changing residency

[arrow80]

Hi all,
I have a question. I am currently PGY1 in FM. Some how I am lost all my interest in FM. Is it possible to change to IM now or I am done.

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[DrJosephKim]

I know several people who have made the transition. You may also want to look at some combined Family Med/Internal Med programs.

 

[jdh71]

Hi all,
I have a question. I am currently PGY1 in FM. Some how I am lost all my interest in FM. Is it possible to change to IM now or I am done.

Quite possible, but you'll likely get very little credit from anything you've done in family - so be prepared to start over. The key here, when making a move like this is the politics. Go to your program director and tell him what's up - you're just not into the kidos, nor the pregnancy and vagoo any longer, and want to stick with adult medicine. Tell him you will stick out the year, so that he doesn't get screwed by you bailing, make sure you're a terrific resident for the rest of the year, and apply to IM - be open and honest during interviews about your choice to switch specialties. If you do these things, you should have no real problems and will probably even be able to get your PD to call programs for you once you have your rank list in, because you've been such an awesome resident even though you don't like peds and OB/Gyn any longer.

 

[arrow80]

Thank you for your advice. I think that the biggest obstacle for me will be to explain to my PD about my falling interest in peds and ob. We do have the IM residency at our hospital. Should I talk to the PD of IM first before talking to my PD.

 

[njbmd]

Hi all,
I have a question. I am currently PGY1 in FM. Some how I am lost all my interest in FM. Is it possible to change to IM now or I am done.

Do a search of these forums and look for every post that aProgramDirector has written on this subject.That person is very knowledgeable and knows what to tell you in terms of switching into IM. You may want to take advantage of the SDN "Confidential consult" in terms of asking about speaking with the IM program director at your residency program.

Residency program directors are pretty touchy about people wanting to leave their programs (for any reason) so make sure that you follow the correct protocol and leave with the support of your current program director even if you don't love OB etc. The last thing that you would want would be for the IM program director to mention to your current program director that you are dissatisfied. That should come from you first so that you don't "burn any bridges".

People do make changes but you need to know all of the implications of your decision so that you get the best results.

 

[Gastrapathy]

Hi all,
I have a question. I am currently PGY1 in FM. Some how I am lost all my interest in FM. Is it possible to change to IM now or I am done.

You've lost all interest in FM but want to be an internist? Rather than complete 6 extra months of internship or whatever the ABIM requires, you are better off finishing your residency and then tailoring your practice (unless you are looking at the IM subs with appropriate envy).

 

[gutonc]

You've lost all interest in FM but want to be an internist? Rather than complete 6 extra months of internship or whatever the ABIM requires, you are better off finishing your residency and then tailoring your practice (unless you are looking at the IM subs with appropriate envy).

I completely agree. If you're thinking about switching to IM because you want to do Pulm or Cards or something, then it makes sense to do that. If you want to do adult Primary Care in the end, just stick with what you've got already and tailor your practice appropriately when you finish. Sure, you'll have to do some Peds and OB in the meantime but you've got a spot right now and there's no guarantee you'll get another one in IM.

If you do decide to switch, start by talking to somebody in your program. It doesn't have to be the PD at first but you need to discuss it with a faculty member you trust and get some advice as to how to approach it with your PD. You will need a letter from him/her if you jump back into the Match (and any outside the Match positions will probably call your current PD at some point) so this isn't something you can hide for much longer.

 

[arrow80]

I agree that it is better to continue the FM if I want to do a adult medicine in the future without any spec. The thing is that I believe I will be trained much better in IM than FM for the hospitalist job. I can get more exposure to the cases than I will get in FM, as I would also have to allocate some time to Peds, OB and nursing homes. This is not to say anything wrong about FM, but I will be better off with IM if I will do be doing hospitalist in the future. Do you think I am right or not.