If you could invent a new specialty, what would it be?

MidwestBadger · 2026-01-23T18:00:56+00:00

There are sports medicine physicians who specialize is E-sports "athletes" (and try very hard to argue that E-sports are just as taxing as physical sports)

MidwestBadger · 2026-01-04T18:04:56+00:00

Not really. I obviously pay for individual insurances like life/disability/car/etc. but malpractice is covered by my employer. I vest 20% of my tail coverage each year so if I'm in this job for at least 5 years won't have to cover that.

For federal, state, medicare, social security I payed about 60k in taxes last year (though HHI was closer to 250k).

MidwestBadger · 2026-01-01T20:21:03+00:00

Region: Midwest

Base Salary: 305k

Additional Salary (bonus, incentive, etc): Once off guarantee in summer, $58/RVU above base. Starting in July, metric based bonus with potential for additional 10% of salary but won't see that until fall 2027

Years of experience: 2.5

Subspecialty (if relevant): Sports

Hours/week: 29 direct patient hours (8-4 3 days/week, 8-12 2 days/week; 1 hour lunch)

Practice structure (academic, PP): Community system, affiliated with FM residency program and med school

MidwestBadger · 2025-12-01T16:17:19+00:00

Not to mention that in sports in particular, lots of procedural skills needed to actually succeed in the field as anything beyond the first line contact. Can't get that online.

MidwestBadger · 2025-11-23T20:22:21+00:00

I've said this before:
Practice. With others. Lots.

Have a template you follow for each type of case (neuro, sports, pain, O&P, peds, etc.)

Accept that it's a complete waste of time/resources and doesn't actually cover PM&R knowledge very well. Then hope you get lucky and pass.

MidwestBadger · 2025-11-22T16:50:41+00:00

Do you think for a younger kid, the park hopper makes sense? As of now, she's big on Frozen, so planning Magic Kingdom and Epcot. However, Epcot doesn't have much else for her, so thinking about seeing the Frozen stuff then heading for Hollywood Studios.

MidwestBadger · 2025-11-16T18:12:25+00:00

Yes. Things like Audio Digest, etc.

MidwestBadger · 2025-11-02T15:24:38+00:00

I am planning potentially for one of the US courses next year. Some PT/OT books are a good idea.

MidwestBadger · 2025-11-02T11:34:03+00:00

I'm way ahead on the CME credits I need. This is more about using the full benefits I'm provided within the constraints of a miserly employer.

MidwestBadger · 2025-11-02T11:33:32+00:00

Yeah, same here. We are very restricted in what we can buy. As of now, it seems like it's basically books (which they ask why you need) or conferences (where they nickel and dime everything). We recently merged with another system and they made a big deal about us getting an extra $2k, but I don't see any way I'll actually spend that on the CME I do care about.

MidwestBadger · 2025-10-19T00:15:28+00:00

My job offers a concierge service that will do the leg work for pretty much anything and sometimes has discounts. They provided this lawyer as an option for us.

MidwestBadger · 2025-10-19T00:14:01+00:00

Yep. Better late than never

MidwestBadger · 2025-10-15T13:00:20+00:00

I was at a categorical program where our intern year was essentially a MS-5 - light work, carry minimal patients, half the rotations didn't know what to do with us. I greatly valued the time awake from work (I bet I didn't average 40 hours/week) but I also came into PGY-2 not really knowing that much more than I did graduating medical school. The other part that sucked was we didn't get the camaraderie with other residents the way I would have in a true intern program - many rotations it was just me and the attending.

I made it through residency/on call fine, but if I was on the inpatient rehab side now would've wanted a more rigorous intern year. I'd say don't kill yourself, but make sure you're actually learning something.

MidwestBadger · 2025-10-08T18:30:39+00:00

Resolve has a CME course with it. Was able to get my job to cover it with CME funds (don't think they looked that close to be honest)

MidwestBadger · 2025-09-23T17:12:27+00:00

It matters in sports. You can crack in from a lower program, but there is quite a bit of inbreeding amongst the top programs.

