M3 DO/PhD here — help me strategize heme/Onc fellowship

[Internist_Sandman]

I’m a DO/PhD at a top DO school on 3rd year clerkships. Targeting IM for residency.

My stats: USMLE 238, COMLEX 626 (76%)
My research: NIH F30 scholar, 37 publications (including JAMA, JAMA Onc, Annals of Onc first author).

I am choosing between staying at my home institution with very strong research and clinical mentors/training in place and leaving for another institution. My home institution does not have a heme/onc fellowship and no heme/Onc service in the hospital. Only heme/Onc rotation is local, but offsite.

Would staying at my home institution significantly impact fellowship opportunities? I’m not sure what is important to fellowship programs, and how much residency training with heme/Onc exposure matters. I am not holding out for a Top 10 program, but would want a respectable heme/Onc fellowship.

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[gutonc]

You should aim as high as you can. Your research is above par (or below par if we're golfing...hell, you've Eagled every hole if that's the metaphor we're using) and your Step 1, while not phenomenal, will not hold you back given your research.

You will have a number of places reject you out of hand for being a DO. But you will have plenty of other "Top X" programs that will look at you, especially if your Step 2CK is better than the Step 1.

Good luck.

 

[IM_applicant]

I would not stay at your home institution based on your description. The reputation of the residency you go to matters a lot. With your publications, you could land a spot in a very good residency program because you would be an amazing fellowship candidate with those research achievements. Good luck