Since I’ve been reading a lot of posts regarding subject confusion, I would like to put my inputs to help my juniors. I was also in the same spot 2 years back in neetpg. I got 1100 rank and was mainly confused between MED VS RADIO VS ORTHO.but during the course of my e-xploration I explored all the clinical branches.I talked to practicing doctors and took the final decision.
Initially I was hell bent that radio is THE CHOICE FOR ME.cool life,good money.what else would anyone want??then I came to know about pros and cons of all the branches.
PROFESSIONALLY- You have to first identify yourself.either you’re a physician or a surgeon or a non clinical doctor at heart.that will narrow down your choices.IF YOU ARE CONFUSED ABOUT YOUR TASTE,THEN YOU ARE DEFINITELY A NON SURGEON AT HEART,COZ A SURGEON KNOWS FROM HIS MBBS DAYS,THAT HE WANTS TO DO SURGERY.
LIFESTYLE- all the clinical branches are hectic during residency,radio in that case is pretty light during residency.but people assume that residency life is going to be the same as real life.NO,ITLL NOT BE THE SAME. Clinical branches like med,ortho work for 8-10hours in Pvt practice,even radio has to work for 8-10 hours.BECAUSE DIAGNOSTIC BRANCHES HAVE CUT PRACTICE AND YOU CANT AFFORD TO LET LOSE. so in real life,working hours are the same.but for some branches life gynae,peds.diplomas are also there as a competition.so NIGHT CALL ARE THERE IN TGE INITIAL PHASE OF CAREER.A LOT OF NIGHT CALLS.your seniors would take up day time cases and you would land up in emergency hours.same goes for surgical branches.initial years would go either in ASSISTING OR WORKING AT ODD HOURS.this is not in case of md med.people would come for opd in daytime only.and if you’re working in ICU setting,there will be 2 nights shift weekly according to roster.
MONETARILY- METRO CITIES- (corporate hospitals tend to pay on a lower side and normal hospitals pay on a higher side)
MED-1.5-2LPM. PEDS,ORTHO,SURGERY-1-1.5LPM. RADIO-2-2.5LPM. DM(SUPERSPECIALITY)-3-4LPM AND THEN IT ESCALATES RAPIDLY TO >5LPM WITHIN ABOUT 2-3 YEARS.
Tier 2 cities-almost 1.5-2 times of the above said figure.but here’s the catch.radio has a ceiling of about 3-4lakhs.but medicine person without even DM crosses it in about 3 years.surgery people take a bit more time(coz of more competition from established surgeons) but overtake them. establishing a radio centre is costly and due to cut practice the profits are low.for eg-ct scan machine comes for around 80lakh -1cr and NCCT head is for 1200,50% goes to the referring clinician,20% operational cost.so the centre owner is left with only 300-400 per scan.And medicine setup is pretty cheap,a centre with ECG machine,basic equipments, hematology lab(along with a signing authority like- Dcp) would come for 20lakhs.and it would earn a lot of money.
Ease of getting superpeciality- a lot easier than md entrance.every year 4k medicine students sit for about 700 DM seats(20% selection rate) vs about 2% in md in entrance.and dnb SUPERSPECIALITY is also there.so in worst case scenario,if you want to do SUPERSPECIALITY you will get dnb-ss for sure.
GENERAL TREND HAS SHIFTED IN THE PAST FEW YEARS.IN MY TIME OR DURING NY SENIORS TIME,RADIOLOGY WAS THE UNDISPUTED KING,70-80 of top 100 would take radio.but you can see it for yourself,that last year for top 200(students who’re having all the branches options from all the top colleges) 64 took med,74 took radio,despite all the peer pressure(ki radio lele Bhai ).radio was an elite branch due to the demand supply gap.but now every year about 1200-1300 radiologists are produced(earlier only ~400 were produced).one radiologist can handle about 100 x-rays and 50 USG a day( and yes they’re made to work this much).so the demand to supply gap is meeting very rapidly.so whatever shine is left in radio will fade off in coming 5 years.
AT LAST,IF YOURE A SURGICAL GUY,GO FOR IT.IT HAS MONEY,SATISFACTION,FAME.IF YOURE A MEDICINE GUY,UNDOUBTEDLY ITS THE BEST BRANCH RIGHT NOW.RADIO IS ALSO A GOOD BRANCH,BUT YOU HAVE TO COMPROMISE WITH YOUR PROFESSIONAL IDENTITY TO GET THAT EXTRA COMFORT.and forget the fact that it’ll earn you extra bucks( it’ll Be marginal and only for the starting few years)
PS: I got MDRD from ai2,left it and took MD MED from state counseling.so I’ve done all this research for myself so you can rely on me
Sir what if a person dreamt becoming a surgeon and even after his 2 Nd attempt with full effort got a very bad rank? Shall he still go with his dream by pursuing management seat surgery and try hard to get to line with others who got nice rank and nice experience from a govt hospital??
