that kids can be just as sick and complicated as adults, so why should their docs get paid less? This is not a real concern of mine, I was just curious if anyone had any insight into the reasoning or policies that govern it.

1. I hope you don't apply to my program if you're seriously thinking this way. Leaving a program is extraordinarily disruptive. Having said this, one our interns did this a few years ago, stayed in the institution to finish peds (thereby only fouling up IM) and didn't make many enemies in the process. Including me.

2. Reimbursement? Pediatricians don't have especially high status among physicians. Most children don't have life threatening illness, though I should get hazardous duty pay everytime I try and explain that every two-year old looks bow-legged.