Changing from Pulmonary to Cards?

[pulm]

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Hello all, I am a third year resident and previously was set on doing Pulm/CC. However, recent events have made me start second guessing my decision... though nothing is for sure yet. I do know that I love my cardiology rotations I have done recently. I struggled with which one to do intern year but decided to dedicate myself to pulmonary so that I could get started on research. My worry is that my focus on pulmonary for the last two years will make me not able to match into cardiology, should I choose to pursue it. I am trying to keep my options open, however the thought of waiting another year to apply is not attractive.
My stats: I am a third year resident and future chief resident at a top academic program (in the NW), AOA, and have published research during residency (in Pulmonary). Board scores are 99/99/99.
My questions are:
--Will my Pulmonary research help or hurt me?
--Is there any chance of matching into a mid-tier cards program somewhere in the south without waiting a year and doing cardiology specific research?
--I feel like I could get strong letters of rec from a couple of cardiologists here, but they are not the big name folks, mainly associate and assitant professors... in addition to one from my research mentor. What else can I do?

The thought of applying to a hypercompetitive specialty like cards is dauting and I'm having somewhat of a mid-residency career crisis and am trying to re-evaluate my goals here, but am a bit stuck. Thanks for any help people with fellowship application experience can provide. Happy Fourth!!

 

[dragonfly99]

I think that if you really want cardiology, then you should just go for it. You do still have time to apply for it this year. I think that with a chief residency coming up and those board scores and being from a good university program, I predict that your chance of matching somewhere will be quite high. You may even surprise yourself with how well you do. I think that yes, you can match to a mid-tier place. I even think that you should not hesitate to apply to some "dream" schools, but realizing that matching at somewhere like UCSF, Harvard, etc. would be a stretch but not impossible.

If you want to stay on the west coast, I'd suggest pan-applying there along with solid places in the Midwest and South, if you are willing to go there (30 or so programs).

I just don't see someone like you not matching, and I think you are overly worried about it. Pulmonary research won't help as much as cards research, but I still think your chance of getting in is quite high. You should just be able to explain why you want to do cardiology - have a good reason for wanting to do it, and you should be fine.