Position Wanted PGY-1 FM Transfer to Psychiatry

[deleted1078679]

Hello all! I am currently a PGY-1 in Family Medicine.
I am an IMG, old grad YOG: 2016, have ALL Step scores, including Step 3 and prior work experience in psychiatry in my home country (not residency) and psych rotations here in USA.

I want to transfer to Psychiatry, as that is the speciality I enjoy the most and I am the most passionate about and see myself being happiest long term in.
I am currently in my psychiatric rotation inpatient at CSU And also outpatient and I TRULY love it- I look forward it. Overall, I know I want to work outpatient.

Can anyone please advise me how I can go about transferring to psychiatry? Especially dealing with having to get a LOR from my Program Director. I want to go about this best way possible. If anyone has done this before, would be truly appreciate. Thank you!

---

Members don't see this ad.

 

[Euxox]

If by "transfer" you mean complete your PGY-1 in FM and immediately transition into PGY-2 psychiatry, you will find this to be an uphill battle. Psychiatry is not 1 + N advanced program like anesthesia, radiology, PM&R, or ophthalmology; it is a single four-year program. This means that the only way that you will be able to enter psychiatry as a PGY-2 is to find a seat that has opened up from resident attrition.

It looks like there are three such positions this year, and two are willing to take residents who did an intern year in something other than psychiatry: Psychiatry Residency Training Program Vacancies

Two open positions is better than none, but it is hardly a sure thing. Your best shot at getting into psychiatry will be to apply for PGY-1 psychiatry positions. ERAS opens to residency programs on September 27th, so you may have some time to throw together a last-minute application.

Can anyone please advise me how I can go about transferring to psychiatry? Especially dealing with having to get a LOR from my Program Director. I want to go about this best way possible. If anyone has done this before, would be truly appreciate. Thank you!

Just ask. The bigger question is how you will get a letter from a psychiatrist. Do you think that you would be able to get a letter from one the psychiatrists who you did a US clinical rotation with?

 

[deleted1078679]

If by "transfer" you mean complete your PGY-1 in FM and immediately transition into PGY-2 psychiatry, you will find this to be an uphill battle. Psychiatry is not 1 + N advanced program like anesthesia, radiology, PM&R, or ophthalmology; it is a single four-year program. This means that the only way that you will be able to enter psychiatry as a PGY-2 is to find a seat that has opened up from resident attrition.

It looks like there are three such positions this year, and two are willing to take residents who did an intern year in something other than psychiatry: Psychiatry Residency Training Program Vacancies

Two open positions is better than none, but it is hardly a sure thing. Your best shot at getting into psychiatry will be to apply for PGY-1 psychiatry positions. ERAS opens to residency programs on September 27th, so you may have some time to throw together a last-minute application.



Just ask. The bigger question is how you will get a letter from a psychiatrist. Do you think that you would be able to get a letter from one the psychiatrists who you did a US clinical rotation with?

Thanks! I actually did previously reach out to that 2 positions and they are already filled. I do not think I am allowed to apply to a psychiatry program while currently being in a program. Am I? I have LORs from psychiatry before in 2022, when I applied last year to both PSYCH &FM & matched for FM. I also think I could get letter of recommendation from psychiatrist I just did psychiatry rotation in CSU with. I think my best bet is an open position for PGY-2, or CAP fellowship then Psych PGY-2 or Addiction medicine.