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Hello SDN, I'm here once again consulting your opinions.
I am a Canadian, PGY2 resident, DO, on a J1 visa.
I go to a low-mid tier university program in the West.
Board score were 240s, COMLEX low 600s.
We have a main hospital and a cancer hospital, but we do not have inhouse heme-onc fellowship.
I have 3 publications thus far (first/second author), in not-so-fancy journals, and 3 poster presentations. I am currently working on a retrospective chart-checking study with an oncology attending at the cancer hospital, hopefully I can get an abstract out on time before application.
Trouble is, because of COVID19, we IM residents have been pulled all over the place to cover ward/nightfloat/ICU, and the program has cancelled my elective/research times. As such, I am struggling to spend enough time with a heme-onc doc to obtain a good letter of rec.
If I apply this year, and not match, I am worried that the "not-match" status is just gonna make future apps even harder. I may have the option of hopping on a H1b to work as a hospitalist for 1-2 year, to finish more research and connect with more heme-onc docs. I also have the option of doing a chief year in an outside institution with inhouse heme-onc fellowship.
Should I just YOLO it and apply with what I have this year? Or should I take a gap year to do either hospitalist or chief (I personally don't like the chief role but I heard it helps more for application...) and apply in 1-2 years? Thank you so much!
I am a Canadian, PGY2 resident, DO, on a J1 visa.
I go to a low-mid tier university program in the West.
Board score were 240s, COMLEX low 600s.
We have a main hospital and a cancer hospital, but we do not have inhouse heme-onc fellowship.
I have 3 publications thus far (first/second author), in not-so-fancy journals, and 3 poster presentations. I am currently working on a retrospective chart-checking study with an oncology attending at the cancer hospital, hopefully I can get an abstract out on time before application.
Trouble is, because of COVID19, we IM residents have been pulled all over the place to cover ward/nightfloat/ICU, and the program has cancelled my elective/research times. As such, I am struggling to spend enough time with a heme-onc doc to obtain a good letter of rec.
If I apply this year, and not match, I am worried that the "not-match" status is just gonna make future apps even harder. I may have the option of hopping on a H1b to work as a hospitalist for 1-2 year, to finish more research and connect with more heme-onc docs. I also have the option of doing a chief year in an outside institution with inhouse heme-onc fellowship.
Should I just YOLO it and apply with what I have this year? Or should I take a gap year to do either hospitalist or chief (I personally don't like the chief role but I heard it helps more for application...) and apply in 1-2 years? Thank you so much!
