How bad is it to take a gap year before starting peds ER fellowship?

[Applefrog]

Pgy2 for peds. Interesting in peds ER. Dont want to incur debt with application to peds ER fellowship so thought it was better to apply at the end of my pgy3 then, while working, go to my interviews. I would seek a job at an ER'S urgent care.

Will this make it very difficult to get into Peds ER fellowship?

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[DeadCactus]

No one can say for sure but most likely it will be net neutral with most people not caring, a few people viewing it positively, and a few viewing it negatively. Given the pay difference between general pediatrics and pediatric EM, you're probably giving up tens of thousands of dollar to avoid whatever debt applying would cause you. Poor decision in my opinion. It would be a different story if you were going into peds ID or adolescent medicine...

 

[SurfingDoctor]

Pgy2 for peds. Interesting in peds ER. Dont want to incur debt with application to peds ER fellowship so thought it was better to apply at the end of my pgy3 then, while working, go to my interviews. I would seek a job at an ER'S urgent care.

Will this make it very difficult to get into Peds ER fellowship?

I don't think it will matter as far as your application. We have critical care fellow applicants who have taken a gap year to work as a hospitalist. Financially it doesn't make much sense because a hospitalist is going to make less than a critical care or emergency medicine physician so your net income over time will be lower, though not very significantly. Usually the people who do a gap year take that time because they don't realize what they want to practice till 3 year.

 

[ssttrrbbk]

Pgy2 for peds. Interesting in peds ER. Dont want to incur debt with application to peds ER fellowship so thought it was better to apply at the end of my pgy3 then, while working, go to my interviews. I would seek a job at an ER'S urgent care.

Will this make it very difficult to get into Peds ER fellowship?

I think that you are losing more money in the long run with this option.

Try to interview frugally and keep the receipts for tax reasons and document them as job search expenses.

 

[Step Up]

Your reasoning doesn't make sense. If you keep yourself on a budget, you can be frugal with your car/train/flight and hotel spending. Interview season costs shouldn't run more than 1-2k. Clearly your residency program must not have in-program moonlighting opportunities, which is an easy way for residents to pay for interviews. Or does it? Keep in mind that ER fellowship is ripe for moonlighting opportunities during your days off, so your income can go up sooner than you expect. This small amount of money really shouldn't lead you to not apply for fellowship if that's what you want.