Changing Residencies: a success story

Similar story here. 2 years ago I matched at a top program in one specialty, after struggling between 2 specialties early in 4th year. At the urging of a dean, I finally just picked one and went through the match process. I was happy because I got my top choice, but deep down had some doubts as to whether I had picked the right specialty. After getting started at the program I had some mixed feelings early on. I found some supportive faculty to talk to and decided to give the field some more to see if things would improve. Unfortunately, I realized too late to re-enter the match again that year that the field was just a bad fit for me.

So I stuck it out, started my 2nd year, talked to my PD, and re-entered this year's match. Everyone in my program has been really supportive of my need to switch and they were genuinely happy for me when I got my match in my new specialty yesterday. As the other poster said, it is not ideal to have to do 2 different internships, and spending this 2nd year working when I know I am leaving has not been all that fun. But I have learned a lot, made some good friends, and at least gotten a paycheck.

Anyway, it is definitely possibile to change, especially if you give your initial match a try and get some support from your program. Best of luck.

So last year I matched into a very competitive specialty for an IMG: categorical surgery. I was happy and amazed.
I started my internship, long days and well... you know how surgery is...
I realized, I should have went with my other choice, surprise! medicine... (I know y'all think I'm nutz) since there is a bit more brain involved plus so many more options are available after the residency.......I started thinking: this is it.. I am f#^%ed. I will rot in the OR for the rest of my life, doing lap choles, ex laps and hernias automagically, pre-oping , oping and post-oping and then deal with all the complications (which can happen so easily even in an innocent appy). My SO was not seeing me for days... he would come in for 15 mins to the hospital to bring me a sandwich and kiss me quickly during my q3 call nights.

So I realized, I can live without the OR... and as every attending told me: "if you can think of ANYTHING you can do but operate, you should run". I grabbed my heart and opened PD's door and told him I want to switch.

I was expecting him to murder me on the spot. I was dripping cold sweat as I was telling him my story. In the end, at my surprise, he smiled and said this is fine and that he is happy I am doing it now and not later when I am a full blown surgeon, and promised he would help me achieve my goal.

Now imagine interviewing during a surgical internship... you don't want to go through that.... One day I am in Texas (far far far from my place), second day I am pre-rounding on my pts at 4:30 AM.
I was given some days for Ivs, was lucky enough to have a week vacation in Dec. Anyway, I made it...but I think I'm still recovering from that.

My PD helped me enormously! He wrote me a letter, he called some IM programs of my choice. My fellow surgical residents were somewhat "Whaa? You wanna do IM? WTF? " But they stood by me in the end.

So I am wrapping up my internship year. I am doing really well and aced the ABSITE. I am still getting in OR cases (have 120 by now) and I am still being taught by my awesome attendings, just like nothing happened. I am not being ignored and nobody turned their back on me. Sometimes in a joke they'd call me a "flea", but we would all laugh about it, and trust me, I got lil'names for them too.

Today I am matched at my number one choice, very nice IM university program in a lovely city.

I could have never done in w/o my PD and my PC.

It is not the end when you match somewhere. You have the right to change your mind. Just do it wise, talk to your PD, do not go behind somebodies back.

This forum helped me and encouraged me as well.

I AM FREAKING HAPPY NOW! I was so depressed before.
And all the experience I got from a whole year of intense surgery, oh man, I will NEVER forget what I have learned and it made me a much better doctor! Sure enough I am not afraid of blood!

So my wife and I matched into our #5 program.
Devastated, but deciding to press on and give intern year a shot.
I always hear about residents reapplying the next year for different specialties through ERAS but could we reapply to different programs within our current specialties?

Sucks bro...

GummyD said:

So my wife and I matched into our #5 program.
Devastated, but deciding to press on and give intern year a shot.
I always hear about residents reapplying the next year for different specialties through ERAS but could we reapply to different programs within our current specialties?

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???

I'm still confused about what you want and what you expect. Your expectations seem unrealistic. You said you wanted to do EM and didn't really care if it was at a bigtime program so you are fine with your match. Although honestly, if your application was really fairly mediocre, thats the best you would have done anyways.

So say you guys both do your pgy-1 interviews next year and apply again. Are you going to apply for pgy-1 or pgy-2?

if you go for pgy-1 again, you can redo the couples match, but honestly you may either not match or match at a place you guys would like even less. And you dont want to do two intern years.

As for the chances of her finding a "good" obgyn program as a pgy-2(pretty good I think since she's a much better candidate than you), thats another story. But then what about you. The chances of you happening to land any pgy-2 position "through the grapevine"(or resident swap or whatever) in EM at what happens to be the SAME city where she found her excellent pgy-2 position are VERY VERY small.

Maybe she could slide into a pgy-2 at an excellent program and you could go through the match only applying to pgy-1 positions in that city she went to, but *you wouldnt know in time*.......

Again, I'm still baffled about why you are devastated about getting fairly lucky. You werent a particularly great candidate applying for a mid-level competitive residency, and your options were further limited(and they would be even more limited under another system) without the match.

If you were so concerned about your wife and screwing her career over, and again I think you may be overestimating the impossibility of doing an MFM fellowship but I dont know much about that so I'll let others chime in, here is what you should have done:

let her apply to a bunch of top obgyn programs across the country, and you apply fm to programs in all those same cities. That was the only way this was going to work. Whether we had a match system or not. The match probably *helped* you guys out.

I think that your best bet would be to search for pgy-2 spots outside of the match. That way you still will be at your current programs if you don't find anything. If you go through the match again and don't find anything, you are out of a job. In the end, it's better for your wife to be somewhere and become an ob/gyn than for both of you to be unemployed.

diel said:

I AM FREAKING HAPPY NOW! I was so depressed before.
And all the experience I got from a whole year of intense surgery, oh man, I will NEVER forget what I have learned and it made me a much better doctor! Sure enough I am not afraid of blood!

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Great story! Congrats!

I, too, am a success story. I managed to get into a second residency in IM having been in pathology previously.

Unlike the couples OBGYN match situation, I am the only spouse in the medical field. I matched into a place where (for family reasons) I am unhappy. What are the chances of me finding or successfully getting into a PGY2 obgyn position somewhere else at the end of this upcoming year? In other words, same field, different place for family/location reasons. Also, would this process be through the match?

Looking4Info said:

Unlike the couples OBGYN match situation, I am the only spouse in the medical field. I matched into a place where (for family reasons) I am unhappy. What are the chances of me finding or successfully getting into a PGY2 obgyn position somewhere else at the end of this upcoming year? In other words, same field, different place for family/location reasons. Also, would this process be through the match?

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I would think if you start your program and do well and go talk to your PD and are honest about the family situation, they would hopefully be open to helping you switch. There may be a PGY2 spot open at a program that would better fit your needs. Your PD could probably help with that. I think there is also an ACOG site that lists open spots as well. And there are always the internet services, residentswap and the AAMC one. You might not have to do the match if you finish your intern year.