Endocrine Fellow Applications: '08-09 version

This forum made possible through the generous support of SDN members, donors, and sponsors. Thank you.
Status
Not open for further replies.
I can also confirm that Pitt's interviewing season has started - not just internal candidates. They, and most endo programs, are interviewing many more people this year because of the match (last year, most programs interviewed between 10-20 people per spot - many more this year). I think chances should be better that you will hear from them re: interview because of the change....good luck!
Members don't see this ad.
 
Interviews/invites so far:
Mass Gen, Stanford, UT Houston, Tulane, LSU-Shreveport

still waiting hear from most programs I applied to, including my home program.
Anybody interviewing in California or Texas?
 
congratulations! i got three in midwest area in december and then just silence. i wish i can get into somewhere in chicago but seems very competitive.
 
Members don't see this ad :)
I heard from 2 programs that they have at least 110 applicants per 1-2 spots this year. Hopefully, we will be lucky enough to get positions.
 
Do programs generally send rejection letters? I hope they do something-this silence and being in limbo is really aggravating. Is it appropriate to contact places and ask what's going on?
 
Interviews so far -
Baylor,Houston
Emory
BU
Mayo
Un Minnesota

Rejection -
MGH (visa issues)

Did anyone hear anything from BID, Boston?
 
Hello everybody!

Finally I got tired of note hearing anything and began sending emails to places...so far good results - most of the programms are still considering...

By the way, How is Shreveport ? worse going?

Good luck to everybody
 
there are so limited spots in endo, i feel less and less hopeful now...
 
Interviews (pending or done)
Mass Gen, Brigham and Women's, UCSF, Stanford, Baylor, UT Houston, UTMB, Tulane, LSU-Shreveport, Penn State, Scripps:)

Rejections
BIDMC, UC San Diego, UT San Antonio :(

To answer a previous question - Shreveport seems like a very nice place to live, and they have a strong clinical endocrinology program. Fellows seemed very satisfied.

I know there must be lots of people out there getting interviews - please let us know! I still haven't anything from lots of programs.

Best of luck to ALL of us going through this process. It's a lot of work!
 
Interviews so far -
Baylor,Houston
Emory
BU
Mayo
Un Minnesota
Tufts-NEngl.
U Pitts.

Rejection -
MGH (visa issues)
NYU
U Miami

Stiil awaiting a response from Joslin
 
One more Cleveland Clinic, OH

Can anyone give some insights about Cleveland, and Pittsburg programs. I heard both are strong research based in thyroid, and diabetes.
 
Hello all,

Can you please tell what your experience has been with H1 visa and endo applications/interviews.What are the chances?
 
Members don't see this ad :)
H1 visa is a big hurdle in Endo application as most of the fellow's salary I believe comes from NIH grants. I need H1b but still have 9 interview calls from 21 applied so far. I haven't had any interviews so I don't know if visa issue will be my nemeis.

Got one more interview from Dartmouth-Hitchcock.
 
Thanks,can you please tell me what sort of research/publications do you have?
 
how does the match thing work this year? SOme programs are using it and some aren;t. I have an interview for MAy20th, but apprently the list needs to be in by APril for programs going thru the match! Does anyone have a clue on how to go about doing this? I was looking thru NRMP so June 4th is the last day for all fellowships or is it individualized?
 
Hi everyone, good luck on endo fellowship this year. I fortunately did not have to go through the match and currently I am in endocrinology fellowship at a highly respected program, but I agree that programs are interviewing more this year. My program has interviewed quite a number, and I have been involved in the process as a current fellow. Here are my tips for those interviewing.

1. Know that the programs probably want to take "their own" --- i.e. residents from their own IM residency program
- this is a very sad reality. Why? It's all about funding. Many major academic places have funded fellowship positions that are paid for by the internal medicine department IF the fellowship in question takes one of their residents, especially a chief resident. Endocrine departments around the country are suffering from budget problems b/c no procedures, no money -- research though interesting, does not attract as much NIH grant funding as for instance Cardiology. Most of the time the endocrine fellowship will have one position that "must" go to an IM resident in their program if there is one interested just b/c it's being paid for, and the other position the endo dept pays for. So even though it's a match, look out for the endo program stacking their rank list in favor of their own residents.


2. Standout, and shine!
So you have competion, so little positions, and if you're not a resident there, it's even worse. So emphasize your desire to do endo. Know the new studies, drugs, what's in the news, etc. When you go interview, be knowledgeable -- no one expects you to know lots, but know enough and more than the typical internal medicine resident. READ NEJM, Diabetes Care, and JCEM! These are the three main journals endocrinologists read. Know thoe hot topics in endocrine - example: use of GLP-1 analogues and DPP-4 inhibitors as new generation drugs in the treatment of type 2 diabetes.

