Pulmonary Critical Care Fellowship Thread 2018-2019

[R94]

US IMG
1- research: Retrospective Study: Poster presentation at IUTLD
2- posters or oral presentation: 3 Posters 1 Oral Presentation
3- Did you do a year of sleep medicine prior to applying: No
4- your residency program: Community Hospital
5- How many invitations you received : 10 (went on 9)
6- USMLE score: 234/236/231
7- where did you match? University Program

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[Bbllr34311]

US medical grad

1) Research: 1 ongoing/primary/not published 2 ongoing QI/primary/not published
2) Papers: 2 published case report presentations in low impact journals
3) Posters: 3 local /1 regional/1 national (ATS)
4) Oral: 1 local presentation/1 national (CHEST-won section presentation)
5) Didnt do sleep prior
6) large community program
7) 5 invitations went to all
8) 243/236/209
9) Matched to academic program in Texas

 

[Doccrit]

IMG on VISA

1) Research: 1 retrospective review not published.
2) Papers: 8 published case report presentations in low impact journals
3) Posters: 0 local /2 regional/4 national (ATS)
4) Oral: None
5) Did do sleep prior
6) Residency: a large community program in northeast
7) 20 invitations went to 18
8) 249/257/229
9) Matched to university program in mid-west

 

[zhangcd07]

IMG need H1b

1) Research: Retrospective cohort study
2) Papers: around 10 prior to starting residency, and 1 pending manuscript from current research
3) Posters: 0 local /2 regional/3 national (ATS Rapid session and Chest posters)
4) Oral: Got one invite to present our research on international conference, however could not go due to schedule and visa
5) Did not do sleep before
6) Residency: a large community program in Midwest
7) applied to 66 including 10 CCM only programs, got 8 invitations (including 3 from CCM), attended 7
8) 257/241/220
9) prematched to university CCM program. (Lucky that I took the prematch, I don’t think I would match with 5 PCCM IVs. I am not a pulm person anyway. But if you really like pulm and is on H1b visa, get your green card first. With all the AMGs trying to get into this specialty and current immigration environment, H1b will harm your chance significantly)

 

[Smashingdude]

IMG

1)Research - Few case reports, 1 in CHEST, 1 in QI project
2)Didn't do sleep but was a chief
3)Residency - community program
4)Applied to 130, got around 25 interviews, went to 20, ranked 17
5)Steps: 250's
6)Matched to a university program on the east coast

I am surprised actually. I matched at my number 10! Like, I was so sure about some of the top 5 programs but I don't know what happened. Was this season very competitive? Am I the only one with this experience or other guys also matched down the list?

 

[PCCMapplicant]

US-IMG (caribbean)

1. research: 1st author retrospective, submitted not published. QI project
2. posters, etc: 2 national case reports. 1 local case report. 1 local grand rounds
3. sleep: chief resident, no sleep
4. residency: university program
5. invitations/interviews: applied to ~100 programs, ~25 invites, went on 15
6. steps: 215/250/240
7. matched: university program

matched at my #1. Know a handful of people with similar applications as me who also all matched in their top 3. A few things I think are true after going through the process:

# the 2 most important things for getting interviews are 1. grad status (USMD vs DO vs US-IMG vs foreign-IMG) and 2. residency program
# regionality also matters - I got interviews at better programs near my residency program and nothing from lower-tier programs farther away
# the interview day definitely matters for how programs rank you. Your paper app gets you the interview, your personality gets you ranked highly

These takeaways are nothing new, and are consistent with the NRMP program directors survey results, but from my (and others I know) experience are definitely true.

 

[deleted554740]

Does anyone know which programs went unfilled? Curious. I heard there were six spots compared to 4 last year.

 

[PCCMapplicant]

Does anyone know which programs went unfilled? Curious. I heard there were six spots compared to 4 last year.

according to the NRMP document available to everyone that went through the match

Mayo Scottsdale, AZ - 0/2 filled
Detroit Medical Center/WSU, MI - 0/1 filled for clinical educator track
Stony Brook, NY - 2/4 filled
Penn State, PA - 2/3 filled

 

[thismedicinelife]

US grad
1- research: a couple ongoing projects, no pubs
2- posters or oral presentation: 1 poster, 1 oral
3- Did you do a year of sleep medicine prior to applying: No
4- your residency program: univ program
5- How many invitations you received : 20ish
6- USMLE score: 230s/250s/250s
7- where did you match? univ prog

matched at my #5. dropped a bit further than i thought, but thankful in retrospect when beginning of intern year all i wanted to do was match somewhere.

 

[hassaanmd123]

IMG
1. 2 poster presentations at ATS etc
2. 5 pubmed publications (4 case report one review article)
3. No chief or sleep
4. 240 251 206
5. Applied to 126 programs, interviewed at 4 (idk what happened)
6. Matched at first choice. University program

 

[benfolds21]

AMG
1- research: MD/PhD, extensive research, both clinically and basic science, not a significant amount of publications (<5)
2- posters or oral presentation: several poster and oral presentations at regional, national and international conferences
3- Did you do a year of sleep medicine prior to applying: No
4- your residency program: University program
5- How many invitations you received : Went overboard and applied to 40ish programs, probably got about 25-30 invites, went on 13 interviews
6- USMLE score: 230s/250s/230s
7- where did you match? University program, my #2.

