so you want to be an endocrinologist you
like the idea of being the master of
diabetes and believe that every medical
issue can be fixed by prescribing the
right hormone let's debunk the public
perception myths and give it to you
straight this is the reality of
endocrinology dr jabal
medschoolinsiders.com welcome to our
next installment in so you want to be in
this series we highlight a specific
specialty within medicine such as
endocrinology and help you decide if
it's a good fit for you you can find the
other specialties on our so you want to
be playlist if you want to vote in
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subscribed if you'd like to see what
being an endocrinologist looks like
check out my second channel kevin dubois
md where we'll be covering a day in the
life of an endocrinologist in the future
endocrinologists are the experts in the
disease and dysfunction of the endocrine
system this network of glands secretes
hormones into the bloodstream which
travel throughout the body and regulate
a variety of processes including growth
and development metabolism reproduction
sleep and mood metabolic diseases such
as obesity diabetes and thyroid disease
are the bread and butter of
endocrinology close to two-thirds of all
endocrinology patients fall into this
category the other third consists of a
variety of endocrine conditions
including pituitary disease adrenal
disease bone disorders and sex hormone
imbalance endocrinologists are also
involved in the evaluation and treatment
of a variety of tumors and cancers
involving the pituitary gland adrenal
glands and thyroid the typical day for
endocrinologists involve splitting their
time between the clinic and the hospital
outpatient clinic days consist of quick
follow-ups and e-visits to review lab
results review continuous glucose
monitor data and evaluate treatment
response on inpatient days
endocrinologists will generally serve as
consultants to the primary medical or
surgical admitting service they also
lead the inpatient glycemic management
team to help hospitals improve outcomes
by optimizing inpatient and
perioperative blood glucose levels if
the endocrinologist is part of an
academic center they'll have to further
divide their time between academic
responsibilities including teaching and
research this brings us to an important
method of differentiating an
endocrinologist's practice in academia
endocrinologists tend to see more
complex or rare diseases including
advanced thyroid disease cushing's
disease acromegaly and lipodystrophy
they may also sub-specialize in a
particular niche of endocrinology and
focus on teaching researching and
practicing within this specific area as
a private practice or community-based
endocrinologist you will spend most of
your time in clinic evaluating and
treating patients referred by their
primary care physician presentations are
generally less rare or complex on
average with the majority falling into
obesity diabetes and thyroid concerns
compared to academic practice community
and private practice endocrinologists
have higher average compensation let's
clear up some of the misconceptions
about endocrinology a lot of people
think that endocrinologists are only
good for prescribing hormones not only
is this a vast oversimplification of
what an endocrinologist does but it is
simply incorrect although hormone
therapy may be a part of the treatment
plan it is not indicated for every
patient nor is it the only tool in the
endocrinologist's tool belt
endocrinologists are diagnosticians who
work hard to diagnose the underlying
cause of endocrinopathies and help
patients get to the root of the problem
as such treatment plans often consist of
lifestyle changes surgical referrals and
medications aimed at treating the root
cause of the endocrine dysfunction
another common misconception is that
endocrinology is limited only to the
treatment of diabetes and obesity
although these metabolic diseases
comprise a large part of an
endocrinologist's census their actual
scope is much broader to become an
endocrinologist you must first complete
four years of medical school followed by
three years of internal medicine
residency and two to three years of
endocrinology fellowship two-year
endocrinology fellowships typically
consist of one year of clinical training
and one year of research however
endocrinology prospects desiring a
career in academics should opt for the
three-year fellowship path which
includes an additional year of research
in terms of competitiveness
endocrinology is one of the less
competitive im fellowship specialties
with cardiology oncology and
gastroenterology sitting at the more
competitive end of the spectrum as for
the type of medical students who
typically go for endocrinology they're
usually the ones who care more about
work-life balance than procedures or
absolute income they're the students who
tend to practice what they preach and
prioritize good nutrition and exercise
habits above all else this is fitting
since a large component of endocrinology
is based upon obesity diabetes and the
prevention of cardiometabolic disease
although there are a few opportunities
for endocrinologists to pursue
additional fellowship training some
endocrinologists may choose to
sub-specialize in a specific area of
