[Unknown Member]

I dont see how EM and radiology are similar.  Most rads dont even see patients.  “Em crashing and burning”….I guess you are talking about corporatization of the field,  which is happening in radiology and catching up to emergency medicine.  Switch into dermatology or orthopedic surgery

[Milliam]

You guys are such downers. Radiology is still the best job in medicine for a hundred different reasons depending on what practice you land in. I couldn’t be happier. So how about we focus on helping the guy/gal instead of bitching and moaning for once?

Yes, you should absolutely switch if you like radiology. You’ll want to see if your intern year as an EM resident qualifies as a prelim year for radiology, and try to find a PGY2 spot for the following year so you don’t lose any time.

Don’t listen to the naysayers who are the vocal minority. Everyone at my group is unbelievably happy.

[Unknown Member]

Hi, yeah it’s my understanding that intern year in EM does count for preliminary, so that’s one hurdle down! Thanks. 

[Milliam]

Perfect. So start looking for PGY2 positions. Sometimes they’re posted on this site. Those generally are outside the match I believe since they match for the subsequent year. If you’re willing to sacrifice a year, then you could apply through the match.

[btomba_77]

I was Rad #1 and EM #2 as career choices.
 
Common thread …. shift work. When you’re on, you’re on, when you’re off you’re off. 

[btomba_77]

I was Rad #1 and EM #2 as career choices.
 
Common thread …. shift work. When you’re on, you’re on, when you’re off you’re off. 

[Unknown Member]

Whoa I didn’t think I could just simply find position postings online to pursue. Do you know where I should be looking? When I try searching “PGY2 positions” in the forum I get nothing back. Or you mean they are under the jobs section? Currently don’t see any there under postings for radiologists. 

[afazio.uk_887]

ER is definitely circling the drain.
Rads has issues, but it is certainly a better choice than ER today. Corporate penetration is still low in Rads compared to ER so you can still find decent independent jobs if you are geographically flexible.

[Dr_Cocciolillo]

Rads is prob still better choice in the 10 yr term. Both face the same issues though not so much ER with reimbursement cuts.

[Unknown Member]

If you want to do Radiology then definitelly do it.

As a person who is several years older than you, I assure you that you won’t regret your decision if it is based on your self interest and respecting your choice. But you will likely regret it if your decision is based on making a certain amount of money more than your other option.

[leann2001nl]

Do you have actual experience with radiology or just the idea of it ? Would make sure it was something I wanted to do before I went through whole process of applying and telling current residency youre done with them

[Unknown Member]

Yeah, I’ve previously briefly shadowed a couple radiologists, one in a private mamo clinic and one at a large county hospital. But I think the tough thing with radiology is it’s difficult to really experience what it’s like until you start being able to actually “do it” yourself. But I think I have the personality for it; I’ve always been very analytical and enjoyed the intellectual challenges/ puzzles found in organic chemistry and physics during undergrad. I’m also a bit of a tech person that has done stuff like building PCs. Honestly that’s the best I have to go on at this point, but thinking about it it just seems like I’m better suited for Rad than EM. I do think I could find happiness in either though. 
 
Edit: I will add though that I agree I definitely should get more exposure before making any drastic moves. I should hopefully find some opportunity to shadow a bit more once I get my second covid vaccine dose. 

[Unknown Member]

…

[cchandc]

B? Lol. I hope i fit in.

I picked rads based on similar reasons that OP lists. Its the best I had to go on at the time… that and i shadowed a rad who had a huge teaching file of chest rays that he had me go through independently after reading Felsons, which I enjoyed. I was also interested in EM too at the time. Glad i went with rads… definitely suits my personality more than EM. I dodged a bullet.

Good luck OP! I think there is a section on AM where open spots are posted.

[Unknown Member]

Thanks for the input. Yeah when I had previously decided on Radiology the first time before foolishly flipflopping I worked through most of Felson’s just because I was curious and I had a lot of fun with it. If that’s any indication lol  And I’ll keep an eye out for postings! Writing up a personal statement now. My advisor responded quickly saying I could also potentially not rank all of my EM programs and then just SOAP, but that seems super risky

[leann2001nl]

That requires programs to not fill so you see how many spots there were last year and etc. you also dont know which programs arent going to fill so as you said your Ed year counts I would just do that as an intern year. Look at all the imaging (obviously tons of the patients are going to have CT and xr.

Its funny because while I think surgery is a decent prep for radiology a year in the ED might be the most ideal intern year you could have.

[nada.shaker85_590]

I switched from surgery into rads outside of the match. It’s definitely possible. Program directors tend to post on AuntMinnie and at the Association of Program Directors in Radiology ([link=https://www.apdr.org/en/trainees/residency-information).]https://www.apdr.org/en/t…esidency-information).[/link] There’s a whole section on there for residents seeking spots. 
 
Good luck! Radiology is awesome. 

[Unknown Member]

Oh wow even a place to post your own info, this is really helpful thanks! 

[nada.shaker85_590]

No problem.
 
For what it’s worth, I think taking a year off or doing a surgery prelim is a better option than taking an EM spot. The reason is funding. If you get a categorical EM position, then you’re funded through Medicare for the term of the residency, 3-4 years. As far as I know, you don’t get more funding, so any rad residency will have to provide the extra salary. It’s actually more complicated than that, but the point is that you may be viewed as a financial disadvantage to a program. 
 
If there’s anyone on the forum who knows more specifics than me, I’d be appreciative for an assist. I only know the conversations I had with my GME department when I left surgery. 

