Pediatric Cardiology help

[martialing]

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If anyone has any insight to any of the follow questions, I would greatly appreciate it:

1) how available are positions for pediatric interventional cardiology?

2) what is the future of peds interventional cardiology?

Thanks!

 

[J-Rad]

1. While I do not claim expertise in this area, my impression is that while the economy is down and many hospital systems struggle cath positions are less plentiful. I presume a big part of this is the fact that many peds caths are expensive endeavors with many resource-hungy patients, many of whom are on title 19.

2. Transcatheter pulmonary valve replacement is on the FDA approval horizon in the US (it's been approved in other countries for a while). The real growth area in congenital heart disease is in in adult congenital heart disease.

 

[JMMH]

One of my colleagues went through the application process for a 4th year in interventional pediatric cardiology, so I'm somewhat familiar with the process in discussions with him.

A lot of places that have the ability to train (sufficient case number and facilities) were not offering positions this year either because they did not have funding or they did not want to train a fellow only to have trouble finding a job for said fellow.

Also, a lot of places will take internal candidates, so if you are set on interventional cardiology, you might want to focus on a fellowship that offers it as a fourth year. However, the trade-off is that you may not be exposed or have the ability to be involved in as many cases as the 4th year fellow would get first dibs.

If you are still a medical student as your status says, at the earliest it would be another 5-6 years before you would be going through this application process. No telling how things will be then.

As J-Rad said the biggest thing on the horizon for cath is transcatheter valve placement.

 

[martialing]

Wow, thanks for the responses. I really appreciate it.

Yes, I am a second year med student so i know I have a lot of time before I even apply for a fellowship, but I am really trying to discover my best fit.

I would love to ask more questions, if you find time to answer any of them.

1) If you have any recommendations for what I can do to better my chances for getting into a fellowship

I plan to receive and MD with a distinction in research (interventional neurology research), but I am just starting a project on congenital heart disease (case series). Any thoughts on the importance of having specific peds cardio research on resume?

2) I just read somewhere that it is possible to skip a year of a peds residency if you are going into a 3 year fellowship. What do you know about this?

3) As of right now, I have honored all of my classes with the hope of trying to receive AOA, but I feel like I'm killing myself in the process. Any thoughts on how significant of an advantage of having AOA status would be for applying for a fellowship?


Again, I really appreciate your time

 

[JMMH]

1. The typical stuff like good grades, USMLE scores (don't necessarily need to kill it but do above average), rec letters, etc are important, but research experience will go a long way in helping you get into a fellowship. It does not necessarily need to be peds cards research.

When it comes to apply and interview, if you do have anything listed on your CV make sure you can describe what the project globally was about and what your involvement in that project was.

2. The only fellowship I know that allows you to "skip" a year of peds residency is peds neurology, which usually students match into the 5 year program. Somebody correct me if I'm wrong.

3. AOA goes a long way but is not required. If you are shooting for one of the prominent programs then I imagine it's more important.

 

[BigRedBeta]

2. The only fellowship I know that allows you to "skip" a year of peds residency is peds neurology, which usually students match into the 5 year program. Somebody correct me if I'm wrong.

There's the Accelerated Research Pathway that is accepted by the ABP, (https://www.abp.org/ABPWebStatic/#m...tml&surl=/abpwebsite/certinfo/genpeds/arp.htm) click on "Gen Peds Special Training Pathways". This program condenses a three year peds residency into 2 years and then tacks on fellowship training and may include additional research time so that you won't take longer than 6 years total.

You'd need to look at the ABP website and then be in contact with Peds residencies you're interested in to see if they are open for such applicants.