3. Do not limit yourself to a particular area of endocrine during your interview.
I can't tell you how many times interviewees come and say "I just want to do diabetes" --- sure you want to do that, but don't say that...you need to be open to learning all of endocrine and show eagerness.

4. Write to your interviewers after your interview.

In particular, the program director and the chair of the department....this will score you many points.

5. Do not apply for the combined PhD/endocrine fellowship positions or the academic positions (3 years), if you are not interested in a career in academics.

Most applicants are seeking the 2-year clinical positions -- do not rank programs you don't want to go to that have these 3-5 year research requirements if you don't even want to do academics. Remember there are academic and clinical positions for endocrine fellowship, choose the one you want to pursue.
PM me if you have any specific questions. Good luck
 
Have a few endo interviews and trying to decide which ones to visit...not sure of prestige and how good clinical training is at these programs...please help

1. U. of Chicago
2. Dartmouth
3. Virginia commonwealth U
4. U Conn
5. Penn State
6. U Mass

Thanks
 
From what I hear, U of C is still a good program--however, make sure you are interesting in research! In the last couple of years, they changed the program to a mandatory 3 year program with heavy emphasis on research (specifically bench research). Clinical training may not be as strong as some places...but I'm sure there are plenty of opportunities to see great pathology. In addition, it is too bad that Leslie DeGroot left for Brown a few years ago (he's one of the thyroid bigwigs).
Regardless, it is hard to go wrong with U of C's reputation. Most people who train there for any specialty (that I've encountered) are quite good to downright outstanding.
 
thank you very much endogal, for your great post, i wish i could read this earlier. best wish to your endo career.
 
Got two more invites.
Dartmouth
UIowa
Done with BU and Tufts interviews
Impression: BU seems to be a great big program. would definitely rank it high. big guys in thyroid, and androgen research. Tufts is small but strong clinical, and in endocrine neoplasia research.

Can anyone give me specifics about UIowa, and Dartmouth programs?
 
I was wondering if any of you have heard of combined med/peds endocrinology fellowships. If so, which programs offer them? How long do they take to complete? And, is it worth doing both adults and children?

Thanks
 
BUMP

Have a few endo interviews and trying to decide which ones to visit...not sure of prestige and how good clinical training is at these programs...do you guys have any insight into these programs?

1. U. of Chicago
2. Dartmouth
3. Virginia commonwealth U
4. U Conn
5. Penn State
6. U Mass
 
Hello, I was wondering what are the things that can make a H1 visa application strong? what kind of research/publications/experience? can someone help??

Thank you
 
Hi everyone!

For those already in endocrinology or interested in the field, what do you forsee as the future of this field? I am just starting my residency and enjoy the spectrum of diseases in endo, but don't know many more details. How's the job market? Any recent grads struggling to find jobs? How competitive is the application process for fellowships?
 
Co-ask!!
Thanks for any input!

pooch21 said:
Hi everyone!

For those already in endocrinology or interested in the field, what do you forsee as the future of this field? I am just starting my residency and enjoy the spectrum of diseases in endo, but don't know many more details. How's the job market? Any recent grads struggling to find jobs? How competitive is the application process for fellowships?
Click to expand...
 
pooch21 said:
Hi everyone!

For those already in endocrinology or interested in the field, what do you forsee as the future of this field? I am just starting my residency and enjoy the spectrum of diseases in endo, but don't know many more details. How's the job market? Any recent grads struggling to find jobs? How competitive is the application process for fellowships?
Click to expand...

I don't see a decine in the need for endocrinologists in the future. From a nationwide prespective there is a shortage of endocrinologists. I think that answerr about job markets is very location specific. There are some metro areas where endocrinology is very saturated and it will be hard for a recent grad to find a full time endocrine position. I think that this is the exception rather than the rule and in most of the country there is a healthy demand for endocrinologists. That being said I don't think that the pay is much different than being a general internist. In terms of how competitive it is...i think that all the medical subspecialities are becoming more competitive. There are more people out there that are deciding to subspecialize. More and more I see people that are applying for "life style" specialities that may not pay as well as proceedure heavy subspecialities. That being said it is still much less competitive than something like cardiology/GI. You should not have a problem matching if you are flexible geographically. However if you must be in a particular location, it may be more competitive. Anyways hope that helps.

-bof
 
anyone interviewing on the west coast? any thoughts on the programs there?
 
