Pediatrics and Child Neuro Advice

[DocP]

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Hi all, I'm new to this particular forum. I will be applying to pediatrics residencies this year and was hoping for some advice. I would ultimately like to enter Child Neuro, however I am not planning to apply via SF Match this year, but would rather like to complete my three years in pediatrics first.

My question - on the interview trail, is it okay for me to mention that I plan to go into Child Neuro but also state that I have NOT applied to any fellowships in the SF Match this year? I want to be honest about my plans (especially since one of my letters is from a Peds Neuro attending) - however, I am nervous about it hurting me.

Any advice?

 

[DrJ2B]

Hi all, I'm new to this particular forum. I will be applying to pediatrics residencies this year and was hoping for some advice. I would ultimately like to enter Child Neuro, however I am not planning to apply via SF Match this year, but would rather like to complete my three years in pediatrics first.

My question - on the interview trail, is it okay for me to mention that I plan to go into Child Neuro but also state that I have NOT applied to any fellowships in the SF Match this year? I want to be honest about my plans (especially since one of my letters is from a Peds Neuro attending) - however, I am nervous about it hurting me.

Any advice?

I honestly do not think it will hurt you at all. I cannot really see it hurting you besides the fact that it may be harder to obtain a fellowship where you want to because spots will be filled by those individuals who do the 5-year program match. Plenty of people end up applying to Child Neurology after completing a full peds residency. I would be completely honest. I was honest about the subspecialties I was interested in (although none of them fast track like Child Neuro) and told my interviewers that I was positive that I did not want to do primary care pediatrics but I wanted a solid background in it. You might be asked why you did not want to apply to the SF match and you can be honest about why. If I was in your position and knew that I wanted to do Child Neuro, I would also still do the full 3 years of peds because I want the full experience and do not want to short change my general pediatric education. Some people are totally comfortable with only doing 2 years and I respect that, but I want to complete 3 full years of pediatric training. I hope this was somewhat helpful.

 

[DocP]

I honestly do not think it will hurt you at all. I cannot really see it hurting you besides the fact that it may be harder to obtain a fellowship where you want to because spots will be filled by those individuals who do the 5-year program match. Plenty of people end up applying to Child Neurology after completing a full peds residency. I would be completely honest. I was honest about the subspecialties I was interested in (although none of them fast track like Child Neuro) and told my interviewers that I was positive that I did not want to do primary care pediatrics but I wanted a solid background in it. You might be asked why you did not want to apply to the SF match and you can be honest about why. If I was in your position and knew that I wanted to do Child Neuro, I would also still do the full 3 years of peds because I want the full experience and do not want to short change my general pediatric education. Some people are totally comfortable with only doing 2 years and I respect that, but I want to complete 3 full years of pediatric training. I hope this was somewhat helpful.

Thank you! These are my sentiments exactly.