Cardiothoracic anesthesia (ACTA) fellowship 2025

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I have a slightly different take. Yes, you are contracturally obligated to the match result. But if you truly believe you will be unhappy at your matched program, you should speak to them like an adult, and accept the consequence of your decisions. It would be a miserable year for everyone involved if you don't bring your best. In theory, the right sequence would be to de-commit from your matched program, then reach out to the unfilled program of your interest, NOT THE OTHER WAY AROUND. I believe programs can see the applicant match results. Remember what they say about grass and fence.
Then why rank the program anyways?

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I have a slightly different take. Yes, you are contracturally obligated to the match result. But if you truly believe you will be unhappy at your matched program, you should speak to them like an adult, and accept the consequence of your decisions. It would be a miserable year for everyone involved if you don't bring your best. In theory, the right sequence would be to de-commit from your matched program, then reach out to the unfilled program of your interest, NOT THE OTHER WAY AROUND. I believe programs can see the applicant match results. Remember what they say about grass and fence.
Shouldn't have ranked them I guess...
 
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But that is the rule of the game that everyone has agreed to when entering the match. Other applicants may have wanted to match at pablo94’s program but matched lower on their rank list because of him. If matching at that program was better than not matching at all, he should be glad that he matched and accept the “consequence” of his decision.

I get that he is looking out for himself, but breaking the match and going for another vacant spot is an incredibly selfish move that probably screwed other applicants and definitely screwing the program that ranked him and matched him.

I also recognize that I am biased against this type of behavior because I really hate when people think the rules don’t apply to them.
 
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I deleted the comment because I regretted posting it. I am perfectly content. It was stupid to post in the first place. I appreciate the replies though.
 
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Better to match at a less desirable program than not match at all. @Pablo94 could not have known that a more desirable program would have a vacancy after the match.
Amen to that. Ten years down the road who you trained with makes much less difference than what the trainee was able to do with what they were given during their training. Medicine has a number of "early wilters" who went to the top schools and trained in the most highly regarded programs. Better to be a "late bloomer." Every accredited program gives you the tools to succeed. I would rather hire a driven person who is a problem solver that has a CV with less prestige than a lazy problem maker with a stellar CV.
 
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Be generous, we all make decisions that we regret. This is why every year people lament on this board or privately how they should make their rank lists. There are currently ~10 vacancies for next year on SF Match, mostly with smallish programs or programs that appeared to have increased their number of fellows recently. Random spots show up unfilled because sometimes the programs expand their slots after their interview seasons. They would rather go outside or after the match so they have more control over the prospective fellows. So it's not given that programs with vacancy are desperate, and someone (legally or illegally) breaking the match may not slide into such unfilled spots easily.

I still stand by my belief that most programs want happy fellows. Motivated and happy fellows make good anesthesiologists, regardless of the latin names on the diploma.
 
Perhaps a stupid question but does anyone know if we start July or August 1st? I assumed July 1st but some of my friends doing dual have the option to pick August 1st. Just trying to plan ahead
 
Perhaps a stupid question but does anyone know if we start July or August 1st? I assumed July 1st but some of my friends doing dual have the option to pick August 1st. Just trying to plan ahead
it varies by program. You can ask when you interview
 
Perhaps a stupid question but does anyone know if we start July or August 1st? I assumed July 1st but some of my friends doing dual have the option to pick August 1st. Just trying to plan ahead
Depends on the program, both my home program and the program I matched to start Aug 1
 
I was able to push mine to start in August 1st because my residency worked me to the very last day, and I had to move across country. In retrospect, I would have wanted to start in July 1st if possible. Having a few weeks off for dedicated echo boards in July would have been nice. Instead, I got thrown into all the long rooms in July at the end of my fellowship since I was the most "experienced" fellow. I still passed the boards, but it was a miserable and nerve wrecking 3 weeks.
 
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