endocrinology and focus on research
teaching and or practice in this
specific area diabetologists focus on
the treatment of type 1 type 2 and other
rarer forms of diabetes mellitus
thyroidologists focus on all diseases of
the thyroid and often specialize in
thyroid cancer neuroendocrinologists
focus primarily on hypothalamic
pituitary disorders reproductive
endocrinologists work alongside ob gyn
colleagues and focus on conditions such
as hypogonadism and menopause and more
recently transgender medicine has also
become another viable sub-specialization
focusing on addressing the needs of the
transgender patient population there's a
lot to love about endocrinology to start
endocrinologists tend to work reasonable
and regular hours even if you take call
for inpatient duties it is not generally
intense or high volume typically
additionally endocrinology is not a
procedure-oriented specialty instead the
emphasis is placed on building patient
relationships and exercising clinical
reasoning because endocrinologists are
concerned with lifestyle diseases like
obesity and diabetes you also have the
opportunity to help your patients be
more proactive with their health this
means guiding them to make healthy
lifestyle choices that will prevent
future disease and positively impact
their health for years to come while
preventive medicine isn't perceived to
be cutting edge and doesn't make
headlines it's arguably more important
and impactful in terms of lives saved
the top two leading causes of death in
the united states are heart disease and
cancer which are both heavily impacted
by dietary and lifestyle choices as an
endocrinologist you can take pride
knowing that you're helping your
patients make better lifestyle choices
that will prevent these issues before
they occur which is something we don't
often focus on enough in western
medicine while endocrinology is an
awesome specialty it's not for everyone
with a total of five or six years of
additional training after medical school
depending on whether you opt for a two
or three year fellowship after your
internal medicine residency becoming an
endocrinologist takes longer than
average and while most specialties with
longer training are offset by higher
average compensation endocrinology is at
the lower end with an average annual
salary of 245 000
additionally about two-thirds of your
caseload will revolve around a select
few conditions namely diabetes obesity
and thyroid disease so if having a lot
of variety in your patient presentations
is important to you endocrinology may
not be the best fit endocrinology also
requires a great deal of patience
acquiring insurance approval for
treatments is often difficult and
requires filling out large amounts of
paperwork and even when you finally get
insurance approval there is the issue of
patient adherence and lifestyle
modification to contend with to combat
this endocrinologists are trained
extensively in motivational interviewing
techniques aimed at empowering their
patients to make lasting behavior change
but if you've lived off nothing but junk
food for the past 30 years it's unlikely
you'll simply flip the switch and start
eating chicken breast and salad every
day medications affecting the endocrine
system are also often slow to take
effect which further compounds the issue
of patient adherence this can be a huge
source of burnout for some
endocrinologists however the success of
many patients generally outweighs the
frustration that comes with a few
non-adherent ones how can you decide if
endocrinology is right for you if you're
patient and willing to weather the ups
and downs of habit change alongside your
patients to improve their health
endocrinology might be for you you
should love learning about physiology
lifestyle medicine and pharmacology and
value positive lifestyle modification if
you prefer lower acuity and enjoy the
cerebral side of medicine more than
procedures endocrinology has you covered
and if you prioritize work-life balance
endocrinology won't make you choose
between your family or your work
although you might have to sacrifice a
bit of income in return huge shout out
to endocrinologist dr carl nadolski for
helping me in the creation of this video
check out his instagram tic toc and
other social media handles in the
description are you hoping to become an
endocrinologist to get into medical
school match into internal medicine
residency and get into an endocrinology
fellowship you'll need a rock solid
application not only with test scores
but also essays and interview skills as
you look at resources and companies to
work with seek out those who are actual
md physicians not phd or other types of
doctors that didn't go to medical school
look for those who have achieved stellar
results themselves a track record of
success with positive ratings from
customers and a systematic approach so
you know you'll always receive high
quality service if you decide on med
school insiders we'd love to be a part
of your journey in becoming a future
physician visit us on
medschoolinsiders.com thank you all so
much for watching if you enjoyed this
video check out our so you want to be an
internist video or another specialty on
our so you want to be playlist much love
and i'll see you guys there
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