Pulmonary Critical Care Fellowship 2022/2023 Cycle

[0_o]

Starting this thread, ERAS tokens will be going out soon. Good luck to everyone applying this cycle!

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[TimmyH]

Should I waive my right to view my letters of recommendations?

 

[drbufh]

Yes.

 

[nik1990s]

Should I waive my right to view my letters of recommendations?

Yes, always.

 

[cbstrpt]

Does anyone have a list of programs with T32 funding or other training grants?

 

[IMitis]

Good luck to everyone applying.

Do we know if interviews will be in-person, virtual, or hybrid this year?

 

[0_o]

Good luck to everyone applying.

Do we know if interviews will be in-person, virtual, or hybrid this year?

I haven't heard, any PDs or APDs here that can comment?

 

[0_o]

Anyone including conferences attended under experiences? What are your thoughts on this?

 

[Doctor Bob]

I haven't heard, any PDs or APDs here that can comment?

APCCMPD (the association of pulmonary and critical care program directors) has recommended to their constituents that interviews remain virtual this year. It is up to each program to decide if they want to follow that or not.

 

[0_o]

Anyone else’s LoR taking longer than 5 business days for EFDO to process?

 

[IMitis]

Mine took precisely five working days. I am assuming they are still catching up from the long weekend.

 

[Drfeelgood21]

I'm hoping someone can enlighten me,
Many programs do not specify a number of LOR or one being from a residency PD. If we have been practicing as a hospitalist for a few years should we include our PD from residency, department head (medicine), and 2 LOR from pulm/crit we have worked with.. or do they "discard" one of the letters and we should only include 3 total?

 

[TimmyH]

Hello again,

I have a question for you guys. I have 1 letter from my residency PD, 1 letter from Chair of medicine/Pul CC attending, 1 from current hospitalist medical director/Pul CC attending and 1 from Pul/CC attending.

The last letter from Pul/CC attending is a good letter but not a mind-blowing letter. I do have another from Associate Chief of Cardiology who is my mentor - he wrote me an amazing letter.

Which last letter should I go with (my 4th letter)? Can anyone give me advice on this? Much appreciate it

 

[0_o]

I'm hoping someone can enlighten me,
Many programs do not specify a number of LOR or one being from a residency PD. If we have been practicing as a hospitalist for a few years should we include our PD from residency, department head (medicine), and 2 LOR from pulm/crit we have worked with.. or do they "discard" one of the letters and we should only include 3 total?

Some websites have stated something to the effect that if you submit 4 and they only want 3 then they will at random select those 3 from the 4. Almost all programs require a letter from your PD even if you've graduated prior, if I was in your unique situation I would consider emailing the program coordinators to clarify the requirements if their website isn't clear.

Hello again,

I have a question for you guys. I have 1 letter from my residency PD, 1 letter from Chair of medicine/Pul CC attending, 1 from current hospitalist medical director/Pul CC attending and 1 from Pul/CC attending.

The last letter from Pul/CC attending is a good letter but not a mind-blowing letter. I do have another from Associate Chief of Cardiology who is my mentor - he wrote me an amazing letter.

Which last letter should I go with (my 4th letter)? Can anyone give me advice on this? Much appreciate it

Again most programs want 3 letters. As for the fourth letter for those requesting it, I have a similar question on if I should use a general medicine faculty letter that I know is great or use a PCCM letter from someone who doesn't know me as well. So i'm not much help.

 

[Doctor Bob]

I'm hoping someone can enlighten me,
Many programs do not specify a number of LOR or one being from a residency PD. If we have been practicing as a hospitalist for a few years should we include our PD from residency, department head (medicine), and 2 LOR from pulm/crit we have worked with.. or do they "discard" one of the letters and we should only include 3 total?

Hello again,

I have a question for you guys. I have 1 letter from my residency PD, 1 letter from Chair of medicine/Pul CC attending, 1 from current hospitalist medical director/Pul CC attending and 1 from Pul/CC attending.

The last letter from Pul/CC attending is a good letter but not a mind-blowing letter. I do have another from Associate Chief of Cardiology who is my mentor - he wrote me an amazing letter.

Which last letter should I go with (my 4th letter)? Can anyone give me advice on this? Much appreciate it

Again most programs want 3 letters. As for the fourth letter for those requesting it, I have a similar question on if I should use a general medicine faculty letter that I know is great or use a PCCM letter from someone who doesn't know me as well. So i'm not much help.

