Pulmonary and Critical Care Fellowship 2023-2024 Cycle

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getfat said:
Notification from cook county.

Got my first interview today. By far my first choice. So i'm pretty excited.
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Congrats!!
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So I'm hearing that some programs are sending invites for open houses. Is this like a pre-interview invite or just an info session for all applicants to that specific program?
 
So as it turns out, even fellowship programs send out more invites than spots available...
 
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Okay as it turns out they sent out invites without opening their spots so
zeroman said:
Which program?
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It was actually a technical error or something. They just hadn't opened any spots when I went to sign up.
 
Hi Everyone! Few questions --

1. If we don't get an interview in the 1st round of invites, does that mean we're not their "1st choice" for interviews? Or does it just mean they haven't reviewed all of the applications yet?

2. Do you think 100 programs is enough to apply to? I wanted to apply to every program, but it was going to be $6500!!!!
 
Tricia12345 said:
Hi Everyone! Few questions --

1. If we don't get an interview in the 1st round of invites, does that mean we're not their "1st choice" for interviews? Or does it just mean they haven't reviewed all of the applications yet?

2. Do you think 100 programs is enough to apply to? I wanted to apply to every program, but it was going to be $6500!!!!
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$6500 aint much if you really need the position. About *three days of salary in PCCM (*taxes included).
 
Is there a 2023 - 24 Excel sheet or even a discord? I looked at the previous one, but I don't see a link. Thank you.
 
UCRWSP said:
Is there a 2023 - 24 Excel sheet or even a discord? I looked at the previous one, but I don't see a link. Thank you.
Click to expand...
Yes! The excel sheet is linked on the first page of this thread in red and the link to the discord is there as well!!
 
For any PDs on here, how often does a LOR make you want to interview someone? I assume everyone has good ones but what makes an exceptional one? Just a question of curiosity more than anything.
 
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JJB123 said:
For any PDs on here, how often does a LOR make you want to interview someone? I assume everyone has good ones but what makes an exceptional one? Just a question of curiosity more than anything.
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I am not a PD. but I am an voluntary faculty at an NYC PCCM program. I am asked to review applications for the PD to help out this time of year due to the sheer number of applications that come through.
Usually all of the letters of recs to me are usually glowing and great letters that embellish the applicant's strengths and often provides quite a bit of hyperbole. If the letter writer is someone that is known to the program (a graduate or just a professional acquaintance) then that is something that already piques my interest.

If I see very concrete examples in the letter citing how great the clinical, procedural, or research skills are (something along the lines like - this resident placed all of the central lines overnight in the IJ via ultrasound without any issues! I got some sleep overnight as a result. this resident is at the fellows level! or something like that... or this resident has very good research acumen and will help your program publish) , then I take that to heart and will let the PD know this is someone to offer an IV to (assuming the rest of the scores and resume match up)

But most letters are rather generic. For those letters, I just read carefully for any back handed compliments or red flags that might appear.

Ultimately, you waived the right to see your letter. Therefore, you should really only ask letter writers who worked with you a lot and have had good direct feedback from, if possible.
 
Can anyone share the most common interview questions for the PCCM interview?
 
NewYorkDoctors said:
I am not a PD. but I am an voluntary faculty at an NYC PCCM program. I am asked to review applications for the PD to help out this time of year due to the sheer number of applications that come through.
Usually all of the letters of recs to me are usually glowing and great letters that embellish the applicant's strengths and often provides quite a bit of hyperbole. If the letter writer is someone that is known to the program (a graduate or just a professional acquaintance) then that is something that already piques my interest.

If I see very concrete examples in the letter citing how great the clinical, procedural, or research skills are (something along the lines like - this resident placed all of the central lines overnight in the IJ via ultrasound without any issues! I got some sleep overnight as a result. this resident is at the fellows level! or something like that... or this resident has very good research acumen and will help your program publish) , then I take that to heart and will let the PD know this is someone to offer an IV to (assuming the rest of the scores and resume match up)

But most letters are rather generic. For those letters, I just read carefully for any back handed compliments or red flags that might appear.

Ultimately, you waived the right to see your letter. Therefore, you should really only ask letter writers who worked with you a lot and have had good direct feedback from, if possible.
Click to expand...
Thanks for your input! I was just curious. I don't think I'm an outstanding candidate, but I'm solid. I ended up getting some interviews at reach places that I didn't expect and was really just curious if my letters played a role. Obviously impossible to tell but sounds like they probably didn't have too much of an impact. Some of my friends who matched last year said during their interviews, their letters were cited as a reason for the interview - curious if that'll happen to me!
 
