Applying for Neurology PGY2 (R) position

[epileptic]

Hi,

I am an IM PGY1 resident at a university program in TX. I am also an IMG and a permanent resident. I feel I enjoy Neurology more than IM and am interested in switching speciality and would like to apply for PGY2 (R) positions in the upcoming match. I would also like to live close to my family in a major city. I am doing well above average at my current program. Given my circumstances,

1. Is it too late now?
2. Do I need to talk to my PD? If yes, when should I do that?
3. Will I need his recommendation?
4. If I am unable to find a new position would it hurt my current situation?

Thanks in advance.

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[gutonc]

Hi,

I am an IM PGY1 resident at a university program in TX. I am also an IMG and a permanent resident. I feel I enjoy Neurology more than IM and am interested in switching speciality and would like to apply for PGY2 (R) positions in the upcoming match. I would also like to live close to my family in a major city. I am doing well above average at my current program. Given my circumstances,

1. Is it too late now?
2. Do I need to talk to my PD? If yes, when should I do that?
3. Will I need his recommendation?
4. If I am unable to find a new position would it hurt my current situation?

Thanks in advance.

It is way too late to apply for this cycle. Don't even waste your money.

Have you done any Neuro rotations? Can you get at least 1 LOR? Does your current hospital have a Neurology residency? Have you talked to the PD of that program? If the answers to all of the above are "yes", then you need to be sitting down with the Neurology PD and your current PD and having an open and honest discussion about this and whether they would be willing to take you...that's your best bet.

If the answers to the first 2 questions are yes and the last 2 are no, go ahead and register for the match and submit a Rank List (it can be blank or as many programs as you get for the the base fee), so that you can enter SOAP. It's sub-optimal for sure, but you'll have a chance.

If the answer to all of the questions is no, then just finish your IM program and figure out what to do afterwards.

 

[epileptic]

It is way too late to apply for this cycle. Don't even waste your money.

Have you done any Neuro rotations? Can you get at least 1 LOR? Does your current hospital have a Neurology residency? Have you talked to the PD of that program? If the answers to all of the above are "yes", then you need to be sitting down with the Neurology PD and your current PD and having an open and honest discussion about this and whether they would be willing to take you...that's your best bet.

If the answers to the first 2 questions are yes and the last 2 are no, go ahead and register for the match and submit a Rank List (it can be blank or as many programs as you get for the the base fee), so that you can enter SOAP. It's sub-optimal for sure, but you'll have a chance.

If the answer to all of the questions is no, then just finish your IM program and figure out what to do afterwards.

Thanks for the advice. I will have to go for SOAP then. Wouldn't it be a match violation if I don't let my PD know before that?

 

[NotAProgDirector]

It is late to be applying, but neuro is a less competitive field. R positions are relatively rare in Neuro, and the number of people who qualify for them is low. So even this late in the process, I'd say you have some chance.

I agree with gutonc that it depends on how much neuro experience you have, as you'd have to convince programs that you're making an informed choice.

At this point, you'd probably need to both apply to programs and reach out by email to explain why you are applying so late.

The most complicated piece of this is your current program / PD. You can't hide this from them. The match is in mid March, there's a good chance that you'll need to sign next year's contract before then, and that would be a match violation. When I've had residents in similar situations, I've supported them and helped them apply for positions. But by the end of Dec, I need them to decide whether they are staying or not, as I need to work on refilling their position -- but this way they know how many interviews they have, so at least they have some sense of how successful they will be.

 

[hopeful resident]

Hi,

I am an IM PGY1 resident at a university program in TX. I am also an IMG and a permanent resident. I feel I enjoy Neurology more than IM and am interested in switching speciality and would like to apply for PGY2 (R) positions in the upcoming match. I would also like to live close to my family in a major city. I am doing well above average at my current program. Given my circumstances,

1. Is it too late now?
2. Do I need to talk to my PD? If yes, when should I do that?
3. Will I need his recommendation?
4. If I am unable to find a new position would it hurt my current situation?

Thanks in advance.

Hey, im a pgy2 neuro at a state UNV. I feel that i enjoy IM more than neuro. if youre interested, i think our swap would work perfectly. youd save money on the match and we would both get our respective fields for residency. PM me for details if youre interested.