These are all very similar questions. I'll try to give an answer that works for all of them.

Pretty much everyone is going to want a letter from your residency PD; even if it was a while ago. This tells me how well you do in the trainee role, did you have any problems during residency, and generally how did you perform during training. If your former PD (or whomever is in their spot now) isn't willing to write this for you, that speaks volumes.

After the PD letter, there needs to be one from someone in the field who can attest to your interest and desire in critical care. They know the job and they are telling whether or not this is a new interest for you, or a goal you've been working toward for a while. And they can attest that you understand what you're getting yourself into.

The third letter should be someone who can really speak to who you are. If it's someone in critical care that's great, but it's more important that they write you more than a form letter (sometimes the PD letters especially can be very dry). When I read this letter I should be able to tell that the person is actually excited to help you further your career and wants to do whatever they can to help you because they really think you're a good person. This should be a mentor, a role model, a... whatever. Someone you've worked closely with for an extended period of time.

If a program asks for a fourth letter it doesn't really matter who it's from as long as they say nice things about you. If you can get your department chair to write one, great, but rarely do these people know the applicant well enough to make it really personalized.

 

[TimmyH]

Thank you very much.
I am looking at all these program requirements. I don’t see anyone of them mention only 3 LORs. They just mention 3LORs required.

Does this mean that it is okay to send 4 letters?

 

[Doctor Bob]

Thank you very much.
I am looking at all these program requirements. I don’t see anyone of them mention only 3 LORs. They just mention 3LORs required.

Does this mean that it is okay to send 4 letters?

Ehhhh... if they say 3 are required, then send 3.

The odds that the 4th letter contains phenomenal information about you that isn't apparent elsewhere and that moves you from the uninvited to the invited pile is pretty darn small.

The odds that we look at the 4th letter and think "why did they send us an extra letter; we only asked for 3" is pretty high.

 

[TimmyH]

Ehhhh... if they say 3 are required, then send 3.

The odds that the 4th letter contains phenomenal information about you that isn't apparent elsewhere and that moves you from the uninvited to the invited pile is pretty darn small.

The odds that we look at the 4th letter and think "why did they send us an extra letter; we only asked for 3" is pretty high.

Thanks for the info

 

[Showmetheinvites]

Link for this year's google docs to keep track of invites

Last year's google doc

Good luck everyone!

 

[lostarkenthusiast]

APCCMPD (the association of pulmonary and critical care program directors) has recommended to their constituents that interviews remain virtual this year. It is up to each program to decide if they want to follow that or not.

Can Fellowship Program Directors see which of the 4 letters is from the applicants program director? I uploaded 4 (because I wanted to include the letter from my away rotation) but now I dont want my application to be filtered. I am contacting ERAS to see if I can unassign one of the letters so its 3 for all programs instead of 4. But I just wanted to know if my Program Director letter is flagged as such, as the PD letter is needed for a complete application.

Thanks

 

[Doctor Bob]

Can Fellowship Program Directors see which of the 4 letters is from the applicants program director? I uploaded 4 (because I wanted to include the letter from my away rotation) but now I dont want my application to be filtered. I am contacting ERAS to see if I can unassign one of the letters so its 3 for all programs instead of 4. But I just wanted to know if my Program Director letter is flagged as such, as the PD letter is needed for a complete application.

Thanks

Yes; when I look at the list of documents in a person's file there is a separate file type for "PD LOR" and "LOR".

Now... if you didn't designate the PD's letter as the PD letter, then it just shows up as a regular LOR and the PD LOR slot remains empty. This would be less than optimal because if I set my PDWS (program director work station) filter to only show me completed applications, yours won't show up.

To be honest, I don't know how you designate a letter as a PD letter on your end; all I know is how it shows up on my end. My guess would be in MyERAS when you create the list of letter writers, you designate one of them as your PD. And then when that person uploads their letter through LoRP it automatically falls into the PD LOR slot. But this is just a guess.

 

[rafahhh]

Hi everyone, just submitted my ERAS application. I have placed my currently ongoing research under the Research Experience section. I included a description on what each research is all about and its current status. However, I (stupidly) did not include my specific role in each research project. I was wondering how detrimental it is to have not included that. I really want to be in an academic program and I know research is quite important. Would appreciate any of your input. Thanks!

