Are pediatric subspecialties more competitive than ROAD specialities

[coffeesnob]

I would like to go into pediatrics and sub-specialize. Let's say I want to sub-specialize in pediatric GI or cards, which are both fairly competitive fields in my understanding.

Can someone put the competitiveness of residency matching and fellowship matching in perspective? How competitive is it to match into those pediatric subspecialties as a PY3? Is it more difficult than, or as difficult as getting into competitive programs like radiology, ophtho, derm and anesthesia as an MS4?

In other words, would matching in pediatric GI be as hard as getting into radiology as an MS4?

I am sure this is a neurotic MS1 thread, but please shed some insight.

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[zeyad]

Absolutely not. Much, much less competitive than getting into ROAD. Then again.. matching into Pediatric Cardiology at CHOP/Boston Children's will probably be more competitive than matching into a lower or mid-tier rads or anesthesia program, but generally speaking, you'll be fine with Pediatric fellowships.

 

[JMMH]

In general matching into a pediatric subspecialty is not difficult unless you have your heart set on the big names. If you cast a wide enough net and have a decent application, you should find a spot.

Here's some good data for reference:
http://www.nrmp.org/wp-content/uplo...gram-NRMP-Results-and-Data-SMS-2014-Final.pdf

 

[coffeesnob]

Thanks @zeyad and @JMMH! I just looked at the match results. I didn't know how small these fields were.