Starting another specialty after residency?

[rere1]

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I'm doing FM residency,I'm wondering after I'm done and be board certified,
-can I apply for match to another specialty like surgery?,

I know someone who's board certified in IM and got accepted in ophthalmology residency...

but I want to make sure what are my chances there?


thanks
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[Buzz Me]

Are you an IMG? Often we'll get posts from IMGs who didn't match into their chosen field, opted to take an FP/IM spot and then plan to "try again" later.

This is a bad, BAD idea. Very hard to do - and everyone seems to have a friend, or know of someone that did this. These cases are exceedingly rare.

 

[Doctor Bob]

I'm doing FM residency,I'm wondering after I'm done and be board certified,
-can I apply for match to another specialty like surgery?,

Can you? Yes.

Is it likely that you will match? No. There are many threads that discuss the multitudes of reasons for this.

 

[mercaptovizadeh]

Not sure if this is due to pre 1st residency issues, eg step score, rotation grades, etc., or the "taint" of being an attending and running out of Medicare training funds. We need a case control study.

I find it unfathomable that a neurosurgery residency would prefer an MS4 over, say, a neurology attending who decided to switch careers, assuming all else (scores, research, etc.) equal.

 

[NotAProgDirector]

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.

I'm doing FM residency,I'm wondering after I'm done and be board certified,
-can I apply for match to another specialty like surgery?,

I know someone who's board certified in IM and got accepted in ophthalmology residency...

but I want to make sure what are my chances there?


thanks
.
.

As others have mentioned, it can def be done. How successful you will be depends on so many factors it's impossible to say. What is certain is that you have nothing to lose -- you'll have finished an FM residency, you can apply to something else, and worst case you don't match -- all you've lost is some time and money (relatively small potatoes overall).

I find it unfathomable that a neurosurgery residency would prefer an MS4 over, say, a neurology attending who decided to switch careers, assuming all else (scores, research, etc.) equal.

First of all, it's unlikely "all things will be equal" or the OP might have applied for the other field and obtained a position the first time.

But, even if so:

1. Medicare funding is not equal, and may be a big issue.
2. Training residents who have trained in other fields can be a challenge. Some are able to go back to being "the person who follows others" rather than the one "in charge of the team". Others can't.
3. There is always a chance that the trained person will quit and go back to their 1st field.

 

[deuist]

Don't discount the Medicare training funds. For some places, training residents is so expensive that Medicare is needed to provide the funds. There are programs that will not consider applicants for this reason.