Hey Tara,
I’m entertaining a similar differential.
My solution is a five-year plan. (Not just because of that, but also for several other reasons–but it’s a convenient out.) I’m guessing the Air Force wouldn’t beam down little rays of sunbeams on that plan, but you might consider how you might do it. (An MPH while you contemplate?)
Barring that, I would say that I console myself in similar ponderings (I’m right now between psych, neuro, medicine, med-psych, neuro-psych and… well, every now and then I throw trauma surgery in there, but not too often) by figuring that there is a lot of overlap between these contenders. Neuro isn’t all research-based–there’s lots of primary care-type neuro to be done in following folks with stroke, MS, seizure disorders, migraines, chronic pain, and so on. And I think there’s a great opportunity to combine the psych with the medicine. I have a great neuro preceptor who is very attuned to the psychiatric aspects of her patients, never fails to ask about domestic violence, and really emphasizes the neurology clinic as a place where psychiatry and medicine are very much a part of what she thinks about. You may want to consider getting some exposure beyond the tertiary care world of neuro. The only bummer is that most of the patients don’t get a whole lot better. On the other hand what with advances in stroke care, that is changing and there is an emergency aspect of neurology these days that is pretty cool.
Psych does feel limiting, and that’s what I also struggle with about it. You may want to consider looking at behavioral neurology fellowships as a way to combine the two. And/or psych with a behavioral neurology fellowship?
Speaking of which back to my biopsychosocial formulation.
joe