In my hometown (small city in bihar) radiologists earning 12 lakh + and freshers 5lakh + and those having own diagnostic center …
sky is the limit
For me medicine… wont get it with my rank…
Can get surg or ortho dnb sometimes… but was not passionate about surgeries during ug times…
N cant drop a year more…already lost 2…
How to dealsir?
truthful and honest post but probably looks at only one side of the coin. most people choose radio because of the lifestyle and interest >>> money. and ‘professional identity’ depends on how good you are at your profession. scope is there in literally every branch of healthcare with technology going leaps and bounds. i myself am still confused between med and radio - but somehow its not because of money or fame. If u r the best in ur branch - both of them will come to you. so im trying to figure out the branch in which i can b the best rather than the best branch.
I have spoken to old radiologist who is working in a pucca corporate setup,he told in other branches we need to convince patients,but in radiology we have to convince the doctors who is well known about the radiology in his field,so don’t think radiology, won’t think radiology won’t have stress it also has its own stress and risk…
Nice post. I would like to add few points.
Medicine is definitely evergreen branch and I would say the most interesting of all. It’s a mix of every other specialty. Contrary to what people might think, the amount of ‘physical’ work is much less in medicine compared to other branches, further less because of good number of residents working in different units (Much increase in seats recently). You will not believe but in some colleges radio residents have hectic schedule because of lesser number of residents handling routine or emergency X-rays, USG etc. Consultants only handle filtered out difficult cases. On the other hand in most colleges, for medicine you will have OPD for one day in a week & same goes for emergency duties. However ICU duties can be hectic, but that too are limited to particular time slot.
Second thing is interesting branch. This branch gives you the joy of reaching to a diagnosis (e.g. any case of neurology or finding a site of lesion etc) , you can see the concepts unfolding in real time. Medicine rounds are much more academically productive (of course you will have to face routine boring cases as well). Once a while you might face an elusive case which will trouble even the most experienced consultant.
Recognition and popularity in society is much more with medicine, given the broadest spectrum of this branch. Apart from huge patients flow for general physician related ailments , It acts like a gateway for further referrals. Expect that most patients will first present to you (Though nowadays patients are more educated and well informed of specialists).
Opportunity for super-specialization: Some students may not want to spend another 3 years again doing residency but the scenario after MD is completely different. First the chances of selection to DM courses are much better than that of MD, and with no reservations policy for DM courses it is all your hard work which is going to count. With NEETSS in place now most MD doctors are getting their specialty of choice. Also top institutes like PGI, JIPMER have removed interview (viva) pattern of assessment for selection to DM courses. During DM residency most states will pay you decent salary and after DM, trust me sky is the limit.
As far as earnings are concerned there is no upper limit to what a physician might earn. First of all you need very minimal investment , you can start your clinic with basic setup and your knowledge and experience is your investment. Especially at second tier cities or district places you can earn at par with any other branches with basic setup. Situation might be different in big cities, where you will have option to join corporate hospitals on fixed hours basis & still can do practice. The burden of investment for other branches (particularly Radiology) is much more such that if you don’t own a center then you end up doing a fixed salary job with capping of max income, amount being charged by physicians, center owners etc. On the other hand a DM physician will have much more monthly income (4-5 lacs) only for consultancy. Few super-specialty branches will give you chance of doing interventions as well as imaging (e.g Cardiology , Gastroenterology), and nowadays major chunk of their earnings comes from interventions and imaging & there is no upper limit to that. Same is the case with plain MD physician , but it all depends on your expertise and how you can establish yourself.
In the end nowadays litigations from patient parties is the new trend in almost all branches and adds extra fear among doctors. But if you stay honest to your oath and practice as per guidelines you can face these litigations ,most of which are ultimately turned down for obvious reasons as most of them are done in the heat of moment coming from emotional background without caring for facts (barring few cases of gross negligence).
So for those who are confused whether to opt Medicine or not, I hope I have given enough reasons and aid to clear the confusion. I have given this info based on my own experience and understanding and is only for those who were confused about medicine, for students genuinely interested in other branches remember that the branch which you enjoy most is the best for you. All the best for counseling
Sir what is your opinion ,If somebody’s aim is to become a superspecialist down the line .Shud they opt for MD Gen Medcn(from outside state through AIQ) or MD Peadiatrics ( from State quota) ? Really confused