[Unknown Member]

It used to be you could do as many residencies as you want.
I knew ER certified rads, ortho certified rads, obgyn certified rads, IM certified rads, FP certified rads. In fact had all such in my residency years ago. 
Now there is a limit to the years of funded GME.
So good advice to look into the details.

[Unknown Member]

Yes I’ve heard this issue brought up as well. It sounded like you can still land a spot but that adds an extra negative to your application. I currently don’t have the guts to go all in by abandoning my current strong list of EM programs however. Hoping something opens up or that internally the radiology program in the same system as whatever EM residency I end up in may be willing to take me in. Don;t know the odds of either of those things happening but that’s the hope

[Unknown Member]

EM vs Radiology are so different; one of them is the right choice, the other not.
You have got to go all in, o/w you are going to be half committed to something and always wondering.
This your life and career; not which college or medical school you are going to [they don’t really matter.]
If you lose a year, not a big deal. Well worth the “expense.”
Go for it.
 
 

[Unknown Member]

Thank you, yes I think my personality as someone who is analytical and likes problem solving, like for example the intellectual challenge of organic chem and physics, would make me happier in radiology. I guess I think I could be happy in either, so why not go with the one that sort of fits me better and on top of that has brighter career outlook? 

[Unknown Member]

Quote from SwitchingRes

Thank you, yes I think my personality as someone who is analytical and likes problem solving, like for example the intellectual challenge of organic chem and physics, would make me happier in radiology. I guess I think I could be happy in either, so why not go with the one that sort of fits me better and on top of that has brighter career outlook? 

I was accepted to an ER program but the offer was rescinded thanks to a wonderful prelim year OB attending. I have been doing rads for 20 years. One of the best things that ever happened to me.

[jennycullmann]

Quote from drad123

Quote from SwitchingRes

Thank you, yes I think my personality as someone who is analytical and likes problem solving, like for example the intellectual challenge of organic chem and physics, would make me happier in radiology. I guess I think I could be happy in either, so why not go with the one that sort of fits me better and on top of that has brighter career outlook? 

I was accepted to an ER program but the offer was rescinded thanks to a wonderful prelim year OB attending. I have been doing rads for 20 years. One of the best things that ever happened to me.

 
haha, that’s amazing – an OB during a prelim year sabotaged you? I hope you sent her a thank you card after your first decade as a rad

[Unknown Member]

On paper I thought they were similar for a number of reasons; they both are focused on diagnostics and they both aren’t too narrow.  They both have you working hard during work but then provide ample time off. I think my personality is better suited for radiology.  I enjoyed organic chem and physics in college and am naturally analytical and very much a “computer person” that has built my PC. I had previously thought Radiology would be the field I was going into, and then switched, which I think now was a mistake. Like I said, my intent isn’t to explain my reasoning, I’m just looking for help. 
 
Additionally the issues EM is facing are huge. They are opening new residencies like crazy, completely flooding the field, plus midlevel encroachment is happening at an alarming rate. Graduates are spending months not being able to find jobs. The nightmare scenario of Radiology would be still making more than some of the best EM jobs.  

[elisamisa20_144]

I’d recommend reaching out to your medical school’s dean for advise.
 
Have you thought of SOAPing to a (surgery) prelim year, and then applying to Rads during that prelim year? Since you decided that EM is not for you before your rank list has been submitted…it may be better to drop EM all together. 

[Unknown Member]

Yeah I’ve been in contact now with our match/ career advisor and some radiology faculty. They think it’s a safer idea for me to keep what I have and make moves from there. Programs are pretty much done interviewing and it seems reckless to abandon a whole list of programs to try my luck in the SOAP. My plan at this point is that I’ll use the rest of this year to try to do a radiology rotation to secure a LOR, and get confirmation that this is what I want. 

[elisamisa20_144]

I have no idea…how would the PD at the EM program you match at react (and hopefully support you) when you tell them you’re planning on leaving in a year?
 
Also, can you delay graduation by a year, and apply with the next medical school class? You’ll apply to prelims and advanced Rads positions as a US Senior, and if you get some solid research in that year, be set to match anywhere you want.

[Unknown Member]

Yeah your concerns are my concerns as well. To me, delaying graduation to take a research year does make sense, since then I could go through the normal match process and actually interview with a variety of programs etc, and what’s one more year at this point? From people on SDN, they seem to think that this is not the best approach however. They talked about it being a red flag, which seems crazy to me since how is being a current resident in a different specialty not a much bigger red flag? Still discussing my options with people in my school.

[william.wang_997]

Cold call the residency programs that you want to get into and talk to / e mail program directors and then send your resume so that it is on file. Tell them that you want to sub specialize in ER radiology ( which you would be really good at). Sometimes , a resident leaves for unknown reason ( mostly relocation) and a position opens up. Sometimes the residency program gets additional funding and an extra seat or two are added.
 
Radiology is MUCH more rewarding than EM or medicine in general. I switched from medicine to Rads and have loved it.

[kstepanovs_485]

[link=https://www.apdr.org/trainees/residency-information/residency-positions-available]https://www.apdr.org/trai…cy-positions-available[/link]

Frequently visit the APDR site to look for updates on open positions. Remember that spots for radiology fill 2 years in advance so need to start looking now if you don’t want a gap between 1st year of EM and going into Rads. Otherwise if you can’t find anything open then would have to reapply for the match for 2022-2023 and would have a year off between. 

[Unknown Member]

I’ll keep checking daily, thanks

[Unknown Member]

Thanks for the input. So just to be clear do you think I should be calling places now or are you talking about during intern year? 

[william.wang_997]

Intern year should be fine. You will get some opportunities to pick a spot while you are doing internship. However, if you are a proactive sorta person, there is no harm in informing a couple of programs that you really like , so that they know about your interest.