Is it worth me applying for an Anesthesiology residency?

[Charles_Darwin]

Hi all,

I'm currently a third-year dental student with a mediocre GPA (3.0) but an excellent resume and EC's. I spoke to an upperclassman who got into an Anesth. residency and he recommended being in the top 10 of the class. Obviously I'm not. I intended to spend this spring break doing an externship, but the quarantine also messed up those plans. Should I bother applying for the residency, or should I do private practice first?

Thanks all

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[Big Time Hoosier]

mediocre GPA (3.0)

What class rank does that translate into?

should I do private practice first?

I’m not sure if DA is one of those specialties where practice experience is a plus. A GPR with some heavy hospital time would probably be more weighty. Just a thought.

Big Hoss

 

[Charles_Darwin]

What class rank does that translate into?



I’m not sure if DA is one of those specialties where practice experience is a plus. A GPR with some heavy hospital time would probably be more weighty. Just a thought.

Big Hoss

I haven't checked my class rank but I'm guessing it's probably in the middle. Good point about the GPR though!

 

[AONLINE]

I haven't checked my class rank but I'm guessing it's probably in the middle.

You should double check on that. At my school a GPA of 2.9-3.0 translates to bottom 10% and you need 3.5 or above to be in top 50%.

 

[navirpid]

The last few years anesthesiology has become a lot more competitive than it used to be. Grades/rank is important. Externships and interview are also very important...if the program likes you on a personal basis they will be more likely to rank you because it is very important all the residents get along with each other.
Do as many externships as possible, it shows commitment, looks great on your CV, and will give both you and them a sense of each other.
If you don't match, my first recommendation would be the one year anesthesia "fellowship" (dumb name, it's really an internship) at Indiana. If you did that you would become a very strong applicant next time around. If you for some reason didn't want to do that, GPR is probably the next best thing. I don't think work experience helps or hurts you getting into anesthesia (they don't care about that). Indiana internship or GPR would look significantly better than work experience; either of those would also greatly benefit you if you decided to practice as a gp instead of going to residency.

 

[navirpid]

Hospital based GPR. Not a dental school based AEGD

 

[navirpid]

This was posted on SDN earlier this month:
"HI A one year Dental Anesthesia Fellowship position in Indianapolis, Indiana. You must be able to obtain your full Indiana dental license. The position is full time Monday thru Friday. No call, no evenings and no weekends !! It is a fun atmosphere and you will receive intensive training in airway management, intravenous access, pharmacology and cardiovascular physiology and more. The yearly salary is $57,174.00. You will also receive 3 weeks paid vacation and health benefits if needed. This program is a powerful curriculum vitae builder!! For more information please call Anita at 317 880 5385 or e-mail [email protected]."

 

[Big Time Hoosier]

The last few years anesthesiology has become a lot more competitive than it used to be.

Especially since there were few programs to begin with and a couple shut down.

Big Hoss

 

[navirpid]

Especially since there were few programs to begin with and a couple shut down.

Big Hoss

Yea, years ago two Cali programs closed. Last year Chicago opened a program though. And I think it is highly likely a program or two in California will open soon. With dental anesthesiology gaining traction in our profession, and with specialty status, it's my opinion these residencies are going to continue to be competitive.

 

[Sublimazing]

Hi all,

I'm currently a third-year dental student with a mediocre GPA (3.0) but an excellent resume and EC's. I spoke to an upperclassman who got into an Anesth. residency and he recommended being in the top 10 of the class. Obviously I'm not. I intended to spend this spring break doing an externship, but the quarantine also messed up those plans. Should I bother applying for the residency, or should I do private practice first?

Thanks all

The places that I applied to all told me my GPR experience put me in the head of the pack. To clarify though, my GPR was hospital based and allowed us probably 6 months of “electives”. I was able to do at least 3 months of anesthesia and a month or two of “medicine”. But any hospital GPR should allow you the opportunity to spend quite a bit of time with anesthesia.

I also did “externships” at 2-3 programs which was very helpful at those programs and overall to my application. They don’t get a lot of externs so it makes you stand out from the pack.

I also shadowed the 2 Dental Anesthesiologists in my city and asked both of them for LoR, and they both made phone calls for me (which is huge in such a small profession).

While I have no personal experience with it, that Indiana Anesthesiology “fellowship” would be hands down the best thing on an application CV.

Also, there aren’t many programs...you can reach out to every program director by email and tell them your stats and what they suggest. Ask about externing at that time as well. I would also contact some local DAs (after Covid) and ask if you can come follow them for a few days. This will help you understand how DAs actually practice...I find that very very few people know what the training is like or what private practice entails.

 

[navirpid]

The places that I applied to all told me my GPR experience put me in the head of the pack. To clarify though, my GPR was hospital based and allowed us probably 6 months of “electives”. I was able to do at least 3 months of anesthesia and a month or two of “medicine”. But any hospital GPR should allow you the opportunity to spend quite a bit of time with anesthesia.

I also did “externships” at 2-3 programs which was very helpful at those programs and overall to my application. They don’t get a lot of externs so it makes you stand out from the pack.

I also shadowed the 2 Dental Anesthesiologists in my city and asked both of them for LoR, and they both made phone calls for me (which is huge in such a small profession).

While I have no personal experience with it, that Indiana Anesthesiology “fellowship” would be hands down the best thing on an application CV.

Also, there aren’t many programs...you can reach out to every program director by email and tell them your stats and what they suggest. Ask about externing at that time as well. I would also contact some local DAs (after Covid) and ask if you can come follow them for a few days. This will help you understand how DAs actually practice...I find that very very few people know what the training is like or what private practice entails.

I couldn't agree more. All great points. If you did that Indiana fellowship, regardless of your class rank, it would be near impossible for programs to not rank you highly. You would have 12 months of real anesthesia experience that no one else has.
Also, I can't emphasize enough how important doing externships is. Do as many as you can. You will learn a ton about what anesthesia really is, what residency is actually like, which programs you like and don't like (cause they are all actually quite different), and programs will get to know you. It makes it much easier for programs to rank you if they know you more than just a 15 minute interview.
Shadowing practicing DAs is also a great idea because it will give you a sense of what we do out in practice post-residency.

 

[Charles_Darwin]

Thanks everyone! I'm going to contact Indiana about the fellowship and look into doing some externships once the COVID situation is over. I appreciate the feedback