Applying to CCM Fellowships this year....

[Random Anesthesiologist]

Is there a current "magic number" for number of applications?


Briefly about me:
Average test scores
Superb LORs
Some collaborative research (published in non-Anes peer-reviewed journal) and research of my own ideas
Several case reports
Great CV experiences pre-med school/residency (non-trad)

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[G-Man82]

I applied to about 7 places I think. It's more popular but I don't think we're close to hitting critical mass with CCM yet, so there shouldn't be a magic number.

Oh and if anyone is interested, the residents at my place got an email saying that Miami suddenly has an open spot in their CCM fellowship for this current year.

 

[partydoc]

Talking to my upper classmen, seems like they did about 5ish interviews.

 

[Random Anesthesiologist]

Thanks! I just wanted to make sure I had enough on my roster. I'd love to stay at my home institution but they are a small program. I'll probably have more questions after the application opens in Nov.

 

[Infexious]

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[partydoc]

Everyone I talked to said get your apps in early, increases your chance for interviews. And I guess ca2 ite score can't hurt.

 

[sevodex1]

Which are the top guns for critical care... know it's variable and depends on what one seeks out of it... Would be helpful if resident/fellows at the anes CCM programs could pitch in...

 

[Brookstacular]

Sounds like you're in good shape. I applied to about 15, got invited to interview at all, interviewed at 7 (Vandy, Stanford, WashU, Hopkins, UChicago, UCSF, Michigan) and that was too many but I intended to move to a new location for life experience and wanted to see many places. I applied as the application opened in November and had invites in the following week, definitely doesn't hurt to apply early as the dates are limited. I didn't send my CA-2 ITE scores and it wasn't requested. Probably could of you improve and want to boost your application. Critical care is growing but not yet at a critical mass. Last thing to consider - many places advertise 10 positions but fill 8 of them with combined residency/fellowship, internal candidates, dual fellowships (can sign outside the match for a 2 year commitment, or internal candidates), or other non-obvious promises.

My opinion (grain of salt time): Look at a broad spectrum of ICU experiences and avoid the programs that sell themselves as entirely one entity. For example, Duke has a great CV experience but their fellowship is damn near entirely cardiac... Might work for you but wasn't what I was looking for. Consider combining with cardiac if you're at all inclined, I've been hearing from numerous people (private and academic) how employable that combo is... Plus you can sign outside the match. I loved all the programs I interviewed at but all for different reasons. I ranked Vandy #1 and I'm headed there in 2016 because it filled the wants I had.

 

[lunaire]

I don't think you'll get too much difficulty getting a CCM fellowship. Keep in mind that many programs value LORs/phone calls from people they know as much as your actual CV. I got my fellowship outside of match, mostly through a faculty recommendation.

And +1 on closely examining the CC experience of the fellowship. We only get a year of this before we're released to the wild, and critical care is incredibly broad. If you only do cardiac ICU, I guarantee you the first week you cover a SICU will be rough. Likewise if you get little to no cardiac or medical ICU experience. Each ICU subgroup need a different mindset, and you don't get this if you don't have enough exposure to it.

 

[criticalelement]

They need a body for a year. They cant lose. If they accept an applicant who has a major personality disorder, they only have to live with them for a year.

 

[deleted171991]

They need you more than you need them. People are still not lining up for CCM fellowships, so the better you are the more choices you have.

There are few well-balanced programs, so take one that allows for at least 3 months of electives, if not more, so you get the entire MICU/SICU/Cardiac ICU experience, +/- TEE. Lung U/S and TTE are a must, abdominal U/S is a bonus. If the program is not balanced, all they care about is having a body and making money on you.

You must have time for reading (again electives); this is a much more knowledge-based subspecialty than others. You will not have much time to read while in the ICU. Night shift/call responsibility should be reasonable, but not overly exhausting; it's better to join a program with a night float system in place, so less overnight call during regular ICU months (and preferably zero during electives). No call is bad. Stuff happens during the night, and you want to be in a position to learn from it, by managing the cases yourself. Depending on acuity, you'll want to cover 30-50 beds during the night, with resident/midlevel support.

Pathology should be diverse, the sicker the better, as long as there are enough fellows/residents to do the job. If it smells like slavery, that's what it will be. Think twice about what you are signing up for. You should work as a fellow (read junior attending), not as a resident.

Don't let yourself be impressed by just a big name. If they are not extremely nice to you during the interview, think how bad it will be after you signed on the dotted line. There is nothing more pleasant than looking forward to go to work, and the main reason for that is being surrounded by nice people. Nice people will make the crap taste better. This is a fellowship, so there is crap; no crap means no training, so cushy is bad, but there must be a balance. Go with your gut.

See where their fellows are going, and if they help you find a job, or have a good graduate network in place. Any of those can be a big plus.

So cast a broad net when applying, but stop interviewing once you find 2-3 programs that you really liked when visiting. You will more likely than not match at one of those.

 

[secants]

FFP, what programs do you think are the well balanced ones?

 

[deleted171991]

FFP, what programs do you think are the well balanced ones?

The ones that mix various types of SICU and MICU. The ones that fill your gaps, instead of teaching you what you're already good at. It's different for each of us.

 

[Infexious]

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[BobBarker]

PICU is uneccessary. You could do a fine job lining out, stabilizing, and shipping out a pediatric patient now. I did a PICU rotation as a resident and the main thing I learned was that pediatricians are awful at procedures.

 

[lunaire]

I felt that PICU exposes you to think about physiology in a different way, which is actually really helpful if you're into research (there's a bunch of stuff from peds that needs translational work into adults medicine), and gets you really good at lines... Otherwise, not useful. They generally do not send kids into adult ICU, even in the community hospital. If they did, it's more of an ED to backdoor discharge kinda thing.