graduating in the last week of June - any chance for residency???

[USAFblue]

---

Members do not see this ad.

Hello,

I am a last-year med student in a European school, and also a USAF spouse (husband stationed in Europe). My school has a very late graduation date - June 24th, 2010: 6 days before July 1st... ECFMG has actually advised me against applying for the 2010 Match as I would not be eligible to start residency on July 1st 2010 (apparently would be removed from the Match). So I didn't apply... Smart? Probably not... I start doubting that advice from ECFMG... But it's a fact that I could not start on July 1st... Graduation + ECFMG paperwork + moving to USA (all that) in 6 days = mission impossible...

Now, I would really love to start my residency in 2010 but I am not sure if I can approach any programs (in general surgery)... Anyone has any advice for me? Should I just email all the surgery programs in USA?

Anyone a word of wisdom?

Thanks a lot!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[FutureDocDO]

If you haven't started your ERAS application. It's too late.

 

[USAFblue]

Let me ask it in a different way. When it comes to the preliminary positions in surgery - e.g. after the Match in 2009 there were 473 prelim surgery PGY-1 positions unfilled - what happens with those? Is it impossible to apply for those?

 

[smq123]

Let me ask it in a different way. When it comes to the preliminary positions in surgery - e.g. after the Match in 2009 there were 473 prelim surgery PGY-1 positions unfilled - what happens with those? Is it impossible to apply for those?

Well, if you haven't applied for ERAS/NRMP, then you probably won't have access to the list of open prelim positions until after the scramble is over.

I'm not sure if a prelim surgery position is THAT great of an option, either, for a variety of reasons.

Finally, even if you DO get a prelim surgery position, be aware that July 1st is the first official day of WORK for most places. The majority of programs actually require you to be there by early-mid June, for the mandatory intern orientation. It is even more important for you to be at orientation if you haven't done a lot of clinical medicine in the US before.

For instance, for me, my first official work date was July 1st - i.e., that was the first day that I got paid. However, I was required to be at the hospital on June 15th, for a mandatory 3-4 day long orientation, with ACLS added on for an additional 2 days. For you, your orientation for a surgery program may be even longer. They may also want you to be ATLS certified before you start.

There are also a lot of issues with licensing, credentialing, etc., so being overseas until the end of June may present a lot of problems, even if you do manage to get a prelim spot.

 

[Winged Scapula]

Despite the very good list of technical difficulties listed above, there is the special level of hell called Preliminary Surgery.

This is a LAST resort for someone trying to get into Surgery. There is no guarantee that you will be offered a Categorical position the following year, its a year long interview, you may not be able to get off adequate time to interview and you will be seen as "used goods" who couldn't get a Categorical spot (even if you didn't try for one).

If you have no USCE, consider delaying your graduation for a few months to get yourself over here for some rotations; if you graduate by December and can do your rotations here in the states between October and January, you'd be here for interviews, get some USCE and still graduate in time to get your ECFMG certificate.

ALso bear in mind that some programs will not interview or match anyone without the ECFMG certificate. Prelim programs are probably not as picky.

But if you are competitive enough for GS, why would you accept a Prelim position and spend a year working harder than anyone else potentially without anything to show for it.

 

[USAFblue]

Thank you for your comments! I appreciate them a lot!

 

[dragonfly99]

I think that Winged Scapula is right, based on my experience with a friend who did prelim general surgery. Those interns tend to get used to do a lot of hard work, and often don't get asked to stay on to finish their upper level training. I think it will be better for you not to rush things, and to have all your ducks in a row, particularly if you want general surgery. Are you a US citizen or permanent resident? If not, then getting a surgical residency will be harder, in my opinion. Going to a non US school generally makes it harder, too, although I think European schools will be looked at differently than Caribbean schools (perhaps).

It doesn't seem that you could possibly even get over here in time for intern orientation...even at hospitals that start later, it would generally be at least a week before July 1st that they would want you there.

 

[bunbury]

I faced a similar problem when graduating from my European med school. My graduation date was also June 24th, but I had to be at residency orientation on June 23. Despite this, I was able to start nearly on time.

Because our med school exams were actually completed by the end of May, several of us petitioned the medical school to give us our degrees early. I was able to obtain my degree around June 1, which gave me several weeks to get ECFMG certification. However, I missed my medical school graduation, which I was pretty bummed about.

I got my ECFMG certificate the first week of July, which meant that I was able to attend the orientation but had to start residency a few days late. This was not really a big problem with my program, especially since I started intern year with a fairly easy elective.

Another option is to graduate and complete an internship in Europe and apply for residency next year.

 

[USAFblue]

Because our med school exams were actually completed by the end of May, several of us petitioned the medical school to give us our degrees early. I was able to obtain my degree around June 1, which gave me several weeks to get ECFMG certification

Thanks for the idea, but unfortunately it's out of question at my school.

 

[USAFblue]

Are you a US citizen or permanent resident?

A U.S. citizen which fortunately eliminates all the VISA-related headaches!

 

[Buzz Me]

Just a quick piece of constructive criticism:

If you're interested in going into General Surgery, you need to learn to be very decisive - often making quick, tough decisions with limited time/background knowledge. I use that analogy simply to illustrate that you painted yourself into a tough corner here: you were considering applying, but on the advice of ECFMG you decided not to bother since July 1st would have been too difficult a deadline for you. But then you went against that advice anyway and then are now considering applying even though it's too late.

So I would have either decided NOT to apply initially, and gotten my year-off backup plan in action (USCE, as stated earlier by WS, are essential; research or US LOR can also help)...or confirmed when I'd be available to move to the US for residency and then applied as early as possible. By waiting until December before potentially applying, you've ensured that matching this year will be near-impossible.