Recent content by rtk

Increasing enrollment in US med schools is an interesting response to the perceived physician shortage. Historically, in the US, the number of doctors in practice has been dictated by the number of physicians completing residency, not graduating from med school. That's because there are...

Here's one more exerpt from an article about this debate. It's the summary paragraph of an editorial written by Dr. Anthony N. DeMaria, (Editor-in-Chief, Journal of the American College of Cardiology) titled The morphing of cardiovascular specialists published in the Journal of the American...

There is a good deal of information about this debate available on www.theheart.org . Of course, it likely is slanted to favor cardiology. I'm attaching an interesting exerpt from this source below: Underpinning the whole debate is the widely held sense among radiologists that they keep...

I agree, it is easier to match at your 'home' program. And Bonobo, keep in mind that 2 spots may be reserved for internal candidates (your 2/9 analogy), the 20 that were interviewed for the other two spots were chosen out a field of >200 applications... so that's really an ~2/200 shot for a...

Cardiologydude; It's hard to argue w/ FRIEDA, but if EP is not listed as 2 years yet, it soon will be. The vast majority of EP fellowships are now 2-years. This is due to the vast number of procedures performed in EP, particularly Afib ablations... I was considering EP but opted for...

Novacek88; Actually, there is a greater demand right now for non-interventional and even non-invasive cardiologists. THat's because of the demand for imaging services (i.e.: echo, nuclear , CT and MRI). I'm doing a year of interventional training next year because of my interest in this...

daelroy; Your argument that cardiology doesn't offer the same financial rewards that it used to applies to all fields of medicine. Most replies to your post have said this. In fact, unless a congressional amendment is passed this year (as has been done each year for the past several years)...

I'll take a stab at answering some of your questions, Nestle; Yes, I found fellowship to be more demanding than residency... I'm at the hospital more, fewer days off, and no leaving early post-call. However, it is also more rewarding. Also, call is better (home) and when I do come in...

wsingh, I'm a 3rd year cardiology fellow and a DO. THere are 3 routes to take as a DO for CV training. You could take the DO route: do your post grad IM training through an osteopathic hospital then apply for DO CV Fellowship. Issues with this route as I see it: 1) there are only a...

I understand Christiangirl's concerns... I also knew I wasn't gonna do general medicine when I finished residency. It's not that I hated IM, it's that I didn't like dealing with the intangable / wastebasket diagnoses (e.g.: chronic low back pain, fibromyalgia, irritable bowel synd) which...

Cardiology is competitive everywhere, big or small programs. Our program is not well known and had >500 apps for 3 positions last year. Going to the best IM program you can is good advice. Definately a University based IM program. Would start research ASAP. Getting published will help...

I would agree that several years ago when some fellowships spots were wanting for warm bodies they were taking DO's from AOA residency. If you are interested now in fellowship (particularly Cards or GI) I'd go the ACGME route. Keep in mind that when applying for fellowship, many programs...

Yes, that's how physicians are paid. Office visits are given E&M codes which are reimbursed based are their relative weights (DRG's) just as procedure codes (CPT codes) are reimbursed by their relative weights. If you recieve a production bonus as part of your salary, often production is...

filmdoc; Cardiology remains one of the most if not the most competitive subspecialties in internal medicine (GI also being very competitive). Specifically, interventional fellowship is started after finishing general cardiology fellowship. And this field is extremely competitive amongst...

No, both an FP and Med/Peds doc are reimbursed the same for the same procedure or office visit. Physicians are reimbursed by DRG's. That is, each office visit or procedure is given a specific weight (DRG) based on its complexity and/or time/skill required to perform. e.g.: There are 5...