Can I get credit from my psych internship for transtional year?

[Dean_Does_Happen]

Hello everyone. I am a US grad currently doing psych internship. I am planning on quitting psych residency because I realized the field is not for me even though I have huge respect for it.
My question is do I get any credit from my psych internship year (4 medicine rotations, two neurology rotations and 6 psych rotations) that I can apply towards a transitional year?
I am planning on applying for transitional year.

---

Members don't see this ad.

 

[Shikima]

I would think likely not. Sorry.

 

[Shikima]

Hello everyone. I am a US grad currently doing psych internship. I am planning on quitting psych residency because I realized the field is not for me even though I have huge respect for it.
My question is do I get any credit from my psych internship year (4 medicine rotations, two neurology rotations and 6 psych rotations) that I can apply towards a transitional year?
I am planning on applying for transitional year.

Likely not the whole year. Maybe some rotations like ER. I would anticipate completing the year over again.

 

[Doctor Bagel]

I know someone who transferred from psych to IM after intern year and was able to get credit for a few months. I don't know how that will work with a transitional internship, though, since that's only for one year anyway. Also, getting credit for licensure is one thing -- the program might need a body to do work.

 

[Dean_Does_Happen]

I know someone who transferred from psych to IM after intern year and was able to get credit for a few months. I don't know how that will work with a transitional internship, though, since that's only for one year anyway. Also, getting credit for licensure is one thing -- the program might need a body to do work.

So when I get credit for some rotations, does it mean I will be able to skip let's say 5 of the rotations and only do the other 7 and get 5 months off?

 

[Doctor Bagel]

So when I get credit for some rotations, does it mean I will be able to skip let's say 5 of the rotations and only do the other 7 and get 5 months off?

Maybe if they're willing to make that deal with you. I don't know, though -- it would seem odd to take someone on to be an intern and then not have them be there for half of the time. So you might qualify for credit, but no one will want to take you into your program and give you that. I suspect getting out of months will be more of a realistic option in a multiyear program. It's a hassle for programs to get residents, so I'm not sure a transitional year (which is a competitive match) would view giving you credit for almost half your internship as a good thing for them. Why do you want to do a transitional year?

 

[notdeadyet]

So when I get credit for some rotations, does it mean I will be able to skip let's say 5 of the rotations and only do the other 7 and get 5 months off?

it often means 5 months of electives. Depending on programs, the choices of electives could be limited..

 

[OldPsychDoc]

The ACGME explicitly states "The educational program in the transitional year must be 12 months in length". So I expect that notdead is correct--they may offer you more breadth of electives, but they can't give you a "partial credit" year.

So the question I keep asking is "transitional into what?"

 

[MacDonaldTriad]

If I were a TY training director and an applicant came to me and asked if they could avoid 4 months of medicine and one or two of neurology and do electives instead, I would have a knee jerk reaction that would say “next!” TY programs tend to be competitive and they would have to love you enough to place you ahead of all the other applicants who don’t have these requests. Sometimes psychiatry will accommodate such things, but a one year TY program has the luxury not to. TYs are often going into radiology, or dermatology. It is a very different league. You can try, but I would express a willingness to do the whole year as usual at some of the programs you would be willing to do this in.

 

[Dean_Does_Happen]

The ACGME explicitly states "The educational program in the transitional year must be 12 months in length". So I expect that notdead is correct--they may offer you more breadth of electives, but they can't give you a "partial credit" year.

So the question I keep asking is "transitional into what?"

I am not sure yet. I am thinking pathology, PM&R or perhaps radiology. I am having a very tough time dealing with psych patients. It is really getting to me and affecting how I feel. I used to really like the field and the hours are reasonable but I am hating the patient interaction. I am not strong enough to deal with all the social issues and the mental problems. I just need something purely medical. To be quite honest, I am not sure if I can tough it out much longer. I'd much rather work in wal-mart than having to see the patients behind bars, with bodyguards and so on. The field is not a good fit for my personality at all.

 

[notdeadyet]

I'd strongly consider something other than PMR. It is quite similar to psych, for a medical specialty. You deal with a lot of patients with psych issues and social issues and their interplay with care is a big part of the job. I was deciding between pm&r and psych and was impressed with the overlap.