JJB123 said:
For any PDs on here, how often does a LOR make you want to interview someone? I assume everyone has good ones but what makes an exceptional one? Just a question of curiosity more than anything.
Click to expand...
Used to interview for an internal medicine residency. Had so many applicants to sort through - LORs weren't too useful as they were all positive and the dean's letter is pretty templated. Sure the letters may have sealed the deal - but the letters aren't from thin air either. Strong personable candidates likely also had a good letter too confounding.

The candidates I was most impressed with were 1) Good Steps (not stellar but the bottom 25% seemed to struggle with basic medicine on the wards, failed to carry out tasks, unprofessional attitudes), 2) Clerkship grades (looking for consistency of trying), and 3) Interview skills (Can you hold a conversation? Can you show me that you respect my time by preparing ahead of time? Medicine is a professional customer service business.)
 
JJB123 said:
Thanks for your input! I was just curious. I don't think I'm an outstanding candidate, but I'm solid. I ended up getting some interviews at reach places that I didn't expect and was really just curious if my letters played a role. Obviously impossible to tell but sounds like they probably didn't have too much of an impact. Some of my friends who matched last year said during their interviews, their letters were cited as a reason for the interview - curious if that'll happen to me!
Click to expand...
Don’t forget the interviewers are all clinical faculty and have busy clinical duties as well . There’s not some “game within a game “ to be played . Be consistent , sincere , and be able to discuss your resume , research , and your clinical interests earnestly .

I can smell “I love academics but secretly want to do private practice to make money and want your big name program to advertise “ a mile away .
 
Dude/dudette, these interview numbers on the spreadsheet are ridiculous. 21 interviews for that MD candidate. They must be getting multiple invites a day :/
 
Espressso said:
Dude/dudette, these interview numbers on the spreadsheet are ridiculous. 21 interviews for that MD candidate. They must be getting multiple invites a day :/
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Good for him/her. I just look at the sheet for updates if programs have started sending out invites at this point.
 
from previous years experiences, can someone say when is the first round and second round of invitations sent
 
icudocteur said:
from previous years experiences, can someone say when is the first round and second round of invitations sent
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This is program specific. Some send out one wave of invites and others send out multiple waves.
 
Tricia12345 said:
Hi Everyone! Few questions --

1. If we don't get an interview in the 1st round of invites, does that mean we're not their "1st choice" for interviews? Or does it just mean they haven't reviewed all of the applications yet?

2. Do you think 100 programs is enough to apply to? I wanted to apply to every program, but it was going to be $6500!!!!
Click to expand...

If your application was in before the first round of invites went out then it ought to have been reviewed.
For my place, I review all the applications that I have in hand (that are complete) and then put together a list of people I want to interview equal to the number of interview spots I have. I send that group an interview offer. Some will turn me down leaving me with open interview spots. I'll then review the un-offered applications (although by this point I already have them in some sort of order) along with any new applications I've received up to that point. If a previously received application was incomplete, this is the point where I go back to check if new parts have been sent. Then re-sort the applications, send out interview offers equal to the number of open interview spots I have, and rinse, repeat until application season is done.

The harsh truth... if you've applied to a hundred places, and don't get interviews... then applying to the rest is unlikely to make a difference. Is it possible that your app would resonate with a PD at one of those extra places? Well, maybe. But it's far far more likely that -something- in your app is getting you screened out (if 0 out of 100 places extend an interview).

JJB123 said:
For any PDs on here, how often does a LOR make you want to interview someone? I assume everyone has good ones but what makes an exceptional one? Just a question of curiosity more than anything.
Click to expand...

Depends on who wrote it for one. If I get a letter from someone I know then that carries a lot of weight. Although usually if that person knows me by the time I read the letter, I've already gotten a call from them giving me a heads up.

After reading thousands of LORs, I can tell which ones are recycled form letters, which ones are written out of professional courtesy or necessity, which ones are placeholders... and more importantly which ones are an actual enthusiastic endorsement by someone who well and truly knows the person they're writing about. That last group usually catches my eye because they're uncommon.

