Please advise!!

[DrBom]

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Hey guys, my first time posting... I'm currently a PGY1 in EM and after a lot of soul-searching have made the decision to attempt a switch into Anesthesia. Should I even hope for a CA1 position starting in 2006 or should I prepare myself for a start in 2007? Will my application be viewed unfavorably if I can't find a 2006 spot and end up having to take a year off (so that I'm not burning another year of Medicare funding for my training)? I'm hoping to stay in the Midwest, my dream would be to match at Michigan; could you guys give me a rough assessment of the viability of my application at such a strong program? I received 'satisfactory' for most of my core clerkships and 4th year rotations, but I have strong recommendations and Step 1/2 scores (250's). I'll appreciate any advice you guys can give me. Sorry about the length of this post.

 

[UTSouthwestern]

Hey guys, my first time posting... I'm currently a PGY1 in EM and after a lot of soul-searching have made the decision to attempt a switch into Anesthesia. Should I even hope for a CA1 position starting in 2006 or should I prepare myself for a start in 2007? Will my application be viewed unfavorably if I can't find a 2006 spot and end up having to take a year off (so that I'm not burning another year of Medicare funding for my training)? I'm hoping to stay in the Midwest, my dream would be to match at Michigan; could you guys give me a rough assessment of the viability of my application at such a strong program? I received 'satisfactory' for most of my core clerkships and 4th year rotations, but I have strong recommendations and Step 1/2 scores (250's). I'll appreciate any advice you guys can give me. Sorry about the length of this post.

With scores like those, you should have no problem getting a spot in 2006. You basically just need to get moving on contacting programs that you are interested in. You should tell them your situation when you make contact with them and inform them that your step scores are superb (as they are). I doubt you will have any problems getting strong interest from programs that may not even have a spot but might be willing to create one for a candidate such as yourself.

We did that for an ER guy two years ago with a similar situation and scores as yours. You'll be fine. You just need to get the leg work (contacting programs and filling out their applications for out of match positions in 2006) started.