Increasing Competitiveness of A/I

[anyamelu]

Seeing the upward trend in applicants for allergy and immunology is great that more people are interested in the field! But I'm a little stressed seeing it knowing I will apply next year. It seems more and more people will be applying and next year will just be more competitive. I'm a PGY2 at a mid-sized academic-community IM program. I have 5 publications (1 in process). I will be presenting at ACAAI coming up, and I have applied for the Chrysalis project. I am a US-IMG as well, but no red flags on my application, other than a poor step 1 score that I took during peak COVID.

I know the cycle is different for everyone, but is there anything more experiences I can participate in to increase my chances of matching into a program?
For those who successfully matched, what made your application stand out? How many publications did you have? And if you were from a program that did not have an A/I fellowship, how did you increase your chances of obtaining more interviews? Thank you very much!

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[MHYDE]

It seems like you are doing everything right! Unfortunately in a field this small with so few spots, luck can play a big role, which is why another thing most people tend to do is apply very broadly. I will let other people, maybe more recent fellows (I was 2020-2022) see if they can offer anything more specific.

 

[dozitgetchahi]

Paging @hotsaws

 

[hotsaws]

Research is one of the few modifiable factors you have left at this point, so put as much as you can into that.

Networking is important. A/I is small. You should try to set up away electives at any nearby programs. Even spending two weeks with a program can be really helpful if they like you. It may not displace their top few choices but I bet it will pull you above over half the pile of applicants who they could care less about. There are plenty of good applicants -- most of us would just like to match someone who will be easy to work with since, in our field, you are working with your same attendings all the time.

Agree with the above that applying broadly is a must. Honestly, as competitive as it is, it is foolish not to apply broadly. There aren't really any terrible a/i fellowship programs. There are some that are harder or less friendly, some that focus too much on a particular niche, and some other differences that might stick out to a particular applicant. But, overall, the floor is quite high. It's not like other fellowships that might have some really questionable community programs at the bottom of the pile. Fellowship is two years. Any city with an A/I fellowship is going to be at least a decent sized place. I would have rather lived in any city and gone to any program than have spent a year or more unmatched and working in general IM. Wouldn't you agree @MHYDE that we would have been better off training at a program that has some fellows crying than delaying the whole process 😉?

 

[MHYDE]

Wouldn't you agree @MHYDE that we would have been better off training at a program that has some fellows crying than delaying the whole process 😉?

Considering I ranked them #1 because they were down the street from my house, yes, agreed. Very satisfied I matched elsewhere.

 

[The kitchen sink]

Are there any Allergy/Immunology physicians willing to speak to a non-traditional applicant?

Can provide details and background via PM

Appreciate it 🙂