Please help w/ some questions!

[koonafa]

Hi everyone.

I'm a lowly 4th year medical student who is applying in IM and I am hoping to eventually do a GI fellowship (w/ what seems to be like everyone else...). I just had some quick questions and I was curious if anyone could help answer them:

1) when exactly do residents start applying for fellowships?
2) if they don't match after that, do they try applying later after working for awhile (or possibly after a becoming a chief)??
3) does anyone know the stats regarding the GI fellowship (how many apply for how many spots, how many get in, etc etc).

I guess i'm a little concerned b/c I'm getting a little concerned b/c I'm scared to go for my Medicine residency and not be able to get a GI fellowship.
Thanks so much for all your help and take care.

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[medlaw06]

Hi everyone.

I'm a lowly 4th year medical student who is applying in IM and I am hoping to eventually do a GI fellowship (w/ what seems to be like everyone else...). I just had some quick questions and I was curious if anyone could help answer them:

1) when exactly do residents start applying for fellowships?
2) if they don't match after that, do they try applying later after working for awhile (or possibly after a becoming a chief)??
3) does anyone know the stats regarding the GI fellowship (how many apply for how many spots, how many get in, etc etc).

I guess i'm a little concerned b/c I'm getting a little concerned b/c I'm scared to go for my Medicine residency and not be able to get a GI fellowship.
Thanks so much for all your help and take care.

hey koonafa...i left a similar post a while ago but it seems like none of the GI docs here wanna pass down any help to us....maybe we are too beneath them or something, but I am a 4th year as well and am interested in GI for fellowship....I have done a considerable about of investigating on my own in terms of talking to people and such and can help you out w/ some of the questions:
1) residents apply for fellowships during their 2nd year (junior resident)--> which makes me wonder if senior resident year is one HUGE senioritis year
2) if you don't match, then there a few options. (a) try for the chief resident position, but as far as I know, this is usually already pretty much established during intern year (but I am not definite on this). (b) work as a hospitalist @ a place that has a GI fellowship so they can see you around and you can brown nose with them too, and try to make your connections that way. From what I have heard, this is what the majority does. (c) take a year and do research in the field.
3) the stats, which I would LOVE to get a hold of myself, are elusive since GI is not in the match. It will be next year so we will have a better idea by that time. In the meantime, from what I have heard around the rumorville, there were approximately 1800 or so apps last year for something like 500 spots, but there is some confusion in this AS WELL since it is unclear whether or not the 500 is FUNDED spots or ACTUAL spots. Apparently, some program may have funded spots but don't actually use that spot but the $$$...once agian, I am also an MSIV and am trying to get information myself so it is uncertain whether or not my information is accurate....it would be nice if some of the fellows would chime in, but like I said before, I guess we are just little peons who are not worth their precious time....

TO THE GI FELLOWS HERE:

Sorry to come off like that, but I have been trying (respectfully) to ask some of you fellows on here with some serious questions for quite some time now and the only posts which are left are "where am you all interviewing." Don't get me wrong, your applications are OBVIOSULY more important, but at the same time, it wouldn't hurt to post a few messages and help us out a little, especially those who have done their homework on their own but still have a few questions (see post dealing w/ which residency to pick). Apparently I am not the only one who is confused about the residency issue. We were all requesting SDN to have the sub-forums, but I guess they were just a waste of space....

 

[koonafa]

thanks Medlaw...your reply helped. yea, this kinda sucks that there's so much that seems to be hidden. I agree, it would be nice if those applying to the fellowships could give any bit of advice. take care all and happy holidays.

 

[Vision]

Hi everyone.

I'm a lowly 4th year medical student who is applying in IM and I am hoping to eventually do a GI fellowship (w/ what seems to be like everyone else...). I just had some quick questions and I was curious if anyone could help answer them:

1) when exactly do residents start applying for fellowships?

You start applying during your second year of residency. Now that most GI program are in the match, the timeline is you start applying around Oct/Nov, Interview in Jan-March and find out in June.


2) if they don't match after that, do they try applying later after working for awhile (or possibly after a becoming a chief)??

Work, chief or do research. Most people I know worked meanwhile continue to do research.


3) does anyone know the stats regarding the GI fellowship (how many apply for how many spots, how many get in, etc etc).

I don't think there is a official stat.

