Gap between residency and fellowship?

[AztecTurtle]

Planning to do a PICU fellowship but may have a few years between residency and fellowship for family reasons. Is a gap in training a negative for applicants? Anything in particular to do or avoid doing during those years?

---

Members don't see this ad.

 

[fhockey13]

.

 

[SurfingDoctor]

Planning to do a PICU fellowship but may have a few years between residency and fellowship for family reasons. Is a gap in training a negative for applicants? Anything in particular to do or avoid doing during those years?

No, is it not a negative from an application standpoint. The real negative in the gap is the lost future earnings (depending on salary in the gap years) and the financial impact of earning an attending salary during the gap years, and then transitioning back to a trainee salary.

 

[mvenus929]

No it isn't, just do whatever it is you need to do and have something "medical" to show for the time off like volunteering or shadowing etx

Uhhh.... I would hope that someone who completed a pediatric residency is going to be doing something medical beyond volunteering or shadowing.

 

[Sweet Tea]

I worked as a hospitalist for 3 years after fellowship before going back for my child abuse fellowship. Pros: attending salary is way better, having a kid as an attending vs having a kid when you're a resident or fellow is way better, definitely gave me a better appreciation for "real-world" medicine as I was on my own in a private practice model. I had already passed the gen peds boards when I applied to fellowship so didn't have to worry about studying as a first year fellow, and I had plenty of actual experience when dealing with my sub-specialty and I think that helped. Child abuse is not a competitive field with only a few applicants per year, but I received an interview offer at every place I applied. I do not think that having 3 years between residency and fellowship harmed my application in any way.

Cons: It was hard going back to a trainee's salary, and it was SUPER hard to go back to not being the one in charge, especially at the end of fellowship when I had completed all my research and clinical obligations and was just marking time.