I had a colleage write a letter of rec for a med-student. Before they sent it, they showed it to me. My first reaction to them was "I thought you liked this student". "I do," they said. "Well," I said, "this letter doesn't convey that." I went through it with them and explained how the phrasing made it into a placeholder letter (one that doesn't help or hurt, it just... takes up space). So even when your letter writer wants to give you a strong letter, they may not know how. There is an art to it.

And another fun thing to do... when you have multiple applicants from the same program. Sometimes I will go through and compare their LORs. I had a group of three applicants from one program. Their PD-LOR was a carbon copy for each one, with just the name and pronouns changed.
 
Doctor Bob said:
Depends on who wrote it for one. If I get a letter from someone I know then that carries a lot of weight. Although usually if that person knows me by the time I read the letter, I've already gotten a call from them giving me a heads up.

After reading thousands of LORs, I can tell which ones are recycled form letters, which ones are written out of professional courtesy or necessity, which ones are placeholders... and more importantly which ones are an actual enthusiastic endorsement by someone who well and truly knows the person they're writing about. That last group usually catches my eye because they're uncommon.

I had a colleage write a letter of rec for a med-student. Before they sent it, they showed it to me. My first reaction to them was "I thought you liked this student". "I do," they said. "Well," I said, "this letter doesn't convey that." I went through it with them and explained how the phrasing made it into a placeholder letter (one that doesn't help or hurt, it just... takes up space). So even when your letter writer wants to give you a strong letter, they may not know how. There is an art to it.

And another fun thing to do... when you have multiple applicants from the same program. Sometimes I will go through and compare their LORs. I had a group of three applicants from one program. Their PD-LOR was a carbon copy for each one, with just the name and pronouns changed.
Click to expand...
Thanks for your reply! The carbon copy thing doesn't surprise me. When applying for IM programs, most required a chair of IM letter and I never understood why. It's not like I ever interacted with my chair. He didn't have a role in education and cut back significantly on clinical work, so most (all?) of the med students never worked with him. I met with him for 5 min and gave him a copy of my PS and CV. I imagine all of his letters were boilerplate.
 
Doctor Bob said:
If your application was in before the first round of invites went out then it ought to have been reviewed.
For my place, I review all the applications that I have in hand (that are complete) and then put together a list of people I want to interview equal to the number of interview spots I have. I send that group an interview offer. Some will turn me down leaving me with open interview spots. I'll then review the un-offered applications (although by this point I already have them in some sort of order) along with any new applications I've received up to that point. If a previously received application was incomplete, this is the point where I go back to check if new parts have been sent. Then re-sort the applications, send out interview offers equal to the number of open interview spots I have, and rinse, repeat until application season is done.

The harsh truth... if you've applied to a hundred places, and don't get interviews... then applying to the rest is unlikely to make a difference. Is it possible that your app would resonate with a PD at one of those extra places? Well, maybe. But it's far far more likely that -something- in your app is getting you screened out (if 0 out of 100 places extend an interview).
Click to expand...
Thank you for the input! What kind of things might get someone screened out?

I am now up to 2 interviews (thank God!). I've noticed many of the programs I'm interested in send invitations out to foreign medical grads prior to MDs/DOs. Or some only MDs for several rounds. Do you think some programs might batch their invites by type of degree? If so, I guess I'd worry a little bit less.
 
Dang. Only news I have heard this week is a rejection SAD
 
Tricia12345 said:
Thank you for the input! What kind of things might get someone screened out?

I am now up to 2 interviews (thank God!). I've noticed many of the programs I'm interested in send invitations out to foreign medical grads prior to MDs/DOs. Or some only MDs for several rounds. Do you think some programs might batch their invites by type of degree? If so, I guess I'd worry a little bit less.
Click to expand...
I noticed this too. I am not complaining at the interviews I have gotten but it feels like places I should have definitely gotten an interview went with IMGs first. Perhaps is more competitive this year :/

That said, positivity. Even if the worse case occurs and we don't match, there is always next year. The only limiting factor is time 🙂
 
I found this interesting to research neighborhoods around the programs.

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What Is Fair Market Rent? 2025 FMR Calculator by ZIP | HUD Loans

Fair market rents, or FMRs, are statistics developed by HUD to determine payments for housing assistance programs like the Section 8 housing choice voucher program. Calculate Fair Market Rent in your area using our calculator.
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www.statsamerica.org

Big Radius Tool: StatsAmerica

The Big Radius Tool provides data for a mileage-based radius from 25 miles to 500 miles.
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Tricia12345 said:
Thank you for the input! What kind of things might get someone screened out?

