Internships/ Residencies 2021-2022

[Angelo84]

Hi all,
The VIRMP application is open! Not sure if lots of people are considering internships/residencies vs going straight into practice but wanted to start this thread. I know that the program lists in VIRMP can be overwhelming.

I am a internship trained ER doctor at a 24/7 Emergency Hospital in Cape Cod Massachusetts. We have had a successful ECC residency program for years and have done a few outside the match internships in the last few years with interns going on to residencies of their choosing. We are offering a ECC residency as we have in prior years but just added the ECC internship as an official through the match program this year. Internship is open to all including new grads, foreign grads, residency requires a one year rotating internship first.

More info available here:

VIRMP

I am happy to discuss my experiences with anyone if they want to chat

I apologize if there was a thread this would have been better to post in versus starting a separate thread but I couldnt find it.

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[HappyToro]

What are the pros and cons of doing an internship vs going into practice right away after graduation? To the original poster above, what made you decide on the former?

 

[SkiOtter]

What are the pros and cons of doing an internship vs going into practice right away after graduation? To the original poster above, what made you decide on the former?

Cons: internships pay you like $4 and going straight into practice pays you a real salary

 

[VIN-Foundation]

Good reasons to do a rotating internship:
1. You are considering a residency. Most residences require a rotating internship. Also, doing an internship often helps you decide if you really want a residency and decide on a speciality.

2. You want more mentored clinical experience.

Bad reasons to do an internship:
1. Make a lot of money. The average salary for DVMs that completed a rotating internship is not statistically different compared to DVMs with a year of general practice experience. However, the average salary for many specialties is higher than GPs and as noted above, you usually need a rotating internship in order to get a residency.

2. You are not ready for a real job. An internship is a real job. You are a real doctor, treating real patients with real diseases owned by real clients. The hours are on average much higher than in general practice. If you are not ready for a real job, you are not ready for an internship.

see:
Shephered et al. 2012. Veterinary internship survey. JAVMA
Jasper et al. 2009. Impact of internship on veterinarian salaries, 2009. JAVMA

 

[Angelo84]

What are the pros and cons of doing an internship vs going into practice right away after graduation? To the original poster above, what made you decide on the former?

I chose to do an internship because I was debating doing a residency. At the time I was debating between internal medicine and ECC. I quickly realized that I didn’t want to do IM and still love ECC. In the end I chose not to go forward with a ECC residency as I could do what I like (ECC receiving) without doing so and I have no interest in managing a ECC as a criticalist/medical director.

I personally feel that doing a internship gave me time to solidify my career interests while letting me see a large volume of sick cases that I would not have seen in a year of general practice. If you know you want to do GP a internship should make you more confident in dealing with those sick cases. It will likely not help with some of the bread and butter of general practice—long term case management and preventative care , depending on the internship surgical time may be limited.

cons: pay is not what you would make in practice. Schedule is worse than a GP position. Find out what the schedule/ oversight and expectations of the job are so there are no surprises.

Ie. How much of the year is nights? Do you have someone else on with you at all times? Some times? Is this another intern? A associate? If you are alone do you have phone backup for questions?

A good internship teaches you to make your own decisions while having the option to call for help and specifically looked for internships that had substantial primary receiving ( Ie you are the doctor on the case start to finish) and some time that I was alone in the hospital. I did not want another fourth year.