General Plan to Increase Odds at GI Fellowship

[FriendlyNeighbor4]

DO-Grad1
Incoming intern into a small-community program1
Two case reports during medical school which are not related to GI1
Step 2 score: 24X, did not take Step 11
Comlex 2 score: 56X
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Bang-on average DO student who did good enough to match but did not necessarily excel

Can someone breakdown what I need to do starting PGY-1 ---> PGY-3 to give myself the best shot at matching into a GI fellowship?
The program I am in does not have any fellowships available

Appreciate any and all feedback

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[AlteredScale]

You need to pump out a lot of research and do some audition rotations in GI at academic institutions or places with a fellowship program that can write you a letter.

Make sure you perform well on your ITE's and rotations. You need to be at the higher end of your class and get very good remarks and letters from your faculty.

 

[Elixir6]

What does the ITE have anything to do with GI Fellowship? Obviously be a good Internist but the ITE results are only for you and your PD to see, and not disclosed anywhere. Otherwise I agree with doing research with a GI at an academic center. I would say quality can trump quantity. You want your letter writter to write your are hard-working and saw a project through. Not that you pumped out some nonsense case reports and a crappy review article on how training AI on intersection of DEI and the microbiome in IBD will forever change the field of Gastroenterology.

A meaningful manuscript better than 5 case report posters. Ideally one good paper and a bunch of BS fluff case reports satisfies both.

 

[dozitgetchahi]

What does the ITE have anything to do when GI Fellowship? Obviously be a good Internist but the ITE results are only for you and your PD to see, and not disclosed anywhere. Otherwise I agree with doing research with a GI at an academic center. I would say quality can trump quantity. You want your letter writter to write your are hard-working and saw a project through. Not that you pumped out some nonsense case reports and a crappy review article on how training AI on intersection of DEI and the microbiome in IBD will forever change the field of Gastroenterology.

A meaningful manuscript better than 5 case report posters. Ideally one good paper and a bunch of BS fluff case reports satisfies both.

Yeah, the research arms race in these specialties has become pretty funny. When you see IM residents without a PhD claiming 10+ pubs in a given specialty (sometimes more), I have to assume that one or more of the following is true:

A) you know some PI who let you get on all these pubs, and you probably didn’t do much of anything on them yourself
B) you probably paid to place at least some of these pubs in a pay to play journal
C) at least some of these pubs are complete garbage

 

[bronx43]

Yeah, the research arms race in these specialties has become pretty funny. When you see IM residents without a PhD claiming 10+ pubs in a given specialty (sometimes more), I have to assume that one or more of the following is true:

A) you know someone you let you on all these pubs, and you probably didn’t do much of anything on them yourself
B) you probably paid to place at least some of these pubs in a pay to play journal
C) at least some all of these pubs are complete garbage

Fixed that for you.
The chance of a non PhD IM resident doing enough work to warrant first author on a high impact paper is essentially zero.

If it's a basic science paper, it means you washed dishes.
If it's a clinical paper, it means you did a few chart reviews.

The RARE exception is when you've known the PI since medical school and have dedicated years to helping collect, analyze and write said paper.

 

[FriendlyNeighbor4]

What does the ITE have anything to do with GI Fellowship? Obviously be a good Internist but the ITE results are only for you and your PD to see, and not disclosed anywhere. Otherwise I agree with doing research with a GI at an academic center. I would say quality can trump quantity. You want your letter writter to write your are hard-working and saw a project through. Not that you pumped out some nonsense case reports and a crappy review article on how training AI on intersection of DEI and the microbiome in IBD will forever change the field of Gastroenterology.

A meaningful manuscript better than 5 case report posters. Ideally one good paper and a bunch of BS fluff case reports satisfies both.

What's the best way to approach doing research with a GI at an academic center? Networking (connections) aside, how could an intern make a solid first impression with a GI doc to garner at least some merit to be involved in a project? Does reading the high-impact articles involving GI medicine a good start? That way, I would at least have an idea of what I would like to work on.

 

[Elixir6]

What's the best way to approach doing research with a GI at an academic center? Networking (connections) aside, how could an intern make a solid first impression with a GI doc to garner at least some merit to be involved in a project? Does reading the high-impact articles involving GI medicine a good start? That way, I would at least have an idea of what I would like to work on.

I would network via physicians at your own institution. Start looking fall in intern year, ideally after Step 3 is done.

Ask your IM PD to connect you with the GI Chief. Tell them you are interested in GI and doing GI research. See what they already have or you can propose something at your own institution (e.g. outcomes of 120 consecutive polyp EMRs at a community hospital). I would pick a narrow topic, and make it chart review or something else retrospective.

Or, they can connect you with a GI researcher at the academic center across town, or the GI Chief there.

I would not use high impact articles as a starting point. Coming from a community hospital, you'll need to work with what's available, not what your interests are in GI. See yourself as someone who is willing to commit and immerse yourself in what ever random pedantic thing your research mentor has available and ready to go (e.g. IRB/HIPAA exception done and data/patient list in hand).