This is a fairly slow thread, so I'm going to just leave the old one stuck on top so it's easier to access the old posts.
 
Ok, so its not a dead thread. I read through the last three years of endocrine hopefuls. Just a little depressed now...

I'm struggling trying to find clinical fellowships out there. I know most of them are research focused (for financial reasons) and appreciate if they say so on their webpage!

Any hints on good clinical programs?
 
Sorry! How odd, I didn't realize there was a response to my post (usually I get an email)!

West coast, but willing to go anywhere if the program is a good match.
 
hmmm...
My interviews were more in the midwest and east coast...
I did interview at UC Davis and really liked it. It is definitely a clinically-focused program. They have some research going on - a little more on the epidemiologic side (my impression) - but clinical is certainly more their strength. It seemed like a benign program and everyone was very nice. I think they are still a 2yr program and have 3 total fellows (they alternate between taking 2 and 1 per year). The hospital is fairly nice - I wasn't thrilled about the Sacramento area, however.

Here are some other good clinical programs that I interviewed with:
1. Midwest: Rush (super strong clinical training - you work hard but have great exposure to pathology. Is a joint fellowship with Stroger/Cook County hospital), University of Illinois (Chicago) - seemed decent and with good balance of research/clinical.

2. East: Georgetown - great faculty with some pretty big names (Verbalis - posterior pituitary, Burman/Wartofsky - thyroid, Clemens - diabetes) and an emphasis on clinical training. You also get to rotate through the NIH to see the zebras. Mt Sinai (NY)- used to be one of the best known clinical programs --- however, the new division chief came from the NIH and is very research oriented - so the culture seems to be drastically changing. Jefferson (PA) - a total clinical program -- they seem mostly to take their own, however.

Anyways, that's my 2cents...
 
Nice. Thanks for your reply.

I'd heard about a couple of those, but the rest were new. I appreciate it.

Seems so early to be applying for 2010, but the deadline is actually soon!
 
Do the fellowship programs really want my MSPE????

Its going to be a royal hassle to get it, but if they want it I'll do it.

I just wonder if its on the application because ERAS is shared with residency applications? None of the endocrinology websites had MSPE listed on their required documents, but I'd hate to have them ignore my application because it was incomplete.
 
I say just bite the bullet, email/call your med school, and have them send the MSPE to ERAS. It's true that most don't need it, but I know that at least a few of the programs required it when I applied (eg: I know that Northwestern still has it as a requirement). It's better to get things done, now, then have something stupid hold up your app, IMHO :)
 
Good luck to everyone applying for the 2010 match for endocrinology!

As a soon to be graduating endocrine fellow, I can tell you all it is worth the 2-3 years you are doing fellowship. There are a lot of jobs out there, even in California where I am doing fellowship. You will be compensated quite well, base of $160-180K with productivity in most private practices. There is a shortage of endocrinologist, and patients wait at least 2-3 months to see you.

Here are new tips to add to my previous tips on applying.
1. Do a rotation at the place you want to do fellowship.
- this is key. I have medical students rotating that are already putting the word out there that they want to do endocrine, so imagine you doing this as a resident. You're almost behind the game by then, so make sure you make it clear you like the program, you rotate there and even present at case conferences so all the faculty know you. I purposely have my interested interns/residents and even medical students present cases at endocrine conferences so that the faculty can see them "perform" and know they have an interest. It scores points for sure.

2. Do research as a resident in something endocrine.
- this could just be a chart review or even just a poster presentation of a case, or even trying to get a case report published. Endocrinology is very research oriented, even if you just want to do clinical. Every applicant I have interviewed all had some form of research, case report, or poster presentation as a resident and/or as a medical student.

3. Know someone in the program
- I can't tell you how important this is. So this is key, and can be accomplished by rotating as a resident/intern in the fellowship program you want to be at - this can be hard, as you may be in a residency program that won't let you do an external rotation.

4. Don't be fooled by the "match"
- programs still stack the rank list in favor of their own residents or in favor of people that they know. So you need to be stellar and stand out if you don't go there for residency.

5. Don't "shoot your mouth off" while interviewing
- make sure you are answering in well thought out sentences, and don't make controversial statements. Don't claim to be an expert in anything unless you truly are. Don't lie. Know your audience - don't try to explain something to the interviewer who happens to be one of the experts in that particular area. For instance, don't talk about insulinomas as if you know it all when you're talking to the interviewer who is the world's expert on insulinomas (this is a real story, the candidate who interviewed afterwards was taken off rank list because she upset the interviewer who thought she was a know-it-all who knew nothing).

PM if any more questions.
 
