Applying to 2 different specialties?

[Peeshee]

Hi,
if you are applying to 2 different specialties, for example family med. and internal med., is it necessary to modify your personal statement, letters of rec., etc. so that they see a good reason why you want to go into that specialty?
Has anyone had experience applying to more than one specialty? Is it a lot more work?
Also, when it comes to ranking time, can you rank a family med. program as #1 and then an internal med. program as #2 or are they 2 separate rankings?
I hope someone can explain this to me.
Thanks a lot!

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[cchoukal]

you should absolutely tailor your PS to match the right field. Even in fields as closely related as IM and FP, there are subtle differences in motivations and goals that should come across in your PS. I applied in Anesthesiology and ENT (which was early match last year), which meant two separate applications, but if you're doing two NRMP specialties, there really isn't any extra work (other than getting letters from MDs in those specialties and doing more interviews). As for the rank list, if you do 2 NRMP specialties, you can rank programs in any order you choose, no matter which specialty. Of course, I'd be remiss if I didn't add the compulsory "dlo your best to search your motivations and goals and find the one specialty that's truly right for you," but if you really can't decide (or if you have to be in a certain geographical area for other reasons and you just want the most opportunities to match), you can certainly apply to, interview in, and rank multiple types of programs. I'll see you in 6 months when you post the question "What do I do if I'm interviewing in IM and FP at the same university? Will they bust me and figure out what I'm doing?"

 

[phillyfornia]

cchoukal,

you are a very wise person b/c i was actually wondering about that (what happens when u apply to 2 programs in the same school). please enlighten me. thanks.