Reapplying for Psych after difficulties w/ IM. Does trad internship help?

[peepers]

---

Members don't see this ad.

Hello fellow SDNers',

I completed 5 months of IM at an ACGME program. I left on good terms with letters of recomendation for Psych. My PD and attendings I worked with recommended that I pursue Psych. I feel that I can reach a greater potential by pursuing this field as oppose to IM.
As a third year med student I was set on Psych but then got cold feet and fell back on IM. Applying to a traditional internship program would be a back up if I don't get in to a full length program. Any thoughts?

Thanks!!👍

 

[peppy]

In your situation, I think it would make more sense to apply directly to psych PGY-1 spots.

 

[peepers]

I plan on applying for Psych but I was considering a traditional intern year as a back up. I sent a PM to a fellow SDNer who was a in a similar situation but never heard from him/her.

 

[gutonc]

I plan on applying for Psych but I was considering a traditional intern year as a back up.

Doing something clinical (i.e. a TRI) if you don't match Psych is a better use of your time than doing nothing clinical. But I doubt it will be of any specific help to you other than to prove you weren't just screwing around for that year, and to hopefully get you some face time with the local psych folks during any elective time you may have.

 

[peppy]

The main reason I think the best strategy would be to focus all your application efforts on Psych is that most of these internships have a lot of IM wards and you run the risk that you'll have problems in the new internship too. If you had problems again, it's suddenly a "pattern" rather than a fluke and that could be very damaging to your future efforts to get into residency.
If you're talking about an osteopathic internship, also keep in mind that AOA programs do not count for any credit in the ACGME psych world, so you'd have to start over if you did match into psych the next year.
I do agree with gutonc that it's better to do an internship rather than doing nothing at all, so if you were to try for psych and not match then I think it would make sense to try to scramble into an internship. However since psych is since fairly non-competitive (at least if you cast a wide net and apply to a lot of programs) I think you will probably have a decent shot at getting into psych without risking the downsides of the internship.
Hope it works out for you!

 

[gutonc]

The main reason I think the best strategy would be to focus all your application efforts on Psych is that most of these internships have a lot of IM wards and you run the risk that you'll have problems in the new internship too. If you had problems again, it's suddenly a "pattern" rather than a fluke and that could be very damaging to your future efforts to get into residency.
If you're talking about an osteopathic internship, also keep in mind that AOA programs do not count for any credit in the ACGME psych world, so you'd have to start over if you did match into psych the next year.

I assumed the OP was talking about a DO TRI...an allo TY is about the most competitive match out there...somebody who essentially failed out of an IM residency wouldn't stand a chance.

Osteo TRIs OTOH routinely go begging for interns. The OP doesn't really even need to apply to one. Just go through the Match(es) for Psych and if s/he doesn't Match and fails in the scramble(s), then snap up whatever Osteo TRI they can get and move forward...at least for a year.

Also, assume that it will be nothing more than a clinical job for the year and maybe a chance to met a Psych PD who will take a chance on him/her the following year.

 

[Doctor Bagel]

It's so hard to know in these situations because most of us haven't been there or haven't seen applicants with this background. Is there someone you could contact from your psychiatry program at your medical school? I'd suspect they'd give you the best advice for your application, and maybe they might even be interested in taking you into their program.

As for applications, I agree with focusing on psych with an internship as a backup if you don't match. The whole TRI versus transitional year is a good question -- an allopathic transitional year probably isn't a realistic option, but a TRI sucks in that it doesn't count as an internship for a psych residency. I agree with applying broadly, and I'd also look at programs that aren't super resident dependent. Some programs even advertise as being "resident independent" in that the program can function completely without residents. My guess is that those programs would be more likely to take someone who might struggle as an intern (not saying you will struggle, but people might ask questions) because the whole program wouldn't be affected by one person not doing as well. Psych is still not that competitive, so provided you have a good application strategy and don't have other red flag issues, I think you've got a good shot.