Overall I would have been happy at any of my top 5 programs and I had a hard time deciding between by number 1 and number 2. My gut told me to move my #2 to the top but because of other life factors (e.g. significant other preference) I put another program first but ultimately didn't match there. After the initial ego hit I am very happy with the result.

 

[Hopefuls2015]

Looking for some feedback / suggestions. Anyone who matched on their second time around what did you do differently ? How did you enhance your application ?

Thank you

 

[CHECKMATE@island]

Looking for some feedback / suggestions. Anyone who matched on their second time around what did you do differently ? How did you enhance your application ?

Thank you

Well, I think the big questions you have to ask yourself, is how interested are you in palm crit? Also, we need to know, your visa status, scores and research, I think to advise you. I would definitely recommend applying to straight pulmonology or CC only programs in addition to applying broadly for PCC, if you really love it.

 

[Sofpul]

IMG needing H1b

1) Research: 3 (one basic science, one retrospective analysis, one narrative review in basic science)
2) Papers: around 10 including original research articles and case reports
3) Posters: around 15 presentations in ATS/CHEST/SCCM
4) Oral: 3 oral presentations at SCCM/CHEST
5) Did not do sleep or chief before
6) Residency: community program
7) applied to 50 programs (based on whether they sponsored H1B)-> got 11 interviews. Ranked 8.
8) 241/257/220
9) Where did you match: University Program for PCCM

 

[Hopefuls2015]

Well, I think the big questions you have to ask yourself, is how interested are you in palm crit? Also, we need to know, your visa status, scores and research, I think to advise you. I would definitely recommend applying to straight pulmonology or CC only programs in addition to applying broadly for PCC, if you really love it.

I am US citizen, from IMG medical school finishing residency in a small-ish university program. I have multiple posters at CHEST, ATS, first author publications. Scores are average. At this point I am not sure what is the best course of action - teaching faculty position vs chief resident at a different institution (my program doesn’t have fellowship) vs hospitalist.

 

[drpulmcritdo]

DO applicant - matched MD pulm/crit

1- research: how many, what type, published or not ? 1 book chapter in a reference book used by med students for pulm/crit rotations
2- posters or oral presentation ? 1 national poster, not PCCM related
3- Did you do a year of sleep medicine prior to applying/chief resident: no sleep, but am chief at my program
4- your residency program( university vs community): community
5- How many invitations you received? applied to 82 (mix DO and MD), heard back 22, went on 6 only (personal)
6- USMLE score: took COMLEX, mid 500, mid 500, high 600
7- where did you match? #1 MD University spot

Interview and a rotation 100% helped me get me the spot. My personality fit perfectly with fellows and attendings and they saw my work ethic while there. Frequently went back for their didactic sessions on my vacation time/time off/post call which they noticed.

 

[fiznat]

DO applicant (applied only to ACGME PCCM programs)

1- research: couple ongoing projects, nothing published
2- posters or oral presentation: one poster submitted and waiting, none yet performed
3- chief resident, no sleep
4- your residency program (university vs community): university (ACGME)
5- How many invitations you received: applied to 30, invited to 16, attended 10
6- USMLE score: 235/245. COMLEX level 3: 708
7- where did you match? university program, # 5 on my list, a bit surprised considering some of the feedback I got from those I ranked higher but I'm happy nonetheless.

For future DO applicants reading this: I really don't know what impact being a DO made on this process, if any. I had a couple things going for me including chief year at a decent university medicine program, but not much to speak of as far as research. Nobody asked about my DO degree at any point in the process. Other people in my residency class with similar profiles (but MDs) seemed to do a little better with invites, but who knows. This process seemed to me to be pretty opaque, perhaps even more so than the main residency match.

 

[StayHumble]

US IMG - matched Pulm/Crit

1. Research: 1 publication on an online board review site, bunch of abstract submissions
2. 2 poster presentations
3. 3rd year chief resident, no sleep
4. Community hospital, decent size
5. 4 IVs. Applied to like 40 places; feel like this was a low # of invites compared to colleagues
6. USMLE: low 230s
7. Matched at my #2 spot in a great location, very happy

This was my 2nd try; didn't match last year (had more IVs at more prestigious programs), and was initially discouraged to see the lack of invites this year. As advice to those who didn't match, a year of hospitalist is not bad at all, turned out to be a huge blessing for me (especially since I had a kid this year); you make good $ to pay loans/make fellow life easier with some savings and you learn a totally different skill set as an attending (I feel confident this will pay big dividends as a fellow).

Stick with it if it's what you love to do; I felt like it was my calling, and began to question it. In the end, you'll end up exactly where you are meant to be. Good luck to those still grinding!