Before medical school, and honestly even during my first year, I do not think I fully understood just how many different directions family medicine can take. I knew family medicine was broad, but I did not really realize that you could develop a niche within it through focused tracks, certificates, or fellowship training.
This idea became much more real to me after our Family Medicine Club at RVU Colorado hosted talks from Dr. Kathryn Vidlock and Dr. Sundermeyer, who each shared their path to fellowship. Dr. Vidlock spoke about sports medicine, and Dr. Sundermeyer spoke about OB fellowship and the broader landscape of family medicine fellowship options. Their talks highlighted the flexibility within family medicine and the many ways physicians can shape their careers around specific interests. The presentations included sports medicine as one fellowship path and also listed a wide range of other fellowship and certificate options within family medicine.
One of the biggest things I took away is that fellowship is not something you necessarily have to do immediately after residency. Both speakers discussed taking time between residency and fellowship, which I think was really reassuring. In medical school, it can sometimes feel like every decision has to be made right now and in the exact right order. Hearing that there can be flexibility in timing made fellowship feel much more approachable.
At the same time, that flexibility comes with practical things to think about. If you go back later for fellowship after working as an attending, you are likely stepping away from an attending salary and returning to trainee pay for that year. That does not mean it is not worth it, but it is something to keep in mind when thinking about timing and long-term planning.
Another major takeaway was just how many options exist. Family medicine fellowships can include areas such as sports medicine, addiction medicine, geriatrics, hospice and palliative care, clinical informatics, and more, along with other focused training areas like women’s health, rural medicine, ultrasound, behavioral health, and surgical OB. There are also combined residency pathways such as family medicine-emergency medicine, family medicine-internal medicine, family medicine-psychiatry, family medicine-public health, and family medicine with osteopathic recognition pathways.
What stood out to me most was that family medicine does not have to mean doing the exact same job as every other family physician. You can build your practice around the patient populations, procedures, or clinical settings that interest you most.
I also learned that if you are interested in a fellowship, especially a more competitive one like sports medicine, it is worth being intentional early. Dr. Vidlock’s talk emphasized strong academics, getting involved, attending events and conferences, finding mentors in the field, and choosing a residency that has the track, faculty, or fellowship connections that fit your interests. She also stressed the importance of having faculty in that field who know you well and can write strong letters of recommendation.
Dr. Sundermeyer’s talk also made me think more carefully about the differences between fellowships, certificates, tracks, and accredited versus non-accredited training pathways. Not every extra training opportunity means the same thing, and not every path leads to the same credentialing or scope of practice. That does not make one better than another across the board, but it does mean students should ask thoughtful questions about what a given program actually offers and how it fits their future goals.
For DO students, another especially important point was osteopathic recognition. That is something worth looking into beyond just seeing the label on a residency website. It matters to know what the osteopathic training actually looks like, how many DO faculty and residents are involved, and whether the program truly supports that part of training.
Overall, the biggest thing these talks gave me was awareness. If you are like I was and did not realize family medicine fellowships were even a thing, I hope this gives you a starting point. You do not have to know right now if fellowship is for you. You do not need to have your whole career mapped out. But it is helpful to know that family medicine has a lot more room within it than many of us first realize.
And honestly, I think that is one of the coolest things about it.
