need help switching into anesthesiology

[boki7564]

Hi all,
I am a a PGY-2 interested in switching out of my current position and into anesthesia. I talked with the PD of the anesthesiology department here, and after looking through all of my application materials, he told me that I would be a good candidate. I know that I'm ridiculously late to find a CA-1 position for 2008 (I've already done my intern year), but does anyone have suggestions for how to go about looking for potential spots, including trying to get in outside the match? I'm a little lost and hesitant to talk to anyone regarding my decision. Any advice would be really appreciated!
Thanks

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[bubalus]

You've done the right thing talking to your local PD. Ask him/her for help and guidance.

Contact every program director--email, call, send a CV and cover letter. The cover letter should be a little personal statement-ish and explain your interest. You can get all the addresses from FREIDA and do a mail merge with Microsoft Word to generate "personalized" letters to the PDs. This is about the worst time because rank lists are going in for the 2009 CA-1 spots, most if not all outside the match CA-1 spots have been filled with people who interviewed this season. There will be some outside the match 2009 spots coming available. They will be filled during interview season, and possibly sooner. You should apply for a 2010 CA-1 spot when ERAS opens up this fall. In the course of interviews for that spot, you may find a 2009 CA-1 spot, but you should try contacting PDs before that, at least to get on their radar.

There is one PGY-3 position advertised on findaresident.com. You could try contacting that program to see if they'd take a PGY-2 (CA-1) resident.

 

[boki7564]

Thanks for the advice! I know that there's a good chance it might not happen for this year, but at least I can get the ball rolling. Your advice was really helpful!!