Hi Endogal, thanks for your advice. I'm excited to see a thread dedicated to Endocrine applications - is there anyone else out there who is applying in Endocrine? It would be great to share our experiences along the way. There's only around 5000 endocrinologists in the country, so we're bound to run into each other!
 
Hi Everyone,

For those of you applying to southern california, here are some hints:

1. UCSD - some problems with the research IRBs and clinical trials in the program per my friends there, so beware. No real strengths in terms of area of endocrinology. You'll be covering 3 hospitals as a fellow. Very research oriented, even though it's a clinical position. Chief studies diabetes, metabolism. Beautiful location though, makes up for what the program may be lacking if you love the beach and no traffic/quieter life.
2. UCLA - 3 spots open, but 2 spots likely to go to a UCLA resident, so you're interviewing really for one spot if you don't go there. Strong in diabetes and thyroid, good pathology but really tough to get in if you're an outsider. Has a strong diabetes center. Department focus is on islet cell research. A lot of zebras since it's a referral center, like insulinomas/pheos. Very proud of their transplant programs and inpatient hyperglycemic service.
3. Cedars - now combined with VA West LA, so better variety of patients, you'll see the VA population too. Nice mix of patients in a smaller hospital. Strong in thyroid, and program director has interest in PCOS/genetics. Neuroendocrine tumors/pituitary surgeries. Located in Beverly Hills across from the Beverly Center.
4. Harbor-UCLA - combined with City of Hope, so you'll have good exposure to thyroid cancer patients and clinical trials. Their chief of endo is interested in reproductive endocrinology, so that shapes the program. Rotations between both hospitals, which are 40+ miles apart, so that can be very annoying to drive. Best of both worlds, county pathology and private hospital specialization.
5. UCI - not very strong in diabetes or thyroid cancer. Their fellows don't get much chance to do FNA of thyroid nodules, though they are changing this and by the time you start should have better program.
6. USC - fairly strong program for diabetes and thyroid, and it's county, so you'll see great pathology. They are known for thyroid, since Peter Singer is faculty there. They have a thyroid disease and pregnancy clinic with Dr. Mestman.

So the lowdown is:
Weak programs: UCI, UCSD
Strong programs: USC, UCLA
moderate (good if you want to be a clinician only, not academics) - Harbor-UCLA, Cedars/VA

if you want to be a researcher, go for USC(academic track), UCLA(STAR program), Harbor(if you're on the academic 3-year track).
 
Last edited:
HI there!!!
So happy to find this forum and thread. :p
I am in the process of selecting programs , but I need help on the programs in NY state.
Havent been there, don't know much about them...:confused:
anyone??

:luck:
 
I am applying in NY too.
I applied to pretty much all the programs participating in the match...
Anybody knows when is the interview season starting??
 
I Imagine you know the programs well then?
could you tell me a little about them?
which programs are very competitive and which ones are not?

I'd apreciate it!!!
:D
 
Glad I found this threat. I submitted my ERAS on Sunday. Anyone got an interview yet?
 
chiquibones said:
I Imagine you know the programs well then?
could you tell me a little about them?
which programs are very competitive and which ones are not?

I'd apreciate it!!!
:D
Click to expand...

I don't know a ton about the NY programs but here's the little I do know (from personal experience and from heresay):
Competitive: most of the NY programs are quite competitive! If you are from NY/East coast, you probably have an advantage.
-Cornell: competitive, very research oriented
-Columbia: competitive, lot of positive things said about program. PD is very well-known, nationally. Very strong in bone/mineral metabolism.
-NYU: probably one of the best clinical training programs in the country given time spent at Bellevue.
-Mt Sinai: another strong clinical program that is transitioning to a more research focus (division chief was recruited from NIH - he told me that he wants all his fellows to be basic researchers).

Not sure about the other programs...
 
A lot of the places haven't even opened my application yet on ERAS. I guess I can't be too anxious when they're obviously not even considering the application season yet!

How many applications are you submitting?
 
I submitted 20. Most of the programs I applied opened the applications last week, some this week.
I wonder if I should apply to more :rolleyes:
how many did you?
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Next unread thread

Similar threads

A
Endocrine Board prep 2023
Replies
4
Views
1K
joydoc
J
I
Endocrine boards23
Replies
0
Views
635
IM2fellow
I
B
Endocrine superspecialty
Replies
4
Views
2K
dozitgetchahi
D
A
Endocrine fellowship application for 2022
Replies
1
Views
4K
lpei
L
E
Endocrinology Fellowship and Early Career Forum Now Accepting Applications
Replies
1
Views
933
meddoc135
M
Top