Need Advice Regarding My Situation, please thanks

[MassiveAttack]

Hello,

Thank you for reading.

I wanted to see what others heard or knew regarding my situation. I have asked around and am getting mixed messages.

I completed an internship in internal medicine, however I had to take a 1 month leave due to family reasons. I otherwise completed the rest of the year.

Do you know if I am ineligible to apply for PGY2 spots for example in neurology or psychiatry or anything else?

One program director told me I need to complete a whole year, another told me I need 8 months of internal medicine. So am a bit confused.

Appreciate any help and thoughts

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[J-Rad]

Hello,

I completed an internship in internal medicine, however I had to take a 1 month leave due to family reasons. I otherwise completed the rest of the year.

Did you complete the intern year, i.e. did you receive some documentation that you satisfactorily completed all of the specified requirements of your internship? Or did you "complete" 12 calender months (minus one on leave) but not satisfy the specified requirements of the internship. I would imagine this to have a great bearing on the answer to your question. I would imagine that if you satisfied the requirements of the internship you would be eligible for (available vacancies in) PGY2 IM positions or in PGY2 in those residencies that start at the PGY2 level (e.g. PM&R). Here is an AMA website advertising advanced positions (http://www.ama-assn.org/ama/pub/abo...rk-environment/find-residency-fellowship.page). Getting a definitive answer would probably best come from one of these programs. In regards to psych, the RRC states: "Physicians may enter psychiatry programs at either the first-year or second-year postgraduate level. Physicians entering at the second-year postgraduate level must document successful completion of a clinical year of education in an ACGME-accredited specialty requiring comprehensive and continuous patient care, such as a program in internal medicine, family medicine, pediatrics, or transitional year program. For physicians entering at the PG-2 level after completion of such a program, the PG-1 year may be credited toward the 48-month requirement." http://www.acgme.org/acWebsite/downloads/RRC_progReq/400_psychiatry_07012007_u04122008.pdf
There are some rules as to getting an advanced standing in family medicine (https://www.theabfm.org/cert/advlevel.aspx) and some credit can even be applied to pediatrics (https://www.abp.org/ABPWebStatic/?a.../generalpediatrics/trainingirregularities.htm) should one be so inclined (to see the light ). Remember also the avenues of occupational and preventive medicine, often forgotten in these queries.

 

[HondoCrouch]

Hello,

Thank you for reading.

I wanted to see what others heard or knew regarding my situation. I have asked around and am getting mixed messages.

I completed an internship in internal medicine, however I had to take a 1 month leave due to family reasons. I otherwise completed the rest of the year.

Do you know if I am ineligible to apply for PGY2 spots for example in neurology or psychiatry or anything else?

One program director told me I need to complete a whole year, another told me I need 8 months of internal medicine. So am a bit confused.

Appreciate any help and thoughts

Did you get a certificate or not? If you didnt officially complete the year and get a certificate then you arent going to be able to start as pgy-2.

 

[MassiveAttack]

Thank you for your replies, appreciate it. I did not get a certificate however I have found out through my research that one can maybe start 1 month early in the new program and get that approved by the respective board. Hopefully things will turn out ok.

 

[gutonc]

Thank you for your replies, appreciate it. I did not get a certificate however I have found out through my research that one can maybe start 1 month early in the new program and get that approved by the respective board. Hopefully things will turn out ok.

Yeah, but it's not about the board, it's about a program being willing to give you that opportunity. In reality, even if you had your intern certificate, a program would not be under any obligation to give you credit for the time you had previously put in. In fact, in IM at least, it's not uncommon for programs to accept people with intern certificates conditionally and only let them advance to the PGY2 year after proving themselves for 3-6 months at the intern level. If they prove themselves competent then they can move on to PGY2 year (if somewhat delayed). If not, they finish that year as a repeat intern.

So to answer your question, you are not eligible to apply for PGY2 positions because you are not technically a PGY2. You can apply for PGY1 spots and request credit for your previous training but nobody is required to give it to you.

 

[Buzz Me]

I did not get a certificate however I have found out through my research that one can maybe start 1 month early in the new program and get that approved by the respective board.

But how would you start a month early if you're still going to be in another residency program on June 1st?

 

[HondoCrouch]

Your situation is not insurmountable (assuming its only because of some family issue and not something academic/professionalism related). However I think your best bet is to apply for first year positions. If you do well and prove yourself your new program may very likely give you credit for your first year and bump you up.

 

[gutonc]

But how would you start a month early if you're still going to be in another residency program on June 1st?

I believe the OP has already left that original program.

But the reality of the situation is that s/he needs to be looking at getting into PGY1 spots in a less competitive program than s/he left and hope for 3-6 months worth of credit for "time served" at some point in the future. Scoring a PGY2 spot just isn't going to happen.

 

[docu]

Most pgy2 require you to have a complete pgy1 (all 12 months). Unless your month of medical leave was used during vacation time, you can't do pgy2 from what I have seen.

 

[porthcurno]

Same situation, took 1 mos leave after problems at work, ended up being a medical problem. that was PGY3-now looking for a place that can give me 1 mo PGY3 to get a certificate..thoughts?

 

[gutonc]

Same situation, took 1 mos leave after problems at work, ended up being a medical problem. that was PGY3-now looking for a place that can give me 1 mo PGY3 to get a certificate..thoughts?

Not gonna happen unless it's your original program.

 

[porthcurno]

That's what I thought.

 

[shopsteward]

The lesson others should take from this thread is that if you are taking a leave of absence from a residency, you need to agree with your program how you are going to make up the time before the leave of absence is agreed.

 

[belle54321]

The lesson others should take from this thread is that if you are taking a leave of absence from a residency, you need to agree with your program how you are going to make up the time before the leave of absence is agreed.

IMHO, I think the OP may not be telling us the whole story. I assume most programs are willing to work with a resident who are having issues, especially medical ones. But I am sure there are some programs who are not willing to work with residents.

 

[gutonc]

IMHO, I think the OP may not be telling us the whole story.

Really? You think?

In virtually every thread that starts with a story like this, when the full story (or even part of it) comes out, it's usually clear that the way things went down was a way for the program to avoid actually firing the resident.

Even the most malignant program will figure out a way to cover for an otherwise problem-free resident for a month or two for a medical reason.

Nobody's going to get fired simply because they need to take a medical LOA (mostly because that's illegal, but also because finding a new, decent warm body to fill the spot is a pain in the butt).