In-house fellowships

[blepharite]

If you know what specialty you are interested in, wouldn't it be better to shine in a less competitive residency program that offers this fellowship (e.g. cards), vs. compete with elite residents at a highly ranked program for the in-house spots? Is this strategy commonly employed, or is it a risk to your career?

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[ucla2usc]

If you know what specialty you are interested in, wouldn't it be better to shine in a less competitive residency program that offers this fellowship (e.g. cards), vs. compete with elite residents at a highly ranked program for the in-house spots? Is this strategy commonly employed, or is it a risk to your career?

There is not garantee you will shine at a "lesser" program. There are politics involved in getting in-house spots, so even if you do shine, you may be out of luck. The best way to garantee a spot in a competitive fellowship is to go to the best medicine residency you can get into that has an excellent track record in placing fellows...at the top 15-20 programs in the nation, virtually everyone can get the fellowship of their choice if they are flexible with location and going to less than another top ranked program.

Also, residency competition is very different than medical school competition...what's good in one is not necessarily good in the other. Taking tests well and answering all the pimping questions right does you no good in residency but very well in medical school. At top programs, everyone is good and recognized as so, they don't weed people at at that level