Matched into very low tier program, advice on future job prospects?

[hemeonc99]

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[Slowdive]

The impact of this will be significant. Specifically, graduating from a low tier community program will make you significantly more prepared to practice hematology and medical oncology in a private setting, compared to training you would have received at a top tier academic center. I would advise you to be judicious about whom you give your phone number to in your 2nd and 3rd years of fellowship, because you will be hounded by recruiters trying to offer you jobs paying 400-600k.

 

[HemeOncHopeful19]

“Low tier community” doesn’t automatically mean poor quality of clinical training IMO, but every program is different.

Work your butt off and study a lot and you should be fine unless your program is a true dumpsterfire.

 

[Ubba]

The impact of this will be significant. Specifically, graduating from a low tier community program will make you significantly more prepared to practice hematology and medical oncology in a private setting, compared to training you would have received at a top tier academic center. I would advise you to be judicious about whom you give your phone number to in your 2nd and 3rd years of fellowship, because you will be hounded by recruiters trying to offer you jobs paying 400-600k.

Bolded emphasis added - is this actually true? And how much do PPs care about pedigree (assuming you're not in some snooty area like Cambridge, MA or LA)?

 

[MD46]

Bolded emphasis added - is this actually true? And how much do PPs care about pedigree (assuming you're not in some snooty area like Cambridge, MA or LA)?

Private practices for the most part dont care in my experience. They would rather get you early and try to mold you according to their own philosophies.

To OP:

As long as there is good clinical exposure, pathology and autonomy at your program you are all set for private, employed, hybrid setting

Only thing you might not get is a tenure track research heavy academic job with expectations to publish and get grants.

BMT: if you have a BMT then rotation there more frequently can give you experience and confidence to land a BMT job.
If you dont, then you can do away rotations to get a feel for it. If you like it do a 1yr fellowship which should prepare you well for it.

Best of luck

 

[Legend of Link]

How does one find these "low tier" program? Are they easier to match?

 

[Legend of Link]

Essentially any training program at a community hospital without a lot of academic productivity.

"Low tier" = exclude all NCCN-member/NCI-designated institutions, and all tertiary referral university hospitals

e.g. New York City = MSKCC, Columbia, NYU, Mount Sinai, Cornell, Montefiore are all mid-high tier. Any other program in NYC = "low tier"

Community programs tend to work their fellows harder; more calls, more weekends, busier consults, busier clinics. This is not a negative per se but can be a drain. They also tend to expect less research from applicants and fellows, whether this is a negative or a positive depends on your career goals.

Thank you!
Honestly I don't mind training harder if it means better learning. Since goal is to practice in community, I think these programs would be a 'better fit' since I'm not really that competitive compared to other applicants that have an MD/PhD and coming from big name programs

 

[osprey099]

Thank you!
Honestly I don't mind training harder if it means better learning. Since goal is to practice in community, I think these programs would be a 'better fit' since I'm not really that competitive compared to other applicants that have an MD/PhD and coming from big name programs

I think if you have multiple interviews, I would rank the NCI-designated and CCC's ahead of community programs. Going to a community program is fine if you wanna do community oncology but graduating from a NCI/CCC program gets you name-brand recognition, which may or may not be important for private practices as patients can oftentimes see where you trained and went to med school etc.

 

[gutonc]

I think if you have multiple interviews, I would rank the NCI-designated and CCC's ahead of community programs. Going to a community program is fine if you wanna do community oncology but graduating from a NCI/CCC program gets you name-brand recognition, which may or may not be important for private practices as patients can oftentimes see where you trained and went to med school etc.

You should always train at the best program, for you.

But when it comes to what people are looking for in community jobs when hiring:
1. Willing to work hard
2. Mostly not being a total d-bag (this one is negotiable)
3. That you completed fellowship
4. Where you completed fellowship