NYCOM FELLOWSHIPS?

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Hello, everyone:

I have a question of great concern to me regarding the NYCOM Fellowships available to 3rd/4th/and extended 5th year students at the school. The questions below are primarily for current NYCOM students (preferably 2nd year and above).

How competitive is it to be accepted into one of the three Fellowships? (The three: Neuroscience/Histology, Anatomy, or OMM).

How helpful would it be to complete one of the Fellowships due to the additional Fellowship Certificate added to the Fellow's file when applying to Residencies and Internships? Is the added Research offered during the Fellowship helpful when applying for competitive specialty Residencies, i.e., Surgery, Radiology, etc.?

Is the "pardoned" 2nd and 3rd year tuition (amounting to approx $51,000 total) a considerable enough reason to pursue one of the fellowships?

Do you have any idea of how many 2nd year students apply for any particular Fellowship per year?

How demanding are these Fellowships--work hours? work load? required to give presentations?

I'd appreciate any information you can give me regarding this matter. I'm really searching for ANONYMOUS, HONEST information about the Fellowship programs.

Thank you.

 

[Stillfocused]

In addition to foregiving 2 years tuition, do they pay a cost of living stipend for the fellowship year??

If so, you are talking around $65,000 for year.

However, in the long run, this year eats up a year of practice and make at least $115,000 to starting.

Unless the 5th year program really improves one's chances of securing a kick ass residency, wouldn't doing a post residency specialty fellowiship make more sense for most people???

Even if you are intersted OMT/OPP aren't there one year post-residency fellowsihps available for FP and IM docs? Maybe at KCOM or UNECOM, I am not sure?

 

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•••quote:•••Originally posted by Stillfocused:
•In addition to foregiving 2 years tuition, do they pay a cost of living stipend for the fellowship year??

However, in the long run, this year eats up a year of practice and make at least $115,000 to starting.

Unless the 5th year program really improves one's chances of securing a kick ass residency, wouldn't doing a post residency specialty fellowiship make more sense for most people???

Even if you are intersted OMT/OPP aren't there one year post-residency fellowsihps available for FP and IM docs? Maybe at KCOM or UNECOM, I am not sure?•••••The Fellowship programs at NYCOM extend into a 5th year of Medical School, so it would prevent from earning a full salary for one year's delay.

I think a more significant factor, however, is Matching into a better-quality Residency (or a more competitive Residency for some people) rather than applying for employment as soon as possible.

I'm really not sure about how well the Fellows that graduate from NYCOM do in the Allo. or Osteo. Residency match. Hopefully someone can answer that for us.

Whereas there may be OMM Fellowships available to Osteo. Medical Residents, the "Teaching" Fellowships offered during the 3rd/4th/5th years of Medical School offer a unique opportunity to work with students, learn from many experienced members of the entire OMM Faculty, and of course the waived 3rd/4th/5th year tuition fees.

Thanks for your interest.

(I'm personally not considering an OMM Fellowship, by the way).

 

[pags]

Im a 4th year and I considered doing an anatomy fellowship during my second year. However, due to the mass exodus of several outstanding anatomy faculty, I decided that it wouldn't be as much fun when they left. You do lose a year of attending income earnings, but most of us are young, so that didn't much matter to me.

I believe only the 3rd, 4th and 5th year tuition is paid for, nothing else.

Does it help to obtain a more competitive residency? The research, especially if it is geared toward your residency of interest will help. In the case for the anatomy fellowship, it might spark some PDs interest in radiology and surgery. I know an anatomy fellow who matched into a decent allopathic radiology program last year, which is pretty hard to come by nowadays. However, doing this fellowship does not secure squat. Generally, fellowship graduates usually are at the high end in the class ranking and probably do better than average with residency matches. ER, FP, rads, surgery, and PM&R being the most common.

Is it competitive to get into a NYCOM fellowship? It is somewhat. You should have honors in the related didactics and have shown your face in a positive light around the department for the first two years. However, I was disappointed at NYCOM's OMM department for not taking a very devoted and hard working 2nd year, who spent much of his free time dedicated to OMM and the like. He deserved the fellowship position as much, if not more than anyone else in my class. However, it seemed that politics were more important than credentials for making that fellowship decision.

How demanding are the fellowships? You have to complete your required research, teach at lab sessions, and still finish your clinical 3rd and 4th year rotations, exit exams, and boards. You'll be busy, but I never heard anyone complain about it being overwhelming.

