Im a medical student who is starting to think about possible career paths. I will be an IMG but a US citizen. Cardiology is something that im very interested in. What, if i decide Cardio is what i want should i do to maximize my chances of getting a Cardio fellowship. The timeline is 3 years IM, then 3 years Cardio fellowship correct.
getting Cardio
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Go to a US allopathic med school.
well that is very helpful, thank you. Im currently a second year med student so going to a US MD school is not possible. Anything constructive would be appreciated.
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You could still potentially transfer into a US school,but would likely have to start med school all over, which probably doesn't sound too palatable to you. It honestly will be very hard to get cardiology as an IMG, simply because there are so many US allopathic grads who also want cardiology.
As an IMG, it would be helpful to have USMLE scores at least the national average (but the higher the better). You better get yourself some research as well...I mean get something published. The main thing, though, is to get yourself into the best internal medicine residency that you can get into, even if it's in some state where you don't want to live, some place that is dark and cold, etc. What you want is residency at a good university medical center that has a cardiology fellowship. The better known the hospital is for its internal medicine dept. and cardiology division, the better for you. If you can't get into residency at a major university hospital, then go to a good affiliated hospital, or to a community hospital/private hospital that is known for cardiology.
There are a few US IMGs in cardiology. I know of one attending at one of the teaching hospitals where I rotated who went to St George U., and another one went to an Irish med school even though I think he was/is a US citizen.
As an IMG, it would be helpful to have USMLE scores at least the national average (but the higher the better). You better get yourself some research as well...I mean get something published. The main thing, though, is to get yourself into the best internal medicine residency that you can get into, even if it's in some state where you don't want to live, some place that is dark and cold, etc. What you want is residency at a good university medical center that has a cardiology fellowship. The better known the hospital is for its internal medicine dept. and cardiology division, the better for you. If you can't get into residency at a major university hospital, then go to a good affiliated hospital, or to a community hospital/private hospital that is known for cardiology.
There are a few US IMGs in cardiology. I know of one attending at one of the teaching hospitals where I rotated who went to St George U., and another one went to an Irish med school even though I think he was/is a US citizen.
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If you want any constructive advice, wait for Dragonfly99 to respond.
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No, Cleveland Clinic is a horrible place.
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No, considering how few CC cardiology fellows come from their own residency.
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Cleveland Clinic is a pretty good IM residency program, but as mentioned above, they don't keep/take a lot of their own into their cardiology fellowship program, and don't have quite the impressive match list of some of the major university IM programs. However, that doesn't mean they suck...you have to have perspective here. Better to go there than some random community hospital with no cards fellowship? Definitely. Better to go there than U. of Chicago or Brigham and Women's Hospital for residency? No, in terms of getting a fellowship.
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IMGs get cardiology spots. After residency, no one cares where you went to med school regardless if it was HMS or Trinidad & Tobago College of Medicine.
Look up the stats, record # of IMGs got card spots this year. Get some research and LORs, some kick ass USMLE scores to get you into a decent IM prog.
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for my sake, I sure hope so.
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US citizen IMG's and noncitizen FMG's, do get cardiology spots every year. Their acceptance rate is < that of US allopathic grads, but many do get in every year. It's just that only something like 40-something % of those who apply get in. It's hard to compare the relative competitiveness of a US citizen IMG + a US allo grad + a noncitizen FMG who have comparable USMLE scores/research/letters of rec/training background because so many FMG's and IMG's are missing some piece(s) of the "ideal" cardiology application. If you are a US citizen (i.e. don't need a visa) with pretty good board scores and have something published and did train at a university medical center, would think you'd do better than a FMG who needs a visa (some cards programs won't sponsor), trained at a community hospital, doesn't have any publications, etc. If you want something you just have to throw yourself at it, and be smart about it, be ready to apply to a whole bunch of places that you actually might be competitive (i.e. not just assume you can get into Harvard/Hopkins/Duke cardiology) and get ready to try more than 1x if you have to.
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what do you guys think about choosing cardiology as a fellowship? I mean, one must first match into a great IM program in order to have decent chances when they apply for it. Essentially, you have to go through two application processes that are each by themselves highly selective.
My point is, would you think it is wise to go IM and apply for cardiology (it is something that I really want to go into) or apply for a categorical/advanced program in something else interesting (to be on the safe side)?
My point is, would you think it is wise to go IM and apply for cardiology (it is something that I really want to go into) or apply for a categorical/advanced program in something else interesting (to be on the safe side)?
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D'you mean is it a better idea to apply for something like Emergency med and staying there, vs. IM with the hope of getting Cardio in the future?
In that case, it depends on..
how much you want EM vs. Cardio...
could you live with IM if you never landed a Cardio fellowship...
could you live with yourself if you were an EM doc knowing that you
really wanted cardio, and never went for it.
So, its up to you...
I sure dont have an answer... wish I did.
In that case, it depends on..
how much you want EM vs. Cardio...
could you live with IM if you never landed a Cardio fellowship...
could you live with yourself if you were an EM doc knowing that you
really wanted cardio, and never went for it.
So, its up to you...
I sure dont have an answer... wish I did.
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Exactly. I really love the prospect of cardiology, but as interesting as it is, can't envision myself in IM (although it is an integral aspect and required to get there). Several other fields are also interesting to me, but not anywhere near cards (ie urology).
Is applying to a fellowship anything like med school admissions (read: a crapshoot)? One time of this nonsense is too much for me.
Is applying to a fellowship anything like med school admissions (read: a crapshoot)? One time of this nonsense is too much for me.
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Yes.
Urology is crazy competitive, by the way. It's equal to derm.
There are some ER doctors who are more involved in cardiology-like stuff (i.e. those who do research on EMS stuff related to out of hospital cardiac arrest and later survivals, those who are move involved with setting up "chest pain units" that many ER's are setting up to try to better triage all the chest pain patients that come in so they can be safely split up into low risk/intermediate/high risk, etc.). Internists, too. Or there are internists who do a lot of HTN management or work as hospitalists for cardiology groups, etc. However, I think that the risk of not getting a cardiology fellowship does deter some med students from applying to IM, for sure. Also, like you mentioned some people just can't stomach having to go through a competitive match AGAIN after already doing a residency. I can testify that it can be painful.
As far as your comment above about having to be in a really excellent IM program to get a cards fellowship, you really don't....any decent university IM program should do the trick if you are a US grad, though the better the program you can get into, the better your chances of fellowship at one of the better cards programs.
