Hi,
I am board certified internist and geriatrician and interested to do EM residency. Can some one guide me about possibility of getting em residency position? or what's my chances. My area of interest geriatric emergency medicine.
Regards
Getting a residency position is certainly attainable. But there are caveats to that. Some significantly huge caveats.
Program directors generally want to educate. They want to make sure that you really want to do residency again and will complete it. I'm not asking you questions, but you are going to need to have ready and real answers for why.
The first: Why? You've completed a residency. You've probably done a fellowship. You've been practicing for some period of time. What do you hope to add by becoming an EP? While geriatrics in the ED is an interesting field, what you do for EM or what does EM do for you? Most of our population is elderly with multiple medical problems. We don't see them repeatedly and we don't really worry about their chronic stuff.
Second: Can you really do a second residency? You've been working a ninish to fivish schedule for an attending physician salary. Can you drop back to resident's pay while working resident hours? There will likely not be significant opportunities to moonlight, for at least 2 years. You have to look at your debt and family obligations to see if it realistic. You future PD not want you dropping out when you can't afford it or can't take it.
Third: Can you be a resident again? I'm not talking about work hours. I'm talking about stepping back into the role of intern. You probably will get some credit for an IM residency, but you will have to go back to taking orders and doing things someone else's way, even if you think they are totally and completely wrong.
Fourth: Logistics - You've used up your funding. You have to find a PD who is willing to fund you, at least partially. At the same time, you may be a able to secure an extra match position.
Fifth: Scores - You need to have been fairly competitive. How long you've been out of residency will be a factor, just as if you had graduated medical school some time ago.
Here is what I would do if I were in your shoes: I'd figure out why I wanted to do this. I'd think long and hard about the logistics and feasibility. Then, I'd contact the PD at my local teaching hospital. Preferably an EM director, but I think even an IM director could give you some advice, and ask them what they think of your application.
