Categorical IM vs. Fellowship-bound IM

[howelljolly]

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I'm in MS-3, and I was wondering about applications/interviews for an IM residency.
When applying and interviewing for an IM residency, should you discuss your plans for subsequent fellowship? What if you are looking at an in-house fellowship program?

Ive heard both schools of thought.

One side says that most IM programs don't want to be a stepping stone. They want to train good primary care providers. Ergo, you shouldnt say that you want to go into specialty medicine rather than IM.

The other side says that the programs want to place their residents into competetive fellowships. So, if you are genuinely interested in one, you should talk about it.

What if the fellowship that you want is in the same sponsoring institution? Will that help or hurt either your residency or fellowship application?

 

[NotAProgDirector]

I vote for being honest. However, I may be biased because >50% of my residents go on to fellowships, so it's what I expect. Actually, we try to match their interviewers with the prefered specialty, so it's nice to know.

Probably depends on the program.

I'm in MS-3, and I was wondering about applications/interviews for an IM residency.
When applying and interviewing for an IM residency, should you discuss your plans for subsequent fellowship? What if you are looking at an in-house fellowship program?

Ive heard both schools of thought.

One side says that most IM programs don't want to be a stepping stone. They want to train good primary care providers. Ergo, you shouldnt say that you want to go into specialty medicine rather than IM.

The other side says that the programs want to place their residents into competetive fellowships. So, if you are genuinely interested in one, you should talk about it.

What if the fellowship that you want is in the same sponsoring institution? Will that help or hurt either your residency or fellowship application?

 

[Winged Scapula]

I agree with APD that it would likely depend on the program.

If interviewing someplace where the majority, or at least a large number, of residents go on to fellowships, it wouldn't be unseemly to discuss your interest in a particular training track. However, at a place without many people going for further training, it might seem that your interests would not be well served at that type of program (something the program would most assuredly realize).