Advice for a soon to be intern for the future

[DrPearlJamFanMD]

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I am a IMG US citizen about to start his Internal Medicine resideny at a community hospotal with no in house fellowships. I want to be proactive and ensure a good future for myself early. I have some questions:
1. In order to get into GI/Cards what do I do about getting my electives and research at a place with one of these fellowships?
2. If I take a route like doing Geriatrics instead do I need to be at a Uni? Is a Uni Geriatrics tough to get into? What is the pay of a geriatrician compared to an Internist/Hospitalist?
3. When should I start my research by if I want a competitive fellowship? I would rather not do a research yr post-residency, so I want to be proactive early yo avoid this.

Thanks guys!

 

[Ash MD]

First, "just breathe"

 

[Gastrapathy]

You face an uphill battle for competitive fellowships but your first job is to decide what you want to do. Cards, GI, Allergy, etc are all quite different. Besides, maybe you'll fall in love with Endo and it won't be an issue. I can't think of a more different practice from GI than Geriatrics.

You aren't going to be able to make yourself competitive for everything. You need to focus your efforts and figure out what you want.

 

[rosiean86]

^I have a similar question...I'm a MSIII who wants to go into nephrology. When would be the best time to fit in research during your internal medicne training?

 

[Ariee]

Hey all,

I'm going to be an upcoming intern in IM. I have a similar question to the OP. What I'm trying to prevent is tunnel vision. I have quite a bit of varied interests including:

1. Heme/Onc 2. Cards 3. Allergy
Item 2 for personal familial reasons- I've always found it SO cool
Item 1, just b/c during med school- this field was very interesting and required a great deal of compassion- again had a familial reason resonating very close to home.
Item 3, b/c I had the most fun during this rotation...

I've ended up being assigned a Pulm, Renal and ID elective for my first year, so a tad worried about fellowship matches. Any thoughts by the crowd?

Thanks!

A 🙂

 

[MidwestMD]

Hey all,

I'm going to be an upcoming intern in IM. I have a similar question to the OP. What I'm trying to prevent is tunnel vision. I have quite a bit of varied interests including:

1. Heme/Onc 2. Cards 3. Allergy
Item 2 for personal familial reasons- I've always found it SO cool
Item 1, just b/c during med school- this field was very interesting and required a great deal of compassion- again had a familial reason resonating very close to home.
Item 3, b/c I had the most fun during this rotation...

I've ended up being assigned a Pulm, Renal and ID elective for my first year, so a tad worried about fellowship matches. Any thoughts by the crowd?

Thanks!

A 🙂

First question, was your program aware of your varied interests when they made the schedule? If not, you may want to email the chiefs and ask if they could switch 1 or 2 of your electives around. I'm sure there's another incoming intern who would want to switch for your pulm or ID elective. This is not an unusual request, especially since Cards and Heme/Onc are among the more popular/competitive subspecialties and the applicants are usually a little more proactive.

Secondly, is your program's inpt service based on a gen med model or subspecialty model? Just trying to figure out what kind of exposure you might have to Cards or Heme/Onc during your inpt months.

Third, you might not get a feel for what you want until your 2nd yr, meaning you probably wont apply for fellowship until you're a 3rd yr resident (more common than you would think). This gives you more time to build your resume during residency and helps ensure you know what you're getting into. And don't worry about the yr off after residency before fellowship starts, there are plenty of hospitalist gigs around that will help line your pockets in the meantime.