importance of fellowship placement

[bkflaneur]

So, going through this residency application process, a lot of the discussion on residency program A vs B centers on fellowship placement. I was curious to know more about how fellowship A vs B affects life post-fellowship. Obviously MGH opens more doors than Main Street Community Healthcare. But what about for people who aren't planning a career in academic medicine? Does the prestige and reputation of the fellowship program have a big impact on job placement in private practice? Any other big considerations? Beyond residency in IM, I'm undecided about ultimate career goals - interested in fellowship, but undecided. Looking at residency programs, some of my favorites haven't always been the places with the most impressive fellowship list. Happiness in residency is more important to me than the prestige of the match list - but I'm still curious to know more about how fellowship placement impacts future choices. Word.

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[lemonade02]

well if u want to do cards or gi, u need to go to a big place to give yourself a decent shot at matching..it's that simple...if you're not going into academics and your dream program has good placement into primary care jobs or specific fellowship fields other than cards/gi/hemeonc you are interested in, by all means rank that higher than mgh......thereafter, prestige only matters when patients are looking up where you did your schooling on your private practice website..u can decide for yourself what to value that

 

[bigtuna]

Your "pedigree" does have some importance even if going into private practice.

In today's world, there are really two types of job opportunites for medicine subspecialists. You are typically either joining an existing group or starting a practice in a "relatively" undesirable area. Existing groups in very desirable areas can afford to be selective when making hiring decisions. The practice that I ended up joining has been advertising for over a year but has only interviewed 3 or 4 people.

The criteria that private practice groups use can be different though. Some of the academic powerhouse fellowship programs dont have the best reputation for clinical training.

I'm not saying that you will have a hard time finding a place to practice coming out of any old fellowship program - but don't think the premier private practice group in the middle of san fran or NY is going to be begging you to join them.