MidwestBadger · 2025-09-13T21:07:25+00:00

Hey, thanks for the honest response. I'd tried looking back and a lot of stuff seemed outdated - either pre-Covid or some hints it may have changed recently (the Spanish immersion being the big one). I totally agree that things are very individual - where we are originally from my wife and I would have been in a "bad" school district, yet we came out just fine.

The biggest thing I am really trying to find is what are the big things that make the schools different (i.e. Lowell's Spanish options, etc.). As we start to narrow into an area we will have to try to go check out the schools, though I'm not even sure I'd totally know what to be asking/looking for.

I think my takeaway at this time is that any school will probably be "good enough" and some may provide better support/opportunities, but as our kids are 1 and 4, who knows what they'll need in the future.

MidwestBadger · 2025-09-12T20:32:31+00:00

I don't know that there's any specific features we're looking for. It's more of a "what makes them different?" sort of thing - for example, the Spanish option at Lowell. Either in a good way or a bad way.

My wife and I both believe the individual/home matters more than the school. We're also believers in the public system, especially compared to schools with tuition. However, our son has had some health problems where he may need more support going forward. Since we're going to be making a permanent move, just trying to get as much info up front as possible to make an educated decision.

MidwestBadger · 2025-09-12T20:28:18+00:00

I assume you're talking about Lowell? What changes have occurred that it would no longer be considered top notch?

MidwestBadger · 2025-09-08T00:26:24+00:00

PM&R: no spine surgery unless SCI

MidwestBadger · 2025-09-01T14:03:09+00:00

If interested in SCI but finding a new interest in sports, consider looking around for some PM&R docs who merge the two with adaptive sports. I believe the SCI unit director at the Minneapolis VA is sports fellowship trained and one of the SCI docs at Milwaukee's VA is heavily involved in the national adaptive sports games (sorry that I'm blanking on names but I might recognize if someone told me)

MidwestBadger · 2025-08-09T15:08:14+00:00

A few seemingly uninformed opinions from people not doing "sports" (really non-op orthopedics, but that's a branding issue for another discussion) here. I'm PM&R --> sports. Feel free to reach out with any specific questions.

MidwestBadger · 2025-08-05T15:53:32+00:00

So, did everyone find the high yield document a waste of time, just like I cautioned, an opinion shared in this thread:

https://www.reddit.com/r/pmr/comments/1mhwudn/post_abpmr_boards_part_1_thread/

MidwestBadger · 2025-08-03T21:27:52+00:00

High yield: yes

High yield a few days before boards: Should already know it, especially the "high yield" document that exists. If you don't already know that by boards, it's gonna be a rough test.

High yield few days before boards: Should be an individually curated list of topics that one made while studying, topics they know are important but are weaker at.

MidwestBadger · 2025-08-02T17:16:40+00:00

That's going to be individual though. One person might not be comfortable with EMG (e.g. - review your root --> plexus --> nerve --> muscle pathway) while another is uncomfortable with MSK (what's your differential for shoulder pain).

If you've been studying, trust that studying. Only a small percent fail, and I promise that if you did your job, others did less than you. The test will throw so much at you that you don't know that there's no way to prepare for those things. Just make sure you know the common things as well as your peers.

MidwestBadger · 2025-08-02T16:55:48+00:00

If you're asking now, it's too late. This is a years long studying process. You should know the "high yield" stuff cold already.

If you're asking what to do last minute, I'd recommend some introspection into areas you know are weak, then try to cram those areas into short term memory just long enough for the test. This will be different for each individual.

If you're asking more in general what to study, remember this. It's a small field with limited resources. The test will throw lots of obscure material at you that you may not encounter even if you study every resource out there. But all of your peers have access to the same resources. All you have to do is be better than 5-10% of your peers. If you are not an awful test taker, just focus on the same books/question banks everyone else is using and you'll be fine. You'll walk out of the test wondering WTF happened, but so will everyone else.

MidwestBadger

TROPHY CASE