ABIM Research Track in Gastroenterology or similar

[mdphd2im2gi]

I am an MD/PhD graduate starting residency this month as part of the ABIM Research Track in gastroenterology -- I want to be an academic physician-scientist.

I am familiar with the time requirements (2 years IM + 18 months clinical GI + 3 years research at 80% time), board eligibility windows (IM boards in summer PGY4 and GI boards in fall PGY7), and that the last year can be completed as full-time physician-scientist faculty at 80%. My goal would be to complete the training in 6.5 years with the last year as a full-time faculty.

My question is: How do different institutions and trainees actually implement these rules?

Currently, I am imagining a potential schedule like this:
Start in July PGY1...
PGY1: IM residency for 12 months
PGY2: IM residency for 12 months
PGY3: GI fellowship for 12 months
→ IM board-eligible in summer PGY4
PGY4: Research 80% for 10 months + GI service/consults for 2 months
PGY5: Research 80% for 10 months + GI service/consults for 2 months
PGY6: Research 80% for 10 months + GI service/consults for 2 months
→ Halfway through PGY6 (i.e., January), start FT faculty position
PGY7 (half year): Faculty 80% for 6 months
→ GI board-eligible in fall PGY7
End in December/January of PGY7

Is this possible? Are there better approaches?

Thanks in advance.

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[gutonc]

I can't speak for GI specifically, but in Oncology, your clinical time during your research years is typically continuity/specialty clinic. I suspect that for a procedural specialty, you'll need either inpatient/consult time or procedure time on top of that, but it's typically a continuity type thing rather than all at once.

As for how you spend that last year, that is 100% up to your institution. If they want to keep you and you want to stay, and they want to pay you more than they absolutely have to for that year, then yes, you can start a junior faculty position. But that may not be how it plays out.

 

[mdphd2im2gi]

I can't speak for GI specifically, but in Oncology, your clinical time during your research years is typically continuity/specialty clinic. I suspect that for a procedural specialty, you'll need either inpatient/consult time or procedure time on top of that, but it's typically a continuity type thing rather than all at once.

As for how you spend that last year, that is 100% up to your institution. If they want to keep you and you want to stay, and they want to pay you more than they absolutely have to for that year, then yes, you can start a junior faculty position. But that may not be how it plays out.

Thanks for your time and perspective. I plan to get more specifics from my program in the near future. And even if the division would take me on as full-time faculty in that last year at their financial expense, I recognize that that may not be the best decision because that might result in a lower starting package and immediately put me in a 80–20 research/clinical split, which I know is the typical physician-scientist split, but who knows what I will want to do six years from now.

I also realized I may not be able to split apart my research years with 2 clinical months per year as I indicated in my OP, because I'll be on a t32 grant which requires at least 80% research.

 

[NotAProgDirector]

We tend to have the PGY-3 year be a research year (with some IM call in it to help out your colleagues), and then the PGY-4 year is the clinical fellowship year. This allows you to get some research done before starting the fellowship, and start working towards a K award. Because if you want to be hired as faculty that last year, you're in a much better position if you already have early grant funding.