Carribean Schools and Fellowships

[spiker268]

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Hey guys, I tried to search and see if this had been asked before, but I couldn't find it. I know that going to a carribean medical school will make it harder to get a residency, but I was wondering how it will affect a fellowship after residency. For example, if one were to match into an internal medicine residency from a carribean school, and was interested in pursuing a fellowship in cardiology, would the carribean medical school degree make it harder to get this fellowship

 

[sobored]

Depends on where (if) you match for residency.

 

[spiker268]

lets say its just an average residency in an urban setting, could the carribean degree drag down an otherwise solid candidate for a fellowship?

 

[Plecopotamus]

lets say its just an average residency in an urban setting, could the carribean degree drag down an otherwise solid candidate for a fellowship?

So not just in the hypothetical situation where you are fortunate enough to match to a residency from the Carib, but so exceptionally fortunate that you match to an average residency . . .

Yes. The degree could still drag you down.
With Cards being one of the more competitive fellowships, they are turning away far better than people w/ Carib + avg residency pedigrees.

Of those who apply for Cards fellowship: 56% of US MD grads and ~11% of US citizen IMGs are successful. (Edited after La Presse posted the 2014 data).

 

[La Presse]

I thought if a candidate matches into an ACGME residency, then he/she is eligible for fellowship afterwards.

This is going to be a grey area now now that the AOA/ACGME merger has gone through.

 

[Plecopotamus]

I thought if a candidate matches into an ACGME residency, then he/she is eligible for fellowship afterwards.

This is going to be a grey area now now that the AOA/ACGME merger has gone through.

??
Eligibility and getting a fellowship are not the same thing (and DO != Carib MD). If you're really at Maimonides, I believe the senior residents would endorse that . . . from what I heard, plenty of unsuccessful aspiring cardiologists/gastroenterologists this year.
[OP, that would probably be a good example of an "average" urban IM residency program -- plenty of IMGs]

 

[La Presse]

You guys should take a look at the table. I have attached to my post. It will give you an idea of how dismal fellowship placements for Carib grads exist at this point. Feel free to peruse through the other yeras.

http://www.nrmp.org/match-data/fellowship-match-data/

It can only get worse for IMGs imo due to the impending merger. DOs will start outranking US and Int'l IMGs when it comes to fellowship placements. If you look at the table I attached very closely, you can see that placement rates for both DO and IMG applicants are comparable, although it is arguable that DO graduates get priority when applying. It can also be noted that there seems to be a greater number of IMG applicants applying to these fellowships.

Keep in mind that these are mostly ACMGE programs.

 

[triplehog22]

So not just in the hypothetical situation where you are fortunate enough to match to a residency from the Carib, but so exceptionally fortunate that you match to an average residency . . .

Yes. The degree could still drag you down.
With Cards being one of the more competitive fellowships, they are turning away far better than people w/ Carib + avg residency pedigrees.

Of those who apply for Cards fellowship: 56% of US MD grads and ~11% of US citizen IMGs are successful. (Edited after La Presse posted the 2014 data).

56% of card fellowship spots are filled by US MD grads, not 56% are successful

 

[La Presse]

56% of card fellowship spots are filled by US MD grads, not 56% are successful

I think that's what he meant.

 

[IlDestriero]

You're as good as the last thing that you do. If you match at an average residency and kill it every day, get selected for chief, take advantage of any research/presentation opportunities, work your alumni network, get outstanding letters of recommendation, etc. you can score a great job or fellowship. If you're an average Joe and do an average job, at an average place your chance of scoring a prime fellowship is low no matter where you went to school.

 

[Plecopotamus]

56% of card fellowship spots are filled by US MD grads, not 56% are successful

Sorry,,I changed the content of my post after Lapresse's & didn't change the wording correctly. If you look at the % "admission", it is more than 85% overall for US MD & around 60% for US IMGs for all fields--assume that is going to be worse for cards as there are quite a few fields that are not competitive at all.

 

[scarletgirl777]

You're as good as the last thing that you do. If you match at an average residency and kill it every day, get selected for chief, take advantage of any research/presentation opportunities, work your alumni network, get outstanding letters of recommendation, etc. you can score a great job or fellowship. If you're an average Joe and do an average job, at an average place your chance of scoring a prime fellowship is low no matter where you went to school.

While I'm sure that's true, I don't think that where you went to med school stops mattering. There is someone on here who is involved with a fellow selection committee for a program in a pretty competitive IM specialty and apparently where you went to med school still matters (as does Steps 1, 2, and 3--kind of crazy). I was sitting next to someone today who was reviewing fellowship applications (yes it was for a competitive field, and it's a top program in that field) and the applications were asking for where you went to college and some of your main extracurriculars while there...it never stops.

 

[IlDestriero]

I interview fellows for an extremely competitive pediatric anesthesia program. Your residency, numbers (in training exam scores, steps, etc), research and LORs get you an interview. Where you went to school is no longer of much interest. When you are at the interview, it's a matter of good fit or not, and partner potential.
Your residency matters tremendously. That's where your med school will hurt. It's hard to get into the primo residencies from questionable schools. You go with what you know, which is why most of our fellows come from the same fairly short list of known high quality residencies. If all else is essentially equal, med school may help tip the scale.