Applying for Gensurg and CT surg at the same site

[DO_student17]

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MS3 here. Two questions:
Is it a bad idea to apply for general surgery categorical and CT surgery categorical at the same site? It's a little different than applying to two totally different specialties I think. ..

Also, for CT surgery, is it important to CT surgery specific Subis or will general surgery subis and letters work just as well seeing how most CT surgeons were general surgeons first.

 

[themockjock]

MS3 here. Two questions:
Is it a bad idea to apply for general surgery categorical and CT surgery categorical at the same site? It's a little different than applying to two totally different specialties I think. ..

Also, for CT surgery, is it important to CT surgery specific Subis or will general surgery subis and letters work just as well seeing how most CT surgeons were general surgeons first.

This depends very much on the institution. Northwestern, for example, has the same PD for GS and I6 and she is very open to applying to both. UPMC also seemed like they were open to it. I do know that Columbia, Umich, Sinai, and Emory generally didn't extend GS interviews to those who had also applied to their I6 program. YMMV if you're a stellar candidate or from one of those institutions (or both) though.

Aways and letters for CT are very important. This is a very small, very intense field and PDs want to make sure they're taking someone who can handle it. Having a demonstrated commitment to CT through letters and an away where you more or less never left the hospital is a good way to show that. It would look very odd if you applied to CT without a single letter from a CT surgeon...

 

[doc05]

I wouldn't send any gen surg letters to CT programs.

 

[ncrassa]

The issue of dual applying in gen surg and CT at the same institution is an important one. By and large, expect to be rejected by the gen surg programs where you've applied for I6. Anecdotally, given my own experience and that of fellow interviewees, dual invites were offered at Duke (they have one interview day for both programs, and are by far the most accepting gen surg program of I6 candidates), Northwestern, USC, Yale, Cleveland Clinic, and University of Washington. Because the gen surg interviews you get are highly unpredictable, most of us dual applied to most programs and hoped for the best. There are duplicitous gen surg programs that offer an internal 4+3 option and yet reject all I6 candidates, and in one instance, a program director mused to me about how she's surprised that so few general surgery residents have gone into CT and availed of the 4+3 option.

Your second question surprises me. Successful I6 candidates have demonstrated extraordinary commitment to CT surgery throughout medical school and even beyond, and if you are unwilling or unable to actually explore the field via subIs and strive for letters from CT surgeons, you might be better served applying to general surgery alone with the option of a CT fellowship later. While traditional fellowships have dwindled a little due to I6, almost every program I interviewed at this winter expressed a commitment to continuing the traditional fellowship in the foreseeable future. In fact, I was surprised by how many faculty at even well-established I6 programs felt that the traditional model is the best way to train a CT surgeon and expressed open and even vehement skepticism of the I6 model.

 

[themockjock]

IMHO I hate to be an a**...but if you're a DO, your chances of matching into an i6 are next to zero.

This is (rightly or wrongly) true too...I think UTHCSA is the only I6 that's ever taken a DO