I guess i'm a little concerned b/c I'm getting a little concerned b/c I'm scared to go for my Medicine residency and not be able to get a GI fellowship.
Thanks so much for all your help and take care.

I think the key in getting into a fellowship is to get into a residency with GI fellowship. your BEST bet is to get into your own GI fellowship, so chose carefully. think what type of medicine you want to practice...

Hope this help.

PGY-2 IM

 

[texas_ute]

TO THE GI FELLOWS HERE.....

You are directing your anger towards the GI fellows not responding to your questions, but I don't know if there are any current GI fellows even reading this forum?? I AM NOT A GI FELLOW. I am just an applicant like alot of the other posters on here. Anyone can apply for GI, there are hundreds and hundreds of us now, that doesn't mean that we will get spots.

I really don't have any great advice for 4th year med students at this point, besides the obvious:
-do a residency in a place that has a GI fellowship program
-establish a mentor early on in residency- someone in the GI division, like the program director, who can give you advice/suggestions on getting involved with research projects, scheduling elective GI rotations, etc.
-when you are an intern, just concentrate on being a good intern. alot of your letters will likely come from general medicine faculty you work with during your intern year/beginning of your second year.

As far as the stats on aps, there is no site that gives you that exact information. It is highly competitive with many programs receiving 150-200+ applications for their 2 (sometimes more, but alot of programs only have 2 slots).

Good luck.

 

[Dave0157]

I am a GI fellow at a program in New York City. I have a friend who is a second year medicine resident who uses this site and showed it to me. GI has gotten quite competitive. There are probably about 400 spots in the U.S. with many more applicants. The "thousands" of applicants for these spots consist of American grads and IMGs. The number of American graduates from good residency programs is significantly lower than the overall number of applicants and hence obtaining a GI spot is not "impossible" as a cursory glance at the numbers might suggest. The 2 most important factors for obtaining the spot are probably the quality/reputation of your medicine training program and the research that one is involved in. The best thing to do is to go to the best medicine residency that one can get into (forget about all that call schedule and resident "happiness" stuff-rank the best program highest) and get involved with the GI department early (talk to the fellows, start working on a project etc...). I would be happy to answer any questions that people have.

 

[medlaw06]

I am a GI fellow at a program in New York City. I have a friend who is a second year medicine resident who uses this site and showed it to me. GI has gotten quite competitive. There are probably about 400 spots in the U.S. with many more applicants. The "thousands" of applicants for these spots consist of American grads and IMGs. The number of American graduates from good residency programs is significantly lower than the overall number of applicants and hence obtaining a GI spot is not "impossible" as a cursory glance at the numbers might suggest. The 2 most important factors for obtaining the spot are probably the quality/reputation of your medicine training program and the research that one is involved in. The best thing to do is to go to the best medicine residency that one can get into (forget about all that call schedule and resident "happiness" stuff-rank the best program highest) and get involved with the GI department early (talk to the fellows, start working on a project etc...). I would be happy to answer any questions that people have.

FINALLY!!

Thanks ALOT Dave!! I think WE ALL TRULY appreciate your help in this matter!!!!

 

[texas_ute]

Well, I have done all I can to this point. Solid residency program, some GI research experience. Now I am playing the interview waiting game...

 

[grigory76]

I am a GI fellow at a program in New York City. I have a friend who is a second year medicine resident who uses this site and showed it to me. GI has gotten quite competitive. There are probably about 400 spots in the U.S. with many more applicants. The "thousands" of applicants for these spots consist of American grads and IMGs. The number of American graduates from good residency programs is significantly lower than the overall number of applicants and hence obtaining a GI spot is not "impossible" as a cursory glance at the numbers might suggest. The 2 most important factors for obtaining the spot are probably the quality/reputation of your medicine training program and the research that one is involved in. The best thing to do is to go to the best medicine residency that one can get into (forget about all that call schedule and resident "happiness" stuff-rank the best program highest) and get involved with the GI department early (talk to the fellows, start working on a project etc...). I would be happy to answer any questions that people have.

I was wondering if research is absolutely essential when applying for GI fellowship. Would good LORs and connections with GI docs sometimes be sufficient or research is still a must?
I wonder how to manage to get sufficient amount of research done if you are starting residency without having done any research yet and doing it while in the internship is pretty much impossible. It leaves no space for it given you have to apply for fellowship in the 2nd year.