Considering 2nd residency in Radiology- questions about application

[analytic'05]

Hi everyone, I'm a board certified physician (finished training ~7 years ago) and I'm strongly considering switching and applying to radiology residency. I've some questions regarding the application process:
- my understanding is that if I apply later this year (Sept) I'll be applying for PGY 2 (R1) positions that start July 2020, correct? or are there programs that offer PGY 2 (R1) positions for the following year (2019) on a normal basis (versus only under special circumstances of a resident leaving the program)?
- any input regarding participating in the upcoming SOAP? Not sure if I'll able to have everything ready by then but even if I did I was wondering if anyone can comment about the chances of obtaining a PGY 2 position (for start 2018 or 2019) that way
- any opinion regarding my chances of obtaining a position at some point?- I'm US graduate from low tier school, AOA, step 1 220's, step 2 230's, I was faculty at big academic institution, have many publications in my field, some of them are radiology focused. I don't know how competitive radiology is currently and I'm not sure if programs would take the fact that I'm practicing physician (already completed different residency) as a negative or not.
Thank you in advance for any advice/input!

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[Gadofosveset]

I wouldn't worry so much about your board scores or the mechanics of applying. Since your position is atypical, you'll be looked at pretty much on the merits of your story why you want to switch rather than be evaluated through metrics. One of the best radiologists I ever met was an attending in another specialty before re-training. But there have been some decidedly sub-par rads who were originally attendings elsewhere. The strength of your story why you want to switch will make a big difference.

After screening your motivation, an assessment of your personality will be the most critical part of your application. That and references. I will be honest -- you will be looked at skeptically. Rads training is very different from other residencies in that there's (usually) a more or less constant attending-resident interaction except when a resident is on call. The skill is difficult to pick up at first and takes a lot of patience and a good attitude to make it up the learning curve. There's often a very direct and close teacher-student relationship and often bond. The training style is different than in other residencies. Not saying you can't do this, but any good program that intends on teaching you rather than just using you as labor will scrutinize you to make sure that you aren't going to try to pull rank during lectures and read outs. I guarantee you that you will want to pull rank and will want to not be talked down to constantly. If you're the kind of person who can take attending rads' quirks in stride, without referring every ten seconds to "well, when I was on faculty at x...", then you might stand a chance. If it seems for a millisecond like you are not, it will send you down in flames faster than the Hindenburg.

 

[analytic'05]

thank you for your feedback, definitely important points to consider

 

[colbgw02]

in my little corner of the radiology world, i've seen this a lot. i'm particularly fond of one story about an attending from my residency program, who was a pediatric cardiologist in a former life. when he was a radiology resident, a guest lecturer got overly aggressive while pimping him about congenital heart disease on a radiograph. he eventually got fed up, usurped the floor, and gave a 10 minute ad hoc lecture about the topic, ending with something like, "but all of this is academic, because they're going to get the echo anyway to figure this out." pimp session over.

anyway, my experience has been that former attendings turned radiology residents do quite well. gadofosveset is right though - radiology training is different from what you're used to, but most people figure that out very quickly and adjust accordingly. it doesn't take long to learn humility as an R1, irrespective of what you were doing immediately before that. in any case, i say go for it.

it's been awhile for me, so those closer to the process should chime in, but yeah - most positions would be for ~15 months after you match. although, i think there are some positions (maybe designated as "R" positions??) that would start at the end of the same academic year that you match.

 

[analytic'05]

in my little corner of the radiology world, i've seen this a lot. i'm particularly fond of one story about an attending from my residency program, who was a pediatric cardiologist in a former life. when he was a radiology resident, a guest lecturer got overly aggressive while pimping him about congenital heart disease on a radiograph. he eventually got fed up, usurped the floor, and gave a 10 minute ad hoc lecture about the topic, ending with something like, "but all of this is academic, because they're going to get the echo anyway to figure this out." pimp session over.

anyway, my experience has been that former attendings turned radiology residents do quite well. gadofosveset is right though - radiology training is different from what you're used to, but most people figure that out very quickly and adjust accordingly. it doesn't take long to learn humility as an R1, irrespective of what you were doing immediately before that. in any case, i say go for it.

it's been awhile for me, so those closer to the process should chime in, but yeah - most positions would be for ~15 months after you match. although, i think there are some positions (maybe designated as "R" positions??) that would start at the end of the same academic year that you match.

Thank you!

 

[analytic'05]

I wouldn't worry so much about your board scores or the mechanics of applying. Since your position is atypical, you'll be looked at pretty much on the merits of your story why you want to switch rather than be evaluated through metrics. One of the best radiologists I ever met was an attending in another specialty before re-training. But there have been some decidedly sub-par rads who were originally attendings elsewhere. The strength of your story why you want to switch will make a big difference.

After screening your motivation, an assessment of your personality will be the most critical part of your application. That and references. I will be honest -- you will be looked at skeptically. Rads training is very different from other residencies in that there's (usually) a more or less constant attending-resident interaction except when a resident is on call. The skill is difficult to pick up at first and takes a lot of patience and a good attitude to make it up the learning curve. There's often a very direct and close teacher-student relationship and often bond. The training style is different than in other residencies. Not saying you can't do this, but any good program that intends on teaching you rather than just using you as labor will scrutinize you to make sure that you aren't going to try to pull rank during lectures and read outs. I guarantee you that you will want to pull rank and will want to not be talked down to constantly. If you're the kind of person who can take attending rads' quirks in stride, without referring every ten seconds to "well, when I was on faculty at x...", then you might stand a chance. If it seems for a millisecond like you are not, it will send you down in flames faster than the Hindenburg.

Thank you for the feedback!