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- Mar 14, 2018
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Hi All,
Just wanted to share with you my experience in transferring residencies within the same specialty.
Just some back ground, I am an IMG that took 3 attempts to match into family medicine. I had low board scores and a repeat on step 2 CS. On my successful match cycle, I applied to 150 FM programs and had 11 interviews and matched at my number 7 on the rank list.
I matched into a rural FM program which was far away from my wife who was in another state. The program was malignant and attendings treated the residents pretty badly. I watched one of the attendings make one of my fellow interns cry almost daily in clinic (the resident was trying too). I also saw one resident that although did have some issues (mostly subjective), was bullied by attendings and other residents and was made to repeat a 2nd year who ended up quitting.
Anyways all this being said, I was motivated to leave the program as soon as I knew I had matched there. I put my best foot forward and kept very positive. I got good evaluations throughout the year and won a few small awards. Around February/March of my intern year, I began reaching out to other FM/IM programs within a 3 hour radius of where my wife was at. A program director about 2.5 hrs away from my ideal location offered me a spot (they had 2 open). He told me to wait a few weeks in case anything opened up closer to my wife. He reached out a week later and notified me that the program I had originally ranked number 1 was expanding. I ended up getting in contact with the program and was accepted there as a resident which was only 45 minutes away from where my wife was out which was perfect.
A few tips that helped me in my experience.
1. Get good evaluations
-When I got in contact with the #1 program, they wanted all my evals from my intern year. I was happy to print them out from new innovations and my surgery eval actually said that I was the best resident they had worked with. No matter what terrible program or position you are in, try being the best resident you can possibly be which will help you transition to a new program.
2. Email instead of call
-I called and emailed programs, I found that program coordinators/directors were much more likely to respond to emails instead of calls (at least in today's day and age). I had also tried residency swap and SDN, neither program with open slots had advertised them anywhere so it is important to contact programs directly.
3. Do not tell your program director you're planning on leaving until you got something solid.
-You will hear different opinions on this and may be program dependent. The #1 program told me that they wanted to speak with my program director before they accepted me. I went to speak with him and the first thing he said was "When are you going to leave? We need to find another resident immediately". Luckily I already had 1 program that was going to take me and had a good feeling about the other program that ended up accepting me. If I had told him prematurely that I was leaving and didn't end up with anything, they may have replaced me and not renewed my contract.
4. Apply broadly
-There were only 2 places that had open positions within in the 3 hour radius. I actually wasn't going to reach out to program that was further away but they ended up being stepping stone in getting me into the ideal program!
5. Pray and meditate
-I prayed every single day from the time I matched until I was accepted at the other program. I have a strong faith in God and kept repeating scripture. I just kept claiming it daily that I was going to be able to leave and it worked out!
After I started at my new residency, it was so much better. The attendings were much nicer, there was less call and I was able to live with my wife. If you're in a malignant program or very undesirable location, do not think you have to stay there. Programs have open spots and you just have to contact them to find out. Anyways I am graduated now and going to start my new job in a few weeks, a great position to be in after the years of sacrifice. Feel free to reach out to me on here or you can PM me if you need to.
Just wanted to share with you my experience in transferring residencies within the same specialty.
Just some back ground, I am an IMG that took 3 attempts to match into family medicine. I had low board scores and a repeat on step 2 CS. On my successful match cycle, I applied to 150 FM programs and had 11 interviews and matched at my number 7 on the rank list.
I matched into a rural FM program which was far away from my wife who was in another state. The program was malignant and attendings treated the residents pretty badly. I watched one of the attendings make one of my fellow interns cry almost daily in clinic (the resident was trying too). I also saw one resident that although did have some issues (mostly subjective), was bullied by attendings and other residents and was made to repeat a 2nd year who ended up quitting.
Anyways all this being said, I was motivated to leave the program as soon as I knew I had matched there. I put my best foot forward and kept very positive. I got good evaluations throughout the year and won a few small awards. Around February/March of my intern year, I began reaching out to other FM/IM programs within a 3 hour radius of where my wife was at. A program director about 2.5 hrs away from my ideal location offered me a spot (they had 2 open). He told me to wait a few weeks in case anything opened up closer to my wife. He reached out a week later and notified me that the program I had originally ranked number 1 was expanding. I ended up getting in contact with the program and was accepted there as a resident which was only 45 minutes away from where my wife was out which was perfect.
A few tips that helped me in my experience.
1. Get good evaluations
-When I got in contact with the #1 program, they wanted all my evals from my intern year. I was happy to print them out from new innovations and my surgery eval actually said that I was the best resident they had worked with. No matter what terrible program or position you are in, try being the best resident you can possibly be which will help you transition to a new program.
2. Email instead of call
-I called and emailed programs, I found that program coordinators/directors were much more likely to respond to emails instead of calls (at least in today's day and age). I had also tried residency swap and SDN, neither program with open slots had advertised them anywhere so it is important to contact programs directly.
3. Do not tell your program director you're planning on leaving until you got something solid.
-You will hear different opinions on this and may be program dependent. The #1 program told me that they wanted to speak with my program director before they accepted me. I went to speak with him and the first thing he said was "When are you going to leave? We need to find another resident immediately". Luckily I already had 1 program that was going to take me and had a good feeling about the other program that ended up accepting me. If I had told him prematurely that I was leaving and didn't end up with anything, they may have replaced me and not renewed my contract.
4. Apply broadly
-There were only 2 places that had open positions within in the 3 hour radius. I actually wasn't going to reach out to program that was further away but they ended up being stepping stone in getting me into the ideal program!
5. Pray and meditate
-I prayed every single day from the time I matched until I was accepted at the other program. I have a strong faith in God and kept repeating scripture. I just kept claiming it daily that I was going to be able to leave and it worked out!
After I started at my new residency, it was so much better. The attendings were much nicer, there was less call and I was able to live with my wife. If you're in a malignant program or very undesirable location, do not think you have to stay there. Programs have open spots and you just have to contact them to find out. Anyways I am graduated now and going to start my new job in a few weeks, a great position to be in after the years of sacrifice. Feel free to reach out to me on here or you can PM me if you need to.
