Switching into Internal Medicine residency

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A number of fields, among them radiation-oncology and dermatology, require an internship prior to beginning training.

My question is: if I get into an internal medicine internship (?prelim?) and a residency like one of the above, and decide midway through the internship that I actually want to do IM, is it at all possible to switch in mid-stream, and finish off the IM program in 3 years total? (as if I were IM all along)

Would such an action count overwhelmingly unfavorably for me if I wanted to pursue a competitive fellowship, i.e. cards?

Originally Posted by sdnetrocks

A number of fields, among them radiation-oncology and dermatology, require an internship prior to beginning training.

My question is: if I get into an internal medicine internship (?prelim?) and a residency like one of the above, and decide midway through the internship that I actually want to do IM, is it at all possible to switch in mid-stream, and finish off the IM program in 3 years total? (as if I were IM all along)

Would such an action count overwhelmingly unfavorably for me if I wanted to pursue a competitive fellowship, i.e. cards?

Yes, it's possible. I posted a longer answer to your question in the derm forum.

Per SDN policy, please don't post the same question in multiple forums. Thx!

Originally Posted by KentW

Per SDN policy, please don't post the same question in multiple forums. Thx!

My apologies. I felt this was appropriate for both, but I'll refrain from doing this in the future.