fell in love with cardiology

[drdre4]

hi all I'm a 3rd year med student who just finished my IM rotation which was with multiple cardiologists for the month. I absolutely love every single aspect about cardiology so came here to do some research. I know i want to do cardiology as a career after everything I have seen and am ready to do whatever it takes. please help

How competitive is it to match into cards fellowship post IM residency/what do fellowship program directors look for when comparing applicants?

what should i look for in an IM program that will give me the best chances of getting cards?

what can i do to improve my app? obviously research etc. but where I am there are not many options so any tips on finding research would be great.

any other advice to a young hopefuly cardiologist is greatly appreciated thanks!!

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[chitown82]

hi all I'm a 3rd year med student who just finished my IM rotation which was with multiple cardiologists for the month. I absolutely love every single aspect about cardiology so came here to do some research. I know i want to do cardiology as a career after everything I have seen and am ready to do whatever it takes. please help

How competitive is it to match into cards fellowship post IM residency/what do fellowship program directors look for when comparing applicants?

what should i look for in an IM program that will give me the best chances of getting cards?

what can i do to improve my app? obviously research etc. but where I am there are not many options so any tips on finding research would be great.

any other advice to a young hopefuly cardiologist is greatly appreciated thanks!!

Glad you enjoyed your rotation. My advice would be to work hard, kill Step 2, and get into a great IM residency. This will set you up for research opportunities and mentors that will facilitate you being competitive for a cardiology fellowship. One step at a time - focus on finishing medical school strongly right now.

 

[drdre4]

def workin on crushing step 2. are there some IM residencies that are known to prepare you for cardiology or should i just aim for the top IM program overall that I can get into?

also after IM residency what do fellowship programs look for in an applicant? are board scores still a factor or are they too far back at that point? thanks!

 

[muzzlenose]

I agree with doing good on step 2, try your best to publish at least 1 abstract, but my opinion is the best change of getting into to fellowship is indeed at the place you do your IM. Working hard, not slacking off, and having a nice, positive attitude will make your IM program want to keep you on for cardiology. I know a couple of brilliant, well published physicians that did not get cardiology since they did not work well with others or would do things like show up late.

Some other crazy things that I did to get into fellowship was teaching masters courses in exercise physiology (I actually taught exercise pharmacology, ECG classes, and cardiac physiology), volunteered a bit and made a cardiology website LearnTheHeart for students. These types of things can show your passion for cardiology.