 

[doctormelatonin23]

Anyone else’s LoR taking longer than 5 business days for EFDO to process?

Mine has been taking long than 5 days. Does it matter if I upload LoR from last year?

 

[TheAlchemist007]

APCCMPD (the association of pulmonary and critical care program directors) has recommended to their constituents that interviews remain virtual this year. It is up to each program to decide if they want to follow that or not.

Doctor Bob, Thanks for answering the questions. It really helps. I am a renal fellow applying for critical care this year. How am an applicant like me looked at by the admin? Thanks

 

[Doctor Bob]

Hi everyone, just submitted my ERAS application. I have placed my currently ongoing research under the Research Experience section. I included a description on what each research is all about and its current status. However, I (stupidly) did not include my specific role in each research project. I was wondering how detrimental it is to have not included that. I really want to be in an academic program and I know research is quite important. Would appreciate any of your input. Thanks!

It will be fine. If they want to know what you did that's a question that would be asked during the interview.

Mine has been taking long than 5 days. Does it matter if I upload LoR from last year?

New LORs are always better than old LORs. When someone only has old LORs we always wonder what you've been doing for the past year or two (or more) that nobody new wants to write a letter for you.

Doctor Bob, Thanks for answering the questions. It really helps. I am a renal fellow applying for critical care this year. How am an applicant like me looked at by the admin? Thanks

Umm... complicated question. The answer, as with everything in medicine is... it depends.
So, as a graduate (or soon to be) of an ABIM subspecialty fellowship you're eligible for a one year track if the CCM program offers it (and this is important because a program is not obligated to give you a one year track). If you're applying for a one year track the program has to look at where you're coming from and decide if they want to roll the dice on being able to train you up to the level of a CCM fellow in a year. Most IM subspecialty fellowship programs aren't going to do enough ICU time to really offset the one extra year, and some do so little as to really make it a gamble. So if you're applying for a one year track you need to convince the program you're applying to that you already have a lot of ICU experience and learning and don't need the full amount of time. If you're applying to a two year track it's not as important because they're going to run you through their entire curriculum. In those cases you can talk about the extra experience you bring to the position. You'll have to have a really good answer for "why do you want to do ICU?" because we want to differentiate the people who really want to do ICU from people who are just trying to extend training by whatever means.

 

[Doctor Bob]

And so it begins. Applications become visible to the programs today (I'm excited!)

Don't worry if your application isn't complete by today; programs aren't going to be deciding who to give out interview spots to for a few weeks. Most will wait for the initial surge to die down before even downloading and looking at files. But... get it complete as soon as you can. The later in the cycle your application appears in the program's list, the more awesome the overall file needs to be.

 

[0_o]

And so it begins. Applications become visible to the programs today (I'm excited!)

Don't worry if your application isn't complete by today; programs aren't going to be deciding who to give out interview spots to for a few weeks. Most will wait for the initial surge to die down before even downloading and looking at files. But... get it complete as soon as you can. The later in the cycle your application appears in the program's list, the more awesome the overall file needs to be.

So excited! When do you think would could start expecting some interviews/communication?

 

[Doctor Bob]

So excited! When do you think would could start expecting some interviews/communication?

That's institution dependent. With CCM joining PCCM in the match last year the process was drawn out a bit. Don't expect much for a while.
You can look at last year's google document to see when programs were reported to have started sending interviews.

Link for this year's google docs to keep track of invites

Last year's google doc

Good luck everyone!

 

[fightthatebola]

And so it begins. Applications become visible to the programs today (I'm excited!)

Don't worry if your application isn't complete by today; programs aren't going to be deciding who to give out interview spots to for a few weeks. Most will wait for the initial surge to die down before even downloading and looking at files. But... get it complete as soon as you can. The later in the cycle your application appears in the program's list, the more awesome the overall file needs to be.

Appreciate it Doctor Bob, thanks for understanding the LoR processing time by EFDO is beyond our control!

 

[0_o]

Duke secondary, does everyone get this or do they filter before?

…Nvm I just read the full email

 

[sashaMD123]

UC Davis Sent Acknowledgement Email

 

[toxicmegacologne]

Hey all -- anyone have insight into the PCCM program at UCLA?

 

[Ruhma]

Is there any whatsApp group for this year's pulm/crit fellowship cycle?

 

[Hummus23]

WhatsApp group: PCCM 2023 Cycle

Just started it. Looking forward to the discussions!

