Need advice

[Residentcool]

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[Consigliere]

My advice is to NOT switch into anesthesia.

 

[Residentcool]

My advice is to NOT switch into anesthesia.

Lol, I was sure someone would say that. But seriously-I do want to switch! Can you give me some suggestions on how to address what I mentioned above?

 

[WholeLottaGame7]

Lol, I was sure someone would say that. But seriously-I do want to switch! Can you give me some suggestions on how to address what I mentioned above?

I think not having an anesthesia letter is a drawback just in that it shows you don't have a ton of anesthesia experience, so it might be tough to show your commitment to the field. If you have any elective time left, I'd try to do an anesthesia rotation. Otherwise, you just have to make do the best you can.

It's getting a little late in the process. You might have to try to make the switch after PGY2 year at this point. At least that would give you some more time to get some anesthesia experience in.

Best of luck.

 

[Residentcool]

I think not having an anesthesia letter is a drawback just in that it shows you don't have a ton of anesthesia experience, so it might be tough to show your commitment to the field. If you have any elective time left, I'd try to do an anesthesia rotation. Otherwise, you just have to make do the best you can.

It's getting a little late in the process. You might have to try to make the switch after PGY2 year at this point. At least that would give you some more time to get some anesthesia experience in.

Best of luck.

Well I have not yet started PGY-2, but I am not able to get in an anesthesia elective. I did anesthesia back in med school, CT surgery, OB, etc. Would having a letter from an attending I did a rotation with in the past help?

 

[mysticfolken]

While having anesthesia letters might help, I think if you apply from another specialty, the most important aspect is having letter(s) from your program chair/PD that reflect you work ethic, attitude, etc. as a resident. Having recently gone thru the application, very few programs actually have a requirement of 1 anesthesia letter (and the ones I did said minimum of 1). This is in contrast to the competitive surgical specialties, where ALL of your letters should be ortho/urology/ENT, and so on.

I think that many anesthesia PDs/chairs get applicants from other fields. I remember one of them asking, "What made you see the light?" (I was doing a surg prelim).

Keep in mind, though, as WholeLottaGame mentioned, you'll still have to come up with a reason explaining your new-found commitment to anesthesia.

Good luck.

 

[Residentcool]

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[Noegrus]

I would doubt if letters matter that much. If you are in a specialty that is even remotely related to gas (IM, GS, any surgical specialty) then you should be good to go. Talk to the gas PD at your home institution. The ONLY question you'd need to answer is: Will you be happy doing anesthesiology for the rest of you life or will you be a miserable anesthesiologist who desperately wants to be on the other side of the blood brain barrier. Pretty much all of the anesthesia aspirants have no idea what the job really entails, everyone gets the shock of their life in the first month of CA1. Therefore, it makes little difference if you have letters or not. For urology I am sure that a letter saying, 'this guy really has an aptitude for hairy balls and would love to look at them every day for the rest of his life' matter a lot, because that is what they are gonna do. For gas, this matters far less.