Preventive Medicine Residency Programs

[MedGrl@2022]

Can someone is or who has applied to, is currently in or has graduated from a Preventive Medicine Residency programs talk about their experiences? I know that there are some programs that allow residents to apply to Preventive Medicine Residencies after one year of primary care residency. Others seem to require two years or seem to be set up as fellowship programs (after a completion of a primary care residency program). Can someone speak more to these differences and the pros and cons of these different types of programs? Additionally, for prospective residents what is something that we should consider when applying to these programs? What should we consider in comparing the different programs that are available?

What about Preventive Medicine versus Occupational Medicine?

Thank you in advance!

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[xffan624]

Can someone is or who has applied to, is currently in or has graduated from a Preventive Medicine Residency programs talk about their experiences? I know that there are some programs that allow residents to apply to Preventive Medicine Residencies after one year of primary care residency. Others seem to require two years or seem to be set up as fellowship programs (after a completion of a primary care residency program). Can someone speak more to these differences and the pros and cons of these different types of programs? Additionally, for prospective residents what is something that we should consider when applying to these programs? What should we consider in comparing the different programs that are available?

What about Preventive Medicine versus Occupational Medicine?

Thank you in advance!

First, you only need one year of any residency, not specifically primary care. I don't know the differences between requirements in programs as I'm only really familiar with my program (I transferred from pediatrics to the preventive medicine program so I didn't apply to other programs). My program only required one year but we interviewed many residents who had completed more years or graduated from another residency. One thing to keep in mind is the salary. I received the same salary as all the other residents in other specialties but another preventive medicine residency in my area actually paid less and residents were expected moonlight to compensate for that. I don't know if they required more than one or were a more fellowship program ( I don't think that was the case though). They were more "prestigious" so I'm not sure if that's why they could still attract applicants despite the low salary. I'm not sure if that's a thing at other programs or not, but I'd definitely be aware before deciding. I would hope programs would be upfront about it.

In my program, the first year was an accelerated MPH program with some clinical rotations in occupational medicine and preventive primary care (at a VA). The second year was more heavily clinical rotations. I had some options to choose where I wanted to rotate. It was during COVID so they ended up being a lot of working from home like most of the US but I worked on various public health projects with different state and federal agencies. There was more clinical rotations available if that was something you wanted to focus on. We also had additional coursework beyond the standard MPH program that were more geared towards advanced statistics, clinical trials, and research projects.

 

[MedGrl@2022]

The second year was more heavily clinical rotations. I had some options to choose where I wanted to rotate. It was during COVID so they ended up being a lot of working from home like most of the US but I worked on various public health projects with different state and federal agencies. There was more clinical rotations available if that was something you wanted to focus on.

What are the clinical rotations in PM like? I was under the impression that PM was mostly to prepare physicians for public health, academic, and/or administrative roles.

Would physicians who are also interested in practicing clinically need to be dual boarded in Preventive Medicine and another specialty? Or if a physician only completes the intern year prior to starting a PM residency can they only work/practice non-clinically?

Thank you for your response.

 

[xffan624]

What are the clinical rotations in PM like? I was under the impression that PM was mostly to prepare physicians for public health, academic, and/or administrative roles.

Would physicians who are also interested in practicing clinically need to be dual boarded in Preventive Medicine and another specialty? Or if a physician only completes the intern year prior to starting a PM residency can they only work/practice non-clinically?

Thank you for your response.

As I said above, there are rotations with various public health agencies but also opportunities to rotate with preventive focused clinics. I did one at an STD clinic. I believe my colleague rotated at a diabetes clinic that provided comprehensive care (beyond just medical management). It's going to vary by program as to what's available. It's primarily going to be outpatient though. Clinical practice afterwards is possible with a PM residency only but it will likely be limited to Indian health, prisons, VA health, state/local clinics, or maybe a concierge practice or some other unicorn situation. You can also get an occupational medicine job possibly (there are some that accept general PM board certification). I mean you can always just hang a shingle up and start your own practice but you're limited by malpractice coverage and insurance reimbursement. I definitely don't know enough about those issues to comment on that.

With that said, yes, PM is mostly designed for physicians in public health roles. I would say if you're pursuing PM with the intention of continuing clinical practice, you'd be better off not having PM as your only board certification as it limits your clinical job options.

 

[trixmd]

I trained in PM after being a Navy flight surgeon for a while (Pgy1 in general surgery) and did occ med, travel med, & TB rotations. I got boarded in PM and later Occ Med, and did EIS training w CDC. I finished my Navy career as a true public health doc - did disease surveillance & chased disease outbreaks, saw travel clinic & occ health clinic, & did some teaching, public health research & policy work. I’m working for DoD as a civilian now (policy/admin as well as a little bit of clinic & teaching), as well as consulting on the side. (Lots during COVID, not as much now). I don’t think I’m a unicorn - lots of public health mil docs are dual/triple boarded & do both policy and clinical work, but I think we prioritize that balance. One of my side gigs is working w the local health dept and a couple of the docs operate the same way - they trained in something clinical first and came to public health later. I think most physician EISers end up going back to clinical practice but many end up working for CDC or one of the HHS agencies and clinical work for those folks sounds hit or miss. Hope that helps. Happy to elaborate on whatever.