 

[tarheeldoc2015]

This may have already been asked in prior threads, but if EFDO took a while to upload my letters does that look bad to fellowship programs? Furthermore, when do they actually start looking at applications? I uploaded 2/4 last Wednesday when apps opened up for programs, and uploaded the 3rd today. Thanks!

 

[PulmPolice]

Vidant Medical Center/East Carolina University Program acknowledgement email.

 

[justFORfunbby]

Have programs started sending out invites yet? I heard U of Marland has sent out invites.

 

[Showmetheinvites]

Have programs started sending out invites yet? I heard U of Marland has sent out invites.

If they did, have them update the google sheet! Google Link

 

[Laufcra]

Have programs started sending out invites yet? I heard U of Marland has sent out invites.

UPMC sent on 7/25

 

[Larons]

North Carolina Chapel Hill Rejection

 

[rafahhh]

What is the take on sending out letter of interests?

 

[TimmyH]

What is the take on sending out letter of interests?

No clue honestly
Couple of my attending are telling me to send emails. I doubt it will help.

 

[rafahhh]

No clue honestly
Couple of my attending are telling me to send emails. I doubt it will help.

I was advised by a PD of a CC program (not mine) to do so, but I was also advised by my own residency program not to do it. So im conflicted

 

[Doctor Bob]

What is the take on sending out letter of interests?

No clue honestly
Couple of my attending are telling me to send emails. I doubt it will help.

I was advised by a PD of a CC program (not mine) to do so, but I was also advised by my own residency program not to do it. So im conflicted

This is one of those things that is a very low return on investment, and can potentially be harmful.

1) I already know you're interested in my program. You applied.
2) I get 10+ of these a day.
3) I have no way of knowing that you didn't send the same letter to a bunch of other places

Many of these letters come through with clear formatting issues that reveal it's a form email and the name of my program has been cut and paste into it.
For some reason people want to refer to my (and every probably every other) program as "prestigious". My program is 3 years old. It's a fantastic place to train. It's not prestigious (maybe in a decade or two). But this word specifically shows up in nearly every email I get.

So how can this letter help? If you have some very specific tie to the area/program and can tell me specific things about my program that interest you (and not just "I looked at your website and I was really excited by it!"), then it may be useful. When I say specific tie to the area I mean just that. Telling me you have a cousin who lives two hours away... not a great tie to the area. "I grew up down the street from the hospital but moved away for college"... that's a specific tie.

And please please please... if you're sending it to a CCM program, don't say you're excited to apply to my PCCM program. They aren't the same thing.

 

[tounire]

This is one of those things that is a very low return on investment, and can potentially be harmful.

1) I already know you're interested in my program. You applied.
2) I get 10+ of these a day.
3) I have no way of knowing that you didn't send the same letter to a bunch of other places

Many of these letters come through with clear formatting issues that reveal it's a form email and the name of my program has been cut and paste into it.
For some reason people want to refer to my (and every probably every other) program as "prestigious". My program is 3 years old. It's a fantastic place to train. It's not prestigious (maybe in a decade or two). But this word specifically shows up in nearly every email I get.

So how can this letter help? If you have some very specific tie to the area/program and can tell me specific things about my program that interest you (and not just "I looked at your website and I was really excited by it!"), then it may be useful. When I say specific tie to the area I mean just that. Telling me you have a cousin who lives two hours away... not a great tie to the area. "I grew up down the street from the hospital but moved away for college"... that's a specific tie.

And please please please... if you're sending it to a CCM program, don't say you're excited to apply to my PCCM program. They aren't the same thing.

This is really helpful. Thank you

 

[TheAlchemist007]

Any updates on CCM interviews yet? Too early still?

 

[Souidan]

Any idea when the peak of the interview invitations is expected? Some programs have sent interview invites already. Not sure if someone should start getting worried or its a bit early to do so .

 

[TimmyH]

I am already panicking.
The silence is deafening.

 

[CritEM]

Any updates on CCM interviews yet? Too early still?

Ive gotten 2 CCM interviews - but neither are on the tab on the Google doc sheet that was made. My home program still hasn’t sent out interviews, I think CCM is taking longer.

 

[PropofolAndPressors]

So my PD and the ICU Director at my hospital with have both offered to call programs on my behalf. What is the etiquette for this? Should I have them call programs that invite me for interviews or should I have them just cold call the top programs I would like to match at?