switch to IM...too late?

[TBforme]

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i was deciding between IM and radiology, finally decided to go with radiology and submitted my application. after spending some more time in radiology this month, i am becoming comvinced i picked the wrong specialty and want to do IM. is it too late? could i still submit applications to internal medicine this year and have a decent shot? does anyone have any experience with this?

 

[48 hours]

i was deciding between IM and radiology, finally decided to go with radiology and submitted my application. after spending some more time in radiology this month, i am becoming comvinced i picked the wrong specialty and want to do IM. is it too late? could i still submit applications to internal medicine this year and have a decent shot? does anyone have any experience with this?

I'm sorry to say that I don't have any actual experience with this, per se. So maybe others could be more helpful to you?

But, I do think that it is NOT too late to apply to IM if that is really what you want to do. It sounds like you already have your CAF completed. So, all you have to do is tweek your PS for IM and get some IM LOR, right?

The only thing that might be difficult for you (depending on your intitution) is to obtain an IM Chairman's Dept Letter which is required by most IM programs. Though, maybe you already got one if you were applying to IM prelim spots for radiology? I don't know.

Hope that helps a little. And good luck.

 

[Mumpu]

You have until the end of the ERAS application period to get your stuff in. Later application will probably mean later interviews but that shouldn't matter (you might want to mention something about your last-minute change of heart in your PS or during the interviews so you don't look like a total slacker though 🙂). Good luck!

 

[TBforme]

thanks for the replies guys, they are reassuring.

 

[uscimdoc]

Depending on what type of IM program you are looking for, that is going to be your limiting factor. Smaller institutions will be easier to apply later versus the larger academic institutions. I love my program, Palmetto Health Alliance/ University of South Carolina. The program is small, but very personal. It has an amazing amount of pathology between the main site (Palmetto Richland Memorial Hospital, PRMH) and the William Jennings Bryan Dorn VA Hospital, and the attending physicians are top notch and very approachable. The salary and benefits are some of the best in the Southeast, and we have an amazing track record at fellowship placement. Hope this helps. Good luck.

 

[Hudson]

I was in this same situation. Applied to radiology and then decided against it during a rads elective in favor of IM. Can't remember if it was this late. Anyway, still did not have much problem. If you have good numbers(good enough to match in rads), then you will be more than competitive in IM. I would call programs that you want to interview in since it is a little late. I would also make sure that programs do not confuse your prelim/transitional application materials with your categorical IM materials (this happened to me in a few places). I would go and meet in person with your IM program director to see how applying a little later will effect you. Feel free to PM me with any questions.

If it is any reassurance, I am very glad I chose IM, radiology just was not for me, it is better that you discover that now.

 

[TBforme]

thanks, hudson. i ended up submitting IM applications the last week of september. i have had a great response so far with lots of interview offers. so i am pretty reassured that my dabbling in radiology won't have too much of an effect on my application. i may have to explain myself a little on the interview trail, but all of my IM advisors seem to think it is not a big deal. they said i'm a 4th yr medical student, it's okay for it to take a little while to find the right specialty. radiology just was not for me either, i like seeing patients a lot more than i previously thought, and i am so so happy that i discovered it before it really became difficult to change.