just entering residency and need some advice

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Hi everyone,
I am entering my first year in an internal medicine program and I start in July. Cardiology is something I am very interested in and I do hope to get into this field one day. Reading around the forum, i feel that the people you know, the residency program attended, the research you have done are the most important factors in getting into a decent program.

I was wondering, for all of you who have successfully matched to a cardio process, or for those going through the process, are there things that you which you knew before you started residency? Any words of wisdom before i start the process? (Specifically related to getting into cardio).

I talked to someone who just matched into cardio, and they said that I have a lot of time to decide and I should explore a number of field. but that seems like bs to me. If a person wants a competitive program like card, it seems like I'd have to gun for it from the beginning. Any thoughts/advice?

Much appreciated!

 

[dragonfly99]

Yes, I agree with you.
That advice is BS from a "getting in" standpoint, though it isn't BS from a "making sure you'll be happy w/your future life" standpoint.
If you're pretty sure you want cards, IMHO the most important thing you can do is start kissing up and talking to cardiology faculty from day one. This is how you get a research project and LOR's from them, which is what you want/need. Also, you should make nice with your medicine PD because he is the one who writes one of your LOR's when you apply.

 

[drdavemd]

Ditto Dragonfly.

1. Make sure Cards is what you want, more than plenty of people I know changed their minds after 1st and 2nd Medicine years and for that matter, regret the fellowships they chose, so first and foremost is to figure out what you want (to the best of your ability).

2. Number 1 said, getting into Cards and learning about research, faculty, and fellows at your program will not only help you learn about how to match, but help you figure out if it is what you want to do.

3. Be "well rounded": There is a reason this advice goes back to kindergarten. Get out there and do stuff, get involved with research. The skills to conduct research are transferable even if the research topic is not necessarily. Granted, if you were to solve the problem of in-stent restenosis, I'd imagine you could write your ticket to any fellowship you want, but be realistic in your goals.

Clearly there are a lot of details to work out through matching in a fellowship, but if you focus on a good base of being a good doctor, playing well with others (ie: get invited to participate in research and scholarly activity and also can get important people to vouch for you in letters and calls), and being learning oriented (ie: studying and doing research). You will be in a much better position to get the fellowship you want in the field you want than if you start a checklist now of "all the things I must do to Match in Cards". And I'd bet you will be happier too.

 

[internal]

thanks everyone. just a quick question. Were all of you interested in cards from the beginning or come to like it after a ccu/cardio rotation?

I have an interest in cards, but i do want to try out one or two other fields (namely med onc and hematology). should I start the cards research + trying to make connections from the beginning of residency, or should i wait until i have rotated through all of these specialties (which will happen by the end of my first year)?

Thank you!

 

[dragonfly99]

I would start ASAP.
You can always change to hem/onc later if you decide you like that better...research, even in an unrelated field, can be somewhat helpful to a fellowship application anyway. Hem/onc is fairly competitive, but not like cards or GI...even without research you'd be almost 100% likely to match somewhere if you apply intelligently (i.e. not only ivy league hospitals and california, etc.).

 

[panipuri]

i am in same boat as the guy who raised this question

can anyone tell me good books like handbooks or anything to buy for cardiiology elective or research elective during my residency ?
i am goin to start my residency next week

 

[astropilot]

When I came to residency, I wanted to do Heme/Onc. I didn't change my mind till March of my intern year. I didn't get into a lab until Sept, but it was my dept chair's lab who is well known. I guess I am a special case, because I was selected chief resident (extra year), so I worked a year in the lab, when I had time from wards, before applying. I also have pretty extensive background in BS research, though only have a few publications in Pituitary cancers.

I got in on weak board scores, strong research interest, being chief resident, having strong letters from at least one well known person, and just simply by the grace of God. My scores did keep me from some big name schools during the interviews, but I am very happy where I'll be next year.

Start early and work hard, it is easier to switch from cardiology to something else (except GI).

As for books, I liked the Washington Sub-specialty manuals to start. You need something that refers to the major articles and gives you the big picture. But if your really serious, you need to start pulling the original articles and read them; talk with you staff about why it was a good or bad study, and how it effects their daily practice. That's what they do. You need to mold yourself into a young cardiologists so they look at you like you are one of us.

With that and coffee for the attending every now and then, might get you in.

 

[panipuri]

i have one more question
if i dont apply or dont match during second year for cardiology fellowship
and if i apply in 3rd year..and if i match..do i start my fellowship as soon as i complete third year or i have to wait for one more year after completion of residency..
fellowship match runs 2 years ahead right?

 

[astropilot]

You have to wait a year.

 

[bonran]

I started off looking for cards in my PGY-1 year. Having seen what they were doing in the angio suite & some of the practice (read mal-practice) to get almost everyone on the cath table for the smallest reason, it really put me off Cardiology. I then thought of Pulm CC eventually switiching to Neurology after my second year. I trained at one of the best places for general neuro & am now going to one of the top fellowships in the country for Cerebrovascular Diseases & Interventional Neurology. I have my Interventional & Vascular Radiology fellowship lined up for the year after that.........wow, what a turn around. Very satisfied with how things turned out.

 

[drdavemd]

I started off looking for cards in my PGY-1 year. Having seen what they were doing in the angio suite & some of the practice (read mal-practice) to get almost everyone on the cath table for the smallest reason, it really put me off Cardiology. I then thought of Pulm CC eventually switiching to Neurology after my second year. I trained at one of the best places for general neuro & am now going to one of the top fellowships in the country for Cerebrovascular Diseases & Interventional Neurology. I have my Interventional & Vascular Radiology fellowship lined up for the year after that.........wow, what a turn around. Very satisfied with how things turned out.

In my experience there are (unfortunately) individual physicians in every specialty in every field who practice in grey areas or outrightly inappropriate for a number of reasons (self-serving and otherwise). I am happy to report that in my experience, people use cardiac catheterization as an important tool in the diagnosis and management of CAD, and when other noninvasive tests (or just adjusting medications) will suffice, that those are the preferred options.