Endo fellowship - Can I make it?

[letmeinwillya]

PGY-3 in Internal Medicine wants to pursue fellowship in Endo. Have not done any research and don't know where to start. At a community program where research is minimal or non-existent.

I don't know what I don't know about how to make myself look good on resume for applying to Endo fellowship? Is it possible to do full time or part time job and do something in terms of participate in a research endeavor and have that count towards my research activity?

Heard from an attending that some fellowship programs are clinical oriented meaning they may not care for not having any research experience but I also heard disagreement on this among other attendings. Who's right?

If I work as a primary care for sometime, is that a total waste of time towards making me a good Endo applicant?

My reason for going to Endo is lifestyle and hopefully feeling competent because I would be dealing with one area vs primary care which is jack of all trades and don't feel like I will feel confident unless I was specialized in one area.

Thoughts? Ideas? Please guide as I'm clueless about this.

PS: I know I could have asked this at my program but there's a reason I'm asking here ..did I mention I'm clueless when it comes to this..don't know where to start.

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[letmeinwillya]

Just to add little more context: If I have zero research to show for. Have done few rotations at a university hospital close to our residency program, is that enough to show interest in Endo and apply to the fellowship at the univ. program? One of our current residents matched at the said university because our program used to be affiliated with the university but has been recently acquired by regional med. group.

Could work in the Endo field before residency be considered as an indication of interest?

PS: Not interested in Nephro, Geriatrics, GI or Cardio..are there other IM specialties that come close/similar to Endo for lifestyle?

 

[rokshana]

Just to add little more context: If I have zero research to show for. Have done few rotations at a university hospital close to our residency program, is that enough to show interest in Endo and apply to the fellowship at the univ. program? One of our current residents matched at the said university because our program used to be affiliated with the university but has been recently acquired by regional med. group.

Could work in the Endo field before residency be considered as an indication of interest?

PS: Not interested in Nephro, Geriatrics, GI or Cardio..are there other IM specialties that come close/similar to Endo for lifestyle?

so when are you considering applying? for 2020 match? or later?

are you an AMG or an I/FMG? decent steps scores? what are your plans for the next year?

did you make contacts at the Uni program so you could do some research or case reports in the next 6 months that you have as a resident? If you can, ask someone if there are any short -term quick projects that could get you work on or if there are case reports that you can write up. You are still in residency, so use the connections and the setting you have to try to get some things done in the next few months.

Can you match without any research, maybe, but even a little- case report, poster, will help your application...you can always try and then if you don't match, can try to then do some case reports or poster presentations and reapply the following year.

Unfortunately, the deadlines have passed for AACE and Endo Society for abstracts to be accepted for next years meetings, but it would make sense for you to try to attend one of them to get a feel for the specialty and maybe even meet some PDs/fellows that could help with making some contacts.

While lifestyle can be there, most people who go into Endo find the specialty itself of interest and, as with every specialty, there can be a lot of BS and politics involved and you have to like the field enough that it is worth having to deal with it to get to practice it...remember, money is generally not the motivating factor for people to be attracted to Endocrine

 

[letmeinwillya]

Thank you for your reply! You are always helpful in the forum!

2020 Match. The thought is why start Primary care if I want to pursue Endo so as soon as possible. A little wrinkle in the plans is that we need to move out of state where I'm doing residency so was wondering if my chances are highest at the uni. program where our residency program is affiliated. I may still apply at the uni. program even though rest of the family may move out of state..let see ..need to figure things out there.

IMG, scores in 220s all first attempt. I have the option of doing rotations so planning to do that.

On the Abstracts for AACE, does the research topic need to be approved by AACE? I guess one thing I don't understand is to become part of the team that's involved in some sort of research, how does one find such groups? If I'm starting my job should I simply forget about research as I won't be accepted by the group or person leading the research as I won't have the time to dedicate to this? Like they say, I would appreciate if someone can explain this like I'm five years old.

Yeah, not looking to Endo for money but more to have one thing to focus on. The decision/inclination is based on general feedback from others in primary care who seems to suggest that it's more headache for the same amount of money that one could get in other sub-specialties like Endo..personally like Endo as well so though will pursue this.

Also most folks I've come across during residency (attendings etc) say it's good idea to do fellowship or definitely do fellowship if one can.
Thank you for your time and being helpful on the forum. I see you jump into discussions and lend helping hand, much appreciated!!

 

[gutonc]

What do YOU want to do? Forget your attendings, fellows, etc. What do YOU want?

Doing a fellowship just because somebody told you that general IM (outpatient, hospitalist or traditional) sucks as a career is a really terrible plan.

Likewise...doing a fellowship just because you think something is kind of cool is also a recipe for disaster. I think CCM is kinda cool. I also think GI is kinda cool. Cards not so much. Renal maybe. Endo sort of. ID...meh. Rheum, pretty awesome. But I wanted to be an oncologist, because to me, that is the coolest. So I did that. You should do the same.

 

[letmeinwillya]

I want to do Endo and not much else down the road but I'm open to suggestions in that I haven't done Endo or Primary care yet. I think it's wise to seek out others who have been on the path that one seeks to follow. I fully get your point about not being swayed by others opinions and completely base one's decision on them.

ID, Nephro, Cards, GI all out for me.. pretty much focusing on Endo. My main criteria is predictable day to day and don't need much excitement unlike some others who may seek out challenges every day. Same old same old routine is appealing to me which I'm sure would be a a huge No no for lot of people.

It's more like what's the general view/experience of majority of people in a given field/sub-specialty. Or said another way, are there kind of universal realities for each field that may not be obvious from the outside looking in. For example, I know derm. is competitive but if 90% (hypothetically speaking) of docs going into derm. are facing depression or some other issue, I may think twice before going into that. Bad made up analog but that's the best I can come up with this late..

I'm also trying to minimize the regret that I may feel at some point in life down the road for not trying now for fellowship.

 

[FohBay]

I am starting rheum fellowship in July. My recommendation is to get whatever you can under your belt. If you got any interesting cases from past rotations, preferably endo related, then write up case reports...or at least present posters at some sort of conferences (ie. regional ACP, SGIM, regional endo conferences, etc). While I think it's most beneficial to have clinical/basic science research, it may be difficult to establish a project of your own within a short amount of time. I go to a university-affiliated community program, and research is near impossible simply because of the physical distance from the university. However, I presented posters and oral case presentations at multiple regional conferences on both rheum and non-rheum cases every year. I sought out rotations at the university because I wanted to see more rheum (and network). There, I was able to pick up a project and presented it at the national conference. Ultimately, you can show interest by doing things that will help with your own interest and learning. Oh, it'll certainly be very helpful to get a letter of recommendation from an endocrinologist who knows you well.