can switch from internal to peds?

[alwaysbehappy]

Im at the end of my 3rd year about to begin my 4th yr. Im thinking now of doing peds instead of internal medicine, but already secured most of my electives as internal. My school will not allow me to drop electives.
Any way of still getting peds? Is it possible?

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[CatFactorial]

Im at the end of my 3rd year about to begin my 4th yr. Im thinking now of doing peds instead of internal medicine, but already secured most of my electives as internal. My school will not allow me to drop electives.
Any way of still getting peds? Is it possible?

Peds INSTEAD of internal?

Closing.

And/or regarding electives you should be fine but it’s the subI that matters

 

[IMreshopeful]

Im at the end of my 3rd year about to begin my 4th yr. Im thinking now of doing peds instead of internal medicine, but already secured most of my electives as internal. My school will not allow me to drop electives.
Any way of still getting peds? Is it possible?

Why does your school care about you switching electives? That’s silly

And yes it’s definitely doable but you need an opportunity to shine on peds in some way I imagine - sub I for example. I honestly don’t know much about applying for peds but if you’re aiming for a top program (CHOP,
Boston Children’s, etc) then you have to be a very competitive applicant just like for medicine. My n = 2 of people that went to CHOP that I know - both AOA, active research, pubs, and step 1 score in the 260s

 

[CatFactorial]

Why does your school care about you switching electives? That’s silly

And yes it’s definitely doable but you need an opportunity to shine on peds in some way I imagine - sub I for example. I honestly don’t know much about applying for peds but if you’re aiming for a top program (CHOP,
Boston Children’s, etc) then you have to be a very competitive applicant just like for medicine. My n = 2 of people that went to CHOP that I know - both AOA, active research, pubs, and step 1 score in the 260s

Regarding matching at CHOP, don’t forget knives/sharps/cleaving gesticulations

 

[BigRedBeta]

Peds ICU attending here. That's bizarre your school won't let you change...not particularly supportive. My school bent over backwards to help the 4th years out, so it's a shame your school doesn't value you matching well.

Beyond that, most peds programs won't mind too much. The top tier programs will, just as top IM applicants must be outstanding. But the competition drops off more steeply in the peds world so lots of really good programs will still go pretty far down their rank lists.

 

[alwaysbehappy]

update: I now have 1 peds elective - a subI in NICU - hope thats enough to prove myself, cuz the rest are internal

 

[IMreshopeful]

update: I now have 1 peds elective - a subI in NICU - hope thats enough to prove myself, cuz the rest are internal

Don’t you need letters of rec?

Good luck. The NICU is a wild alien place for me (although pretty interesting)

 

[BigRedBeta]

update: I now have 1 peds elective - a subI in NICU - hope thats enough to prove myself, cuz the rest are internal

You should be fine

The best thing I can tell you is to get a Peds adviser at your school ASAP. You'll need to apply broadly, but they can help you determine the tier of programs you'll be competitive for and how to work around your lack of peds rotations (which, again, with emphasis, I don't think is a huge problem).

As for the NICU, start looking for resources now. I don't have any particular recs, but there are threads on SDN that give options. UpToDate is also reasonable starting place - read up on BPD, NEC, IVH, ROP, feeding protocols/fluids, PDA physiology, Pulm HTN, and ventilator management. If you can have an idea of what those things are, you'll be good for a student.

Other than that, the biggest thing I can tell you is, if possible, always find the baby's nurse and ask if they can help you handle the patient/examine. Many NICU's are very adamant about clustering care, and NICU nurses are overprotective particularly when people they don't know show up. Play up your inexperience and let them show you how to do things the way they like them to be done.

 

[Redpancreas]

update: I now have 1 peds elective - a subI in NICU - hope thats enough to prove myself, cuz the rest are internal

Programs don’t really care about anything on your transcript after August. Transcripts get sent as well as Dean’s letters in mid September to October.