Is it possible to do a one year fellowship during a GS residency instead of a research year. I've heard of people doing a critical care fellowship in this way. How many programs allow you to do this? Seems like it would make for a very complete training as a surgeon. I'd guess the experience would be valuable regardless of whatever subspecielty I go into. Would fellowship directors (non-trauma/CC) be likely to see it that way? Thanks.
univ of louisville has this, where you run the ICU as the fellow (minimal op experience as you get more than enough in the resident role). however, if you want the crit care for the resume, what does it matter if you take time between pgy3-4 or as a pgy6?
Because 5 years plus one year of research plus one year of fellowship equals seven years, while five years of residency plus one year of fellowship equals 6 years. I'm talking about making best use of the research year in a program where you're pretty much stuck withe a 5 + 1 situation. I think I'd enjoy a fellowship more than a research year anyway. Curious how it might affect fellowship prospects
I don't know of any centralized database which lists all GS programs which offer a critical care fellowship, but there are several out there. As long as the fellowship year(s) are ACGME accredited, you should be able to sit for the Critical Care boards. According to the ACS, applicants who complete an accredited fellowship after completion of three years of general surgery residency may apply for certification and take the examination while still in residency. A full and unrestricted medical license would not be required at that time. However, the certificate is not awarded until certification in general surgery is achieved. The experience would be most valuable if you are entering a specialty (GS) or subspecialty (ie, fellowship after GS) in which critical care is a common occurence. For fellowships without much critical care medicine required (ie, Breast Surgery, MIS) it might not be as highly regarded but shouldn't be considered a detriment. You are however likely to be better served doing research in an area (especially for competitive fellowships) relevant to the fellowship rather than a CC year if it isn't frequently used in your field of choice.
that was unclear at the onset since i don't know of many programs that require only 1 research year (quite a few require 2 years). if a program requires a research year, would they even allow you to do a fellowship instead? either way, Dr. Cox summed it up quite nicely with the following:
