Change of Heart

[NightDoctor]

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Hi, I've found this a great resource so I wanted to see if I can get some advice. I'm currently a PGY-2 in a surgical subspecialty and I've realized that I want to switch into Anesthesiology. I have good reviews from my PGY1 internship and good Step scores, etc. I really just have no idea how to go about searching for positions for July 2013 (or sooner??). Do I go through the match or contact programs on my own? Is this a very difficult switch to make? Does anyone have experience in this sort of thing? Thanks for any help you can provide.

 

[cchoukal]

This comes up dozens of times per year, and I'm sure a search could turn up some useful info. In brief, PGY2 slots in anesthesia for the following year (if you want to start right after your intern year finishes) are filled outside the match (read: you have to find an opening, apply for it, interview, etc). PGY1 slots are filled via the match (read: do an ERAS application, go through the match, repeat your intern year).

An alternative would be to go through the match for an "advanced" slot, which is a PGY2 slot the NEXT year (not the year your current intern year finishes). This is easier in the sense that there are lots of programs that have advanced slots because not every program has enough intern slots to host their entire residency class. It's harder, though, in that you'd have to find something else to do for an extra year.

 

[EtherBunny]

PM me for advice. I made a very similar transition.

 

[Consigliere]

Hi, I've found this a great resource so I wanted to see if I can get some advice. I'm currently a PGY-2 in a surgical subspecialty and I've realized that I want to switch into Anesthesiology. I have good reviews from my PGY1 internship and good Step scores, etc. I really just have no idea how to go about searching for positions for July 2013 (or sooner??). Do I go through the match or contact programs on my own? Is this a very difficult switch to make? Does anyone have experience in this sort of thing? Thanks for any help you can provide.

Stick with surgery, pal. The future for anesthesia is pretty dim.

 

[sevoflurane]

Although it was specialty to specialty... I transferred to another program after one year w/o going through the match. Contacted the PD, did an informal interview and voila. Done.

Much easier than doing ERAS all over again.

 

[Dejavu]

I'm glad you have seen the light.

I have been in anesthesia for 36yrs. People have been saying anesthesia is doomed for the last 30yrs, so pay no attention to naysayers and leave the dark side. You will be happy to get out of the surgery residency.

Go toward the light...

 

[shopsteward]

You should probably check out the General Residency/ERAs and the NRMP Match forum, and specifically a thread "Applying to advanced positions for 2013", where aPD gives good advice on the up to date (recently changed) technicalities of the match.

Alternatively, do all the networking you can, starting at your current institution, to get an out of match position. But do be careful - the match covers a lot more than it used to and violating the match, even inadvertently, is not good for your future career.