Is it possible to transfer CAP fellowships

[sirluckyducky]

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I’m happy to communicate more via private message.

 

[comp1]

Can't speak to CAP specifically, but I can definitely say to make absolutely sure you get at least 4 years in somewhere to be board eligible. MUCH better to be somewhere you don't want to be than to have a useless 3 years of training.

 

[Bartelby]

I don't know the answer, but I suspect it could work. You would need to make sure the combination of your first year at your current program plus your second year at the next program would meet all of the ACGME requirements. For example, each program might have put different required experiences into different years which could make it harder to meet the requirements for graduation without special planning.

If your program director is not toxic it might be good to discuss with them. They would need to know eventually and they might be able to offer you some guidance.

And as comp said make absolutely sure that you do not do anything to jeopardize board eligibility in general psychiatry, such as leaving before you complete a full 4 years of training.

 

[Merovinge]

whatever is going on, i suspect you are not alone...cynical take ahead--maybe others can share a different more hopeful outlook...I think a lot of people are not happy with their CAP fellowship. I think for a fair amount, it is something they tolerate to become a child psychiatrist. The program that I fast tracked into on paper seems very solid and 'academic'; however, there was an almost universal feeling of disappointment for those of us who came from outside institutions at my program. The patients, their families, and direct supervision was where the opportunity to learn was; but, the actual didactic was completely absent from the 'academic' place I was at. I've wondered if it has to do with child programs not being held to the same standard as general programs (and thus able to get by providing a sub-standard educational experience as you have already completed most of the requirements during general training). Also wonder if CAP selects in some way for a certain person in search of greener pastures? I suppose since most only get to do one child fellowship, its hard to know.

If the educational environment is part of the issue, I found the AACAP conferences and recordings to offer a huge amount of great learning material, and if you have a local analytic institute (or if you can some classes virtually), this may carry you through. Wonder if you can make it to AACAP conference in October this fall--the regional happy hour sessions would be such an amazing place to meet/network with programs in areas you are interested in transferring to.

As an aside, I've not found the job market for CAP to be better than the adult market. I think it is mostly a myth that Child leads to greater job opportunities at least at present. The issue (outside of private pactice? and academic jobs) is that places (in regions I've looked) tend to give the same amount of follow up/intake times for child vs adult--which makes good child psychiatry increasingly hard to practice. I'd guess that it would be easy to transfer into a great program for PGY-5 as I think it is not uncommon for people to leave after 4 years. Not knowing anything about you, I'd say give it some time to settle in and also keep in mind, that it is quite reasonable to call it a day after you finish year 4.

I think you will want to reassess this post in 5 years and give us an update. I am sure there are subpar CAP programs, but I have the opposite experience where my didactics were as rigorous if not more so than my adult training and the people I know who trained at academic CAP fellowships almost universally found them quite educational/helpful in developing their clinical acumen. Many people who go to reasonable programs stay on to do fellowship at their home institution so it would be pretty hard to argue those folks are selecting for greener pastures. Academic CAP doctors are a special breed of amazing people (for the most part) that have a passion for taking care of kids and teaching the next generation of people to care for kids whilst simultaneously being paid in peanuts. One of the best parts of CAP is being around people who also wanted to be CAP (which sounds weird to say, but is absolutely been my experience).

As far as work is concerned, if you are looking at big box shop spots there certainly are issues where you might run into similar or even lower pay given the work involved in CAP. That said, a HUGE portion of the field is private practice and the cash pay opportunities are markedly different in my geography for CAP versus adult psych. Doing 2x 99214 w/ 90833 per hour is enough time for good patient care and very good reimbursement for folks who take insurance. There are also many jobs that you would simply be ineligible for without CAP such as IP units, RTCs, PHP/IOPs that do child/adolescent work. They may not pay more than the adult counterparts, but it provides more options/opportunities.

 

[phonyreal98]

Yes it is possible.