Fellowship application process

[FLY1]

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Hi all,

I am a third year resident currently applying to fellowship positions. I received interview invitations from two programs and they asked about my preferred time frame to interview. I sent them my preferred dates and I was very flexible. However, one program decided to just ignore me and never respond to my emails asking about the date. Another program emailed me one week after sending the invitation saying they made a mistake and they're not reviewing applications until next month!!. Is this normal when applying for fellowships? Why would a program send an interview in the first place if they're not interested in the applicant? I feel like the whole fellowship application process is very frustrating, disorganized and lacks professionalism compared to residency process.

 

[Autopsia]

I had a fellowship program offer me an interview and the proceed to ignore my emails for over a month before replying that they were no longer interested in interviewing me. Professionalism only applies to trainees.

 

[Unty]

You don’t have to be professional. It’s one of the core competencies but I’ve seen attendings act unprofessional and expect us to act professional. People will screw you. So don’t ever get your hopes high and always look out for your own interest.

However, Treat other well who treat you well.

 

[alpinebrook]

Forget about those two places and make sure you apply broadly; I'm sure something better will come up!

 

[ScubaV]

Yeah the whole fellowship process is a disorganized mess and highly dependent on the individual fellowship coordinators. Are they organized and competent? Are they also coordinators for other fellowships or residencies?

And the whole apply two years in advance thing seems really dumb. Residents have to choose before they might really know what they want. And fellowships have to deal with unexpected openings because people change their mind.