I am curious about different subspecialty choices other cardiologists made. It usually works out and most people don't have regrets.
But I am curious about anyone that does regret their subspecialty choice and why? If you could go back, what would you tell your younger self? Did anyone go back into training to pursue a different course?
I am looking to cancel some fellowship interviews, but I am worried some of them are scheduled on the earlier end. How much advanced notice is considered professional?
Or asked another way, how much is too late?
General cardiology fellow here. I applied for interventional cardiology but I am reconsidering given a number of factors: Call burden, lifestyle, and occupational risks like radiation and back injury. I knew all of this going in obviously but I went ahead anyway because it has been my goal for so long.
I have a few interviews lined up and am debating whether to interview and give myself more time to see how I feel. However, it also feels disingenuous and I am worried how pulling out of the match late would be perceived by mentors and potential future employers.
Any advice? Should I just interview and see where things stand in a month or pull the plug early?
So this is a little niche, but I would like general advice. I am a general cardiology fellow deciding between two subspecialties: interventional structural cardiology versus electrophysiology.
Structural interventional deals with things like heart attacks, coronary artery disease, and fixing dysfunctional valves through transcatheter minimally invasive approaches. I have always wanted to pursue structural since medical school and a lot of my research is built around it. But the market for structural is very saturated and most people who pursue the subspecialty have to sacrifice desirable locations to do what they want, and most often they focus on coronaries. Plus the lifestyle is significantly harder, with overnight calls, emergencies, and the need to manage complications.
Meanwhile, Electrophysiology deals with rhythm disorders. Most commonly atrial fibrillation, but also other forms of slow and fast arrhythmia. Also procedural. It's very innovative and technologically advanced. The high end of is very fascinating and intellectually stimulating. But a typical job deals mostly with atrial fibrillation, like 50-70% of a typical day. And I find AFib to be relatively bland, both from a pathophysiology and procedural aspect. I genuinely enjoy the field, but what I enjoy is more like 10-20% of what they do. But I know the market is better and for my specific focus area, there is the strong potential for a job close to family.
What would you choose?
TLDR: cardiology fellow picking between structural interventional which is exciting, aligns with my heart, but bad lifestyle and a saturated market versus EP which is much better from a job market and lifestyle perspective but while I enjoy the high end of the field, I find their typical cases ("bread and butter") to be boring.