Fellowship Requirement

[deleted4401]

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On whim, I saw a posting for a position at the British Columbia Cancer Agency in Vancouver so I e-mailed the physician that was responsible for the hiring, Dr. Peter Lim (seems to be a very nice man).

He replied that they weren't considering anyone without fellowship training. In a very detailed e-mail, he said that they just weren't considering any fresh grads and that almost every single member of their staff had additional training post-residency at places like Stanford, Seattle, Mayo, Harvard, etc. He said that if I continued to be interested, to do a fellowship and then they would consider me. If I did not want to do a fellowship, a cancer center in Kelowna (a town 240 miles from Vancouver) may be more likely to consider me.

Is this just a Canadian concept or are many centers now expecting additional training for the more desireable locations/practices? I know there are not ACGME certified fellowships, but there are these 1-2 year programs at some of the larger institutions. Man - I feel like we've had so much training already!

-S

 

[OTN]

I have NEVER heard of this and find it strange at best.

 

[Gfunk6]

In Canada is quite common (?mandatory) for residents to do fellowships post-grad, particularly those with academic aspirations. Perhaps he doesn't quite understand the US system? Another question to ask would be if he would accept resident grads directly from places like "Stanford, Seattle, Mayo, Harvard, etc." w/o fellowship.

 

[deleted4401]

I definitely asked him that. He recognizes our system and understands that we don't typically do post-residency fellowships (think he may have trained here). Interesting ...
S

 

[OTN]

I definitely asked him that. He recognizes our system and understands that we don't typically do post-residency fellowships (think he may have trained here). Interesting ...
S

Well, good luck with possibly convincing him it's not necessary- Vancouver is a spectacular city.