In the end, you should love the material and enjoy the people you'll be working with in order for you to make a sound decision on whether these fellowship opportunities will be right for you.

Good luck.

 

[Texas_Sam]

I agree with pags,

I am a second year at NYCOM, and I have tracked the progress of several fellows. First, I think the common theme was that they really loved doing whichever fellow they chose to run with.

Is it a financially rewarding path? Well, that depends on the short run or the long run. Yes, you would lose 115K in a FP type practice but I wouldn't waste my time and significant effort doing a fellowship in order to land a better FP match. Nothing against FP's at all. It's a great path.

The fellows that I know that have graduated and gone on to bigger and better things have matched with a Physical & Rahab Medicine, Radiology, Anesthesiology (Harvard), 2 Orthopaedic Surgery, 2 General Surgery, and 1 is doing something with Pathology. I also know that two of the current fellows are shooting for Neurology / Neuro Surgery. They shouldn't have any trouble landling slots in either of those fields. But, we're talking about people that were exceptional students before they ever considered the fellowship. NYCOM is really rough.

It takes an investment of time well before you ever land the fellowship. Regardless of whether you apply for the General Science Fellowship or the OMM fellowship, you'll be required to do really well in the courses relevant to your fellowship. You will also need to show a significant commitment (some might say brown nosing) to the faculty of interest. It also means being involved with the right student organizations. Being a Teaching Assistant in basic sciences (Histo, Neuro, Anatomy, etc) or OMM during your second year at NYCOM. That's huge. NYCOM's second year can be rough without making outside, excess commitments.

So, my point, just be sure that it's something you really want to do. Be sure that you want to interact with students that will cling to you like you are the last life vest left on the Titanic. Be sure that you want to feel the weight from students, faculty, family, and your own scholastic obligations. It's not always easy but it can be rewarding on several different levels. First, the satisfaction that you've helped students struggle through the first year of medical school. Second, the definite boost in your CV for the match. Third and probably least, the money / tuition thingy. There are plenty of easier ways to get cash for school that don't require you to make the investment that fellowship does.

Hope this helps a little.

 

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Hi, Texas_Sam and pags:

Thank you both for the information you've shared regarding the Fellowships.

Do you have any idea how many Fellows are selected each year, and how many students apply for these Fellowships? (I understand all you may be able to give me is a rough estimate). I also understand that the Fellows have probably already been selected out of the 2nd year class.

Thank you.

 

[Texas_Sam]

OMM: 8 fellows out of the 18 that applied will make it.

Basic Sciences:
1 to 2 Neuro
Histo 1 to 2
Anatomy probably 3 to 4 and these may be the same onese that do the Histo stuff. Not sure.

Hope this helps. The basic science numbers are rough estimates. The OMM is firm.

 

[[email protected]]

Hello, Texas_Sam:

I find it extremely unlikely and impractical for the OMM Faculty to approve 8 students for the OMM Fellowship out of the 2nd year class.

I've learned from Josie M'durso (Department of Clinical Education) that there are 2 Neuroscience/Histology; 2 Anatomy; and 2 OMM Fellows selected each year.

Of course she could be wrong.

 

[Wombat]

I heard from one of the people applying for the OMM fellowship that Dr. Dowling told them 8 would be selected. Seeing as how Dr. Dowling is the chairman, I'm more apt to believe him.

 

[drusso]

I'm an OMM research fellow at UNTHSC-TCOM and let me tell you, it was a big boost at residency interviews. Every place I interviewed was very impressed with the experience. At TCOM you have the option of earning a Master's degree as part of the fellowship experience (if you meet certain course and research requirements) and residency programs EAT THIS UP! They like seeing that applicants have research experience, can work independently, and have some teaching under their belt. Remember, at most large residency programs, residents are expected to teach medical students. I think the financial aspects work out evenly. If you're interested in teaching or research, I highly recommend the experience.

 

[njdocDO]

Yes, NYCOM does offer 8 OMM fellowships. It's the most in the country as I remember. It helps alot with the large class size as there are 8-10 attendings, 8 fellows, plus 5-10 second year TAs in the lab for each class. Questions never go unanswered. The fellows seem to enjoy the experience. They teach and also see patients daily with attendings in the clinics hence it's an extra year of clinical practice as a student, something that will definitely help down the road. Also helps delay major decisions if one is unsure of what they want to do.