New Grad- Primary care Vs. Sleep Med

[xnhpx24]

I got offered a job at a primary care facility and I have an interview in 2 weeks for Sleep medicine at an ENT facility. When I went for my job interview at the primary care facility, the place seemed a bit disorganized mainly because they are understaffed and 60% spoke Spanish (I know some, but wouldn't call myself fluent). The overall work environment of the facility seems okay (not a lot of space for providers, and It would be me and another new grad PA w/ the supervising physician). 

The ENT place definitely has a better office from what I researched on the place online. I'm still waiting to see how the feel of that interview goes. But as a first job, would it be better to go with primary than sleep med? I just want to make sure I don't lock myself into sleep med, and I have options of switching fields in the future 

 

Thank you!

[runnerpa-s]

That's a tough situation. I have a few follow up questions/statements for you

- what do you actually want to do? if you love primary care, then wait for a different primary care job that would be a better fit (it sounds like you're already nervous it wouldn't be a good fit for a few different reasons - listen to your gut). if you're actually interested in sleep med/ent, then do that. you would probably be happier there

- can you hold out for any other jobs? 

- the primary care job doesn't seem like a good place for a new grad. if there's you and another new grad, the doc will prob be very busy seeing new patients and also trying to advise both of yall - sounds like a situation that may be set up to fail. 

[xnhpx24]

1 hour ago, runnerpa-s said:

That's a tough situation. I have a few follow up questions/statements for you

- what do you actually want to do? if you love primary care, then wait for a different primary care job that would be a better fit (it sounds like you're already nervous it wouldn't be a good fit for a few different reasons - listen to your gut). if you're actually interested in sleep med/ent, then do that. you would probably be happier there

- can you hold out for any other jobs? 

- the primary care job doesn't seem like a good place for a new grad. if there's you and another new grad, the doc will prob be very busy seeing new patients and also trying to advise both of yall - sounds like a situation that may be set up to fail. 

Thank you for your response!

I am open to any field. I think after having the interview at the primary care place, it felt like I would be pushed into the job without much on-boarding/training. (I have been out of school for a year). The sup. doc also observed me while I was with his patients and made me feel rushed or while he was showing me the EMR system kept saying “oh I’m behind on patients.” I felt that came off the wrong way. The clinic did seem busy, but then his PA told me that it was one of the better days at the clinic lol....Anyway, later on the phone he seemed like he was fine with me and very passionate about the clinic. It did feel uneasy about the whole thing.

I'm looking for some direction for my first job. For example, I’m waiting on another place that to me that if I am hired, they would gradually add patients to my schedule and I would have shadowing. But that place told me they only considered me because I would get through credentialing faster as a new grad. Kind of disheartening to hear because I put a lot of effort in my cover letter/etc.

I felt more excited just interviewing at the sleep med place. I think it may be interesting and a starting point! I know I may have a better idea of what I want to do after that interview. It’s just the thought of potentially declining this offer to hear back that is scary lol. I haven't had any other offers yet, and I tell myself to be patient. I guess I’m afraid of not having any other opportunities (though that may be an irrational fear considering, I’ve had other interviews) 

[rev ronin]

Sleep medicine is a great field in a lot of ways, but I wouldn't recommend doing 100% sleep medicine straight out of school. Here's my take on things, as someone who's done years of both:

Why sleep medicine is better than primary care:

- Less ick factor: no stirrups, gloves only for cleaning chemical use.
- You actually help people, A LOT, all the time.
- Very hard to actually hurt patients.
- Medicine is pretty straightforward
- Typically, lots of autonomy. My MD was never on site.

Why primary care is better than sleep medicine:

- Zero pigeonholing. Family Medicine is a great first job from which you can go anywhere afterwards, in part because...
- You need to know everything, so you will have endless opportunities to learn new stuff.  Only thing that might atrophy in primary care would be surgery skills.  I haven't done anything but simple interrupted sutures with instrument ties in years.
- You can develop relationships with patients.  In sleep medicine if you see a patient more than 3-4 times, you're probably doing something wrong.
- If you don't have someone else available to quick consult when you're starting out, you will have lots of issues.  I'm SO glad I had 2-3 MDs and a really senior PA on a typical day for the first few years when I was learning family medicine.

Your mileage may vary, but I would not want to do 100% sleep medicine for a first job, but it was a great thing to get into after about 4-5 years of family medicine.

[xnhpx24]

11 hours ago, rev ronin said:

Sleep medicine is a great field in a lot of ways, but I wouldn't recommend doing 100% sleep medicine straight out of school. Here's my take on things, as someone who's done years of both:

Why sleep medicine is better than primary care:

- Less ick factor: no stirrups, gloves only for cleaning chemical use.
- You actually help people, A LOT, all the time.
- Very hard to actually hurt patients.
- Medicine is pretty straightforward
- Typically, lots of autonomy. My MD was never on site.

Why primary care is better than sleep medicine:

- Zero pigeonholing. Family Medicine is a great first job from which you can go anywhere afterwards, in part because...
- You need to know everything, so you will have endless opportunities to learn new stuff.  Only thing that might atrophy in primary care would be surgery skills.  I haven't done anything but simple interrupted sutures with instrument ties in years.
- You can develop relationships with patients.  In sleep medicine if you see a patient more than 3-4 times, you're probably doing something wrong.
- If you don't have someone else available to quick consult when you're starting out, you will have lots of issues.  I'm SO glad I had 2-3 MDs and a really senior PA on a typical day for the first few years when I was learning family medicine.

Your mileage may vary, but I would not want to do 100% sleep medicine for a first job, but it was a great thing to get into after about 4-5 years of family medicine.

Thank you so much for outlining this for me! For my typical day, it seems that there is one supervising physician and one other new grad with me. No other PA's. When I asked about training, they said there wasn't anything, but to just ask questions when I have them. The vibe isn't new grad friendly it seems...