Strengthening resume as resident for cards fellowship

[ElixirofLife]

I'm currently an intern at a well regarded academic IM program and looking to most likely enter cardiology to match straight into fellowship. I've not yet had the opportunity to rotate through cardiology as a resident here as I have my cards rotation towards the end of the year, but from my previous exposure to cards as a med student, this is the field I will most likely pursue.

At this point in intern year, I haven't had much advising from a cards match perspective, so was hoping I could have some input from current fellows and those who've gone through the process. Should I be looking for research at this point or engaging with my department in other ways? I've done non-cardiology research in the past but don't see myself being a "pure" academician in the future and see myself as more clinical than anything else. Other than being the best intern/resident at this time point, what else should I be doing to help prep my resume for a successful cardiology match? It seems like the only modifiers at this point are research and letters, though I'm unsure how to approach these as I haven't had the opportunity to interact much with faculty in our department. Seems like stuff like the academic reputation of my program, Step 1/2 scores and such are already locked in.

I'm currently training in the NE but most likely looking to return back to the south for family reasons and thus my top choices for programs would be THI and UTSW.

Thanks in advance for help and suggestions!

---

Members don't see this ad.

 

[IMreshopeful]

Yes, look for research and pursue ideas if you have them. publishing looks good and if you wanna stay academic you should have this in your repertoire
Strong letters of recommendation are key. Should be from people who know you well clinically.
Strong clinical evaluations and a good IM
PD letter
Connections - if you have faculty who can make calls for you and advocate for you that’s ideal
Don’t fail step 3 and don’t do significantly worse than your step 1/2
When you interview, don’t look like a sociopath

Coming from a top academic IM residency if you have this combo you will be fine.

 

[cardsguy2017]

IMO, unless a faculty is pretty close to a cards PD, I don't think it's a huge help. Just as or maybe even more important can be connections with current/future fellows at a cards program. Some programs take their fellows endorsements seriously and if they have a fellow who knows you or knows someone who has worked with you (a co-resident, chief, fellow at your IM program, etc.) that can help or hurt you, so it pays to be a good resident and good person. Even though you have no interest in academics, you still have to play the game and do research, but don't stress over publishing, coming from a good IM program helps you in this regard. Basically show your interest or dedication to the field and have something to talk about that will reflect your interest during interviews, . Also do cards rotations, though don't go overboard on it. Get to know the current fellows and attendings, fellows can be helpful if you have questions and attendings can work with your or hear about you thru fellows and use that info to write your LORs.

When the time comes, apply broadly and keep an open mind, there's a variety of programs out there that fit everyone differently, you never know which programs will click with you.

 

[MyTachyBradyHeart]

I'm currently an intern at a well regarded academic IM program and looking to most likely enter cardiology to match straight into fellowship. I've not yet had the opportunity to rotate through cardiology as a resident here as I have my cards rotation towards the end of the year, but from my previous exposure to cards as a med student, this is the field I will most likely pursue.

At this point in intern year, I haven't had much advising from a cards match perspective, so was hoping I could have some input from current fellows and those who've gone through the process. Should I be looking for research at this point or engaging with my department in other ways? I've done non-cardiology research in the past but don't see myself being a "pure" academician in the future and see myself as more clinical than anything else. Other than being the best intern/resident at this time point, what else should I be doing to help prep my resume for a successful cardiology match? It seems like the only modifiers at this point are research and letters, though I'm unsure how to approach these as I haven't had the opportunity to interact much with faculty in our department. Seems like stuff like the academic reputation of my program, Step 1/2 scores and such are already locked in.

I'm currently training in the NE but most likely looking to return back to the south for family reasons and thus my top choices for programs would be THI and UTSW.

Thanks in advance for help and suggestions!

1) You should start looking into research opportunities. Even if you ultimately end up being a clinician-educator, having research experience is necessary for fellowship applications. You should target presentations at AHA (abstracts due in June) and ACC (abstracts due in Oct) and hopefully have a manuscript submitted by applications next summer.

2) Not now, but during your PGY2 year, you certainly should look to meet with either the cardiology PD or other faculty in the department that you have worked with. Try to do as many cardiology rotations as well, with focus on consults/CCU since you get to work closely with fellows and attendings. This puts you "on the map" so to speak and can help with LOR. At my interviews, the vast majority of conversations started off with "so and so wrote you a great LOR..."

3) Other than research/LOR, the rest of your application will take care of itself, coming from a good IM program. I would suggest spending time with cardiology fellows to see if get along with them and to see if the culture of cardiology is a good fit for you.

 

[ElixirofLife]

Thanks for all who have weighed in! Regarding research opportunities, we're about 70% of the way through intern year, so would now be early still when it comes to getting plugged in for research? When it comes to finding a suitable research mentor, how were you about to go about this? I don't know any of the cards faculty yet and am not particularly close to any of the fellows as of yet. Did you just send a few messages around to random faculty to see if you could meet with them regarding research projects? Appreciate it.

 

[go lakers]

Thanks for all who have weighed in! Regarding research opportunities, we're about 70% of the way through intern year, so would now be early still when it comes to getting plugged in for research? When it comes to finding a suitable research mentor, how were you about to go about this? I don't know any of the cards faculty yet and am not particularly close to any of the fellows as of yet. Did you just send a few messages around to random faculty to see if you could meet with them regarding research projects? Appreciate it.

The "by the book" way is determine what aspects of clinical cardiology are interesting to you, develop a question worth testing, and seek faculty to develop a project.

The more facile way is determine which faculty publish frequently and are comfortable working with residents. Understand their research, approach them with an idea or two, and go from there.

And I agree with others that you need some scholarly work to buff up the CV. Things that ultimately distinguish people and move them up rank lists include who you know and how much they are willing to go to bat for you.