I am now up to 2 interviews (thank God!). I've noticed many of the programs I'm interested in send invitations out to foreign medical grads prior to MDs/DOs. Or some only MDs for several rounds. Do you think some programs might batch their invites by type of degree? If so, I guess I'd worry a little bit less.
Click to expand...

To the first question: it could be anything. Programs can set all kinds of filters; board scores, step specific scores, MD/DO, if they went to an LCME accredited school, etc... ERAS has 51 pre-defined filters, and then the program can make additional ones based on whatever data point they want. So... it depends.

As mentioned above, a program could go through applicants by type of degree... it'd be a wonky way to do it but.. <shrug> I guess if a place isn't DO friendly (for example) they might do this?
 
If I can ask a question: how much lead time should I be giving programs if I end up deciding to withdrawal from an interview? Considering doing it for one specific program but haven't decided yet.

edit: I also wanted to ask about interview timing. I know for residency they always said that timing of interview doesn't impact rank list decisions. Does this hold still for fellowship?
 
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is it common for an away rotation program to not give an interview (assuming the rotation actually went well)?
 
Dominus said:
If I can ask a question: how much lead time should I be giving programs if I end up deciding to withdrawal from an interview? Considering doing it for one specific program but haven't decided yet.

edit: I also wanted to ask about interview timing. I know for residency they always said that timing of interview doesn't impact rank list decisions. Does this hold still for fellowship?
Click to expand...

Please... as much lead time as you can give the program is best. Even with a virtual model it's tough to fill an interview spot that goes vacant a few days ahead of time.

Timing of an interview doesn't really make much of a difference. There's advantages and disadvantages to all different parts of the interview season. So... do it when it's most convenient for you.

uncle_herniation said:
is it common for an away rotation program to not give an interview (assuming the rotation actually went well)?
Click to expand...

That's... unusual. Honestly, even if someone didn't do wonderfully on an audition rotation, programs usually still give a courtesy interview.
 
Dominus said:
If I can ask a question: how much lead time should I be giving programs if I end up deciding to withdrawal from an interview? Considering doing it for one specific program but haven't decided yet.

edit: I also wanted to ask about interview timing. I know for residency they always said that timing of interview doesn't impact rank list decisions. Does this hold still for fellowship?
Click to expand...
Lead time, I am not sure but the sooner the better since they could give that spot to a waitlist/other potential applicant.

As for timing of interviews, it shouldn't matter since a lot of programs try to standardize how they select applicants. That said the advice I've been given is "Pick the first or last interview date". Either you're one of the first they met when fresh and excited or your recent in their mind, so if you made a good impression it may help (Can also hurt if you're not the best interviewer thus becoming a standardized number in a pile may benefit you)?
 
Man, I've had quite a bit of rejections over the last two weeks.

Dying to know how many interviews one must have to feel safe...
 
Espressso said:
Man, I've had quite a bit of rejections over the last two weeks.

Dying to know how many interviews one must have to feel safe...
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I am not sure if it will be reassuring or provoke anxiety but you can always check out the charting outcomes for the match data for pulm/crit. It's a bit old though.
 
Espressso said:
Man, I've had quite a bit of rejections over the last two weeks.

Dying to know how many interviews one must have to feel safe...
Click to expand...
Yeah, It feels like most of my interviews came at the beginning as well. Not as much love for DOs as I thought there would be.
 
I wonder when NRMP will publish a new charting outcomes dataset. The last one is from 2018 and with the pandemic I imagine things have changed substantially.
 
Dominus said:
I wonder when NRMP will publish a new charting outcomes dataset. The last one is from 2018 and with the pandemic I imagine things have changed substantially.
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I'm assuming this year. Or last, and they haven't published it yet? I thought it was every 4 years but I may be wrong.
 
Looks like based on the Excel sheet most of the interview invites have gone out at this point.
 
getfat said:
Looks like based on the Excel sheet most of the interview invites have gone out at this point.
Click to expand...
At this point I'm banking on programs sending out additional waves of interviews. Friends who matched the past two cycles have told me that many invites come out mid-to-late September. That probably means nothing as it's just heresay but I'm still hopeful I can squeek out a few more.

What stresses me out is not knowing a target # of invites/ranks I should be shooting for. With IM apps it was simple.. 10-12 interviews and you're basically golden.
 
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