Doing fellowship before completion of residency

[squamous_eddie]

Hello,

I have a quick question that the people around me have trouble answering clearly. There seems to be different "opinions" on this:

If a resident in place of his third or fourth year (eg before graduation from residency) completes a fellowship in an ACGME-accredited specialty, will that resident be able to sit for the boards of that specialty after successfully finishing residency? Is there a rule such that you must finish residency (eg be board eligible for residency training) and then complete the ACGME-certifiable fellowship in order to be eligible for the board of that fellowship? Or is this just completely program-dependent (eg whether that particular spot is ACGME funded/board eligible).

It is hard to trust programs sometimes because they don't tell you the truth in their effort to find someone to fill their position...

Thanks in advance.

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[deleted314957]

Seriously? Just go to the ABP web site and they explain, in nauseating
detail, the exact requirements for Boards.

 

[tiredguy]

I agree. If you don't trust your program, then ask the ABP since they decide those things.

I strongly suspect you cannot take the sub-specialty exam until you have successfully taken and passed the primary exam (AP, CP, AP/CP, etc.). You can do the fellowship year out of order so long as you are still board eligible by the time you would take the sub-specialty exam. Under most circumstances you should be able to do it so long as you don't wait too many exam cycles to pass the exam.

 

[pianoguy05]

We had a resident do dermpath fellowship before her 4th year. She wasn’t DP-board eligible (at least at that time, though maybe the ABP has since changed their rules) until she passed general AP boards. So at the end of 4th year, she took AP/CP in May/June then DP in October. Passed both!

I agree. If you don't trust your program, then ask the ABP since they decide those things.

I strongly suspect you cannot take the sub-specialty exam until you have successfully taken and passed the primary exam (AP, CP, AP/CP, etc.). You can do the fellowship year out of order so long as you are still board eligible by the time you would take the sub-specialty exam. Under most circumstances you should be able to do it so long as you don't wait too many exam cycles to pass the exam.

 

[squamous_eddie]

Thanks for your reply. Sorry that I cannot go to the ABP website because I suspected that it would have nauseating detail. I just wanted to hear the rules from someone who is unbiased and knowledgeable about them. I need to make sure that the year that I do before residency graduation will make me board-eligible in the specialty at least after I pass the residency boards. Some people are saying that it will not - that you must do the fellowship AFTER residency graduation and not out of order. Thanks!