Pros+Cons of Off-Cycle Positions

[AOAmed]

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[gutonc]

What are the positives and negatives of starting residency off-cycle (e.g. September instead of July)?

Pro: You get a position.
Con: You finish after all your classmates and will have to find something to do for a few months if you're following it up with a fellowship.

I suspect there's a real question here, but this clearly isn't it. What do you really want to know?

 

[AOAmed]

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[gutonc]

Thanks for the sarcastic response but there are other factors to consider than what you semi-seriously just replied with. My new question is are you really an Administrator giving an intentionally insulting response like that? I suspect there's a real answer out there somewhere but apparently I'll have to find it elsewhere. Gotta love SDN.

It wasn't insulting. I'm trying to figure out what the actual motivation for the question is. What are you actually concerned about? An off-cycle position is not as good as an on-cycle position, but it's better than no position at all.

 

[Irishlass]

I would l like to find out how you find Off Cycle vacancies. I decided that I would like to switch from a very competitive surgical residency to Internal Medicine. It was too late to sign up for the Match or SOAP. Now I am trying to find out where open positions are posted.
I have heard as programs start credentialing students that positions open up, but finding those positions before they are filled is the challenge. I'm an American med school grad, with excellent grades and board scores, I just picked the wrong specialty. Any help would be appreciated.

 

[GoSpursGo]

I agree with gutonc... there are no pros to starting residency at a weird time point relative to starting at a normal time point, and the cons relating to possible fellowship are real. It is something you only want to do if you didn't otherwise have a spot, or found a spot after the match that is more desirable to you (location, specialty, etc). And I agree that those points are fairly self-evident, so if there's another underlying question you might get a more useful answer by elaborating.

@Irishlass these things are generally not widely publicized. I'd recommend starting by getting the blessing of your current surgical PD to pursue a different specialty, and once you have that chat with the IM PD at your institution. Either they may have a spot for you, or know of some places that have spots.

 

[the argus]

Since you're coming from a surgical specialty it's likely none (or very little) of your previous training will transfer to an IM residency, therefore you'll be looking for a PGY1 position. Off cycle PGY1 positions are much more rare than advanced (PGY2, etc) for obvious reasons. A few PGY1 positions open up around the start of the new academic year, mostly due to IMGs not being able to secure visas, etc. There's no central system to fill these positions, mostly done through word of mouth.

It sounds like you would be a very competitive IM applicant. If I were you, I would just bite the bullet and wait around and apply for PGY1 positions through the normal match process next year. You'll likely end up at a better program and will have more control over choosing where you end up, as opposed to just taking a position at whichever random program that happens to have an open PGY1 position prior to next year.

 

[NotAProgDirector]

I would l like to find out how you find Off Cycle vacancies. I decided that I would like to switch from a very competitive surgical residency to Internal Medicine. It was too late to sign up for the Match or SOAP. Now I am trying to find out where open positions are posted.
I have heard as programs start credentialing students that positions open up, but finding those positions before they are filled is the challenge. I'm an American med school grad, with excellent grades and board scores, I just picked the wrong specialty. Any help would be appreciated.

Your best option is to go talk to the IM PD at your school. They will likely be able to reach out to other programs and see if any spots are likely. There is no central listing of open positions.