 

[Dean_Does_Happen]

I'd strongly consider something other than PMR. It is quite similar to psych, for a medical specialty. You deal with a lot of patients with psych issues and social issues and their interplay with care is a big part of the job. I was deciding between pm&r and psych and was impressed with the overlap.

I did a little bit of research today and you are correct. I should avoid it. I think pathology or radiology would be perfect fit for me. If it doesn't work, i am going to have to quit medicine altogether and do something else. My grades and board scores are all good so I should be fine. I am just not sure how quitting psych would affect my application. I am hoping programs will understand that not everyone is strong enough to deal with mental patients.

 

[triathlondoc12]

it's a shame that virtually ANYONE can walk into a PGY-2 psych spot but the reverse is impossible! how the hell is this fair? anyone can just do a transition year or a prelim year and walk into a psych as a second year but the psych resident who makes the same mistake as someone else in another field and decides they want to switch gets penalized so much more by having to do an entire year of internship again? this is a crock if you ask me. there's got to be some other way around it.

 

[sunlioness]

Not really. They're just too different. I switched from IM to psych and came in as a PGY-2. But in doing that I lost at least 6 mos of what would have been elective time during my 4th year because I had to catch up on the psych stuff. A lot of my intern year rotations that psych doesn't require got transferred over as electives. (The MICU was a great elective. Heh). So it's not that people coming into psych from elsewhere aren't behind. They are. But the psych curriculum is forgiving enough that this can usually be made up. Going the other way, this often isn't true.

There's no way I'd have been prepared to function as a PGY-2 IM resident after doing a typical intern year in psych. No way. Doesn't mean one is better or worse. Just different and with different goals.

 

[splik]

it's a shame that virtually ANYONE can walk into a PGY-2 psych spot but the reverse is impossible! how the hell is this fair? anyone can just do a transition year or a prelim year and walk into a psych as a second year but the psych resident who makes the same mistake as someone else in another field and decides they want to switch gets penalized so much more by having to do an entire year of internship again? this is a crock if you ask me. there's got to be some other way around it.

not really, we dont do a full intern year in psychiatry so of course you cant just start as a PGY-2 in any other specialty.

 

[PikminOC]

If anyone is not sure what to do, do a regular prelim IM or transitional year and decide.

 

[triathlondoc12]

Yeah wish I had thought of this or known more about it. I feel like I have learned so much more about myself and seen more specialties in 4th year than having to make a decision at the end of 3rd year with such limited information

 

[triathlondoc12]

but if rads intern year only requires 6 months of IM (including EM, etc) why wouldn't my psych intern year be eligible to count as a first year? My program has 4 months of IM and 2 months of neuro

A moment agoEditReport
+ QuoteReply

 

[serimeri]

Sorry to bring this whole thread up. But one of the kids who I rotated with applied IM and Psych, ranked both , but matched IM. Regarding funding, does this person only get 3 years of funding? I was encouraging him to do a year of IM, then transfer into the program at his home institution.

Like when you match Psych, I think we get funding for 4 years. So this person matching IM would only have 3 years worth of funding, am I correct in understanding this?

 

[serimeri]

it doesn't matter to programs that are any good.

It may not matter to the programs, but how are they going to pay you? Doesn't medicare have some say in this?

 

[splik]

It may not matter to the programs, but how are they going to pay you? Doesn't medicare have some say in this?

is this a joke? i said it doesn't matter to them (which means financially as well). above and beyond medicare payments, residents make money for the hospital, and even if they weren't to receive those payments hospitals still make more money with residents after having paid our salaries. think of how much they would be paying an NP or PA instead. at most institutions GME payments arent ringfenced, and at too many don't really go to residency etc. There are also an increasing number of healthcare systems that don't receive medicare funding because they are private that have residency programs. it's probably a bit of red flag if they do care about your medicare funding imho.

 

[serimeri]

is this a joke? i said it doesn't matter to them (which means financially as well). above and beyond medicare payments, residents make money for the hospital, and even if they weren't to receive those payments hospitals still make more money with residents after having paid our salaries. think of how much they would be paying an NP or PA instead. at most institutions GME payments arent ringfenced, and at too many don't really go to residency etc. There are also an increasing number of healthcare systems that don't receive medicare funding because they are private that have residency programs. it's probably a bit of red flag if they do care about your medicare funding imho.

thanks for clarifying, I didn't understand the whole funding thing apparently.