Thinking of Switching Season?

[clement]

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Couple of questions...

1) So it seems most people consider a switch in the winter of intern year and positions crop up around January...But I ALSO see positions opening up NOW of either prelims that don't want to start in their chosen field this year or people leaving categorical programs...Isn't it scary to tell a PD you're leaving with four weeks notice? I'm sure a nice PD won't give you a bad letter if you're a decent resident...I see people in the frenzy to switch these days. esp as the year winds down...So are there two peaks in the switching season, january and now?

2) Is it bad to take a year off after intern year? I'm told it doesn't look bad in the way it does when you have a gap in med school education.. After all, most programs understand you are switching specialties, so why continue in your original field and not get credit while applying again? Plus it would be a pain to find time to interview if you're still in residency...Plus you could do research...But yeah, loan interest will mount...Of course, it's not worse than being in a lifetime of specialty you hate.

3) Also, I don't get this whole funding thing I just learned about. I know of people that have completed 2 years of a residency that was 4 years long and then switched to start as a pgy1 at another specialty that was 3 years long...Won't they be risking losing a year of funding? So I don't think it's impossible, but then I keep reading or learning about how the "clock" for acgme funding is set when you FIRST start residency, that if you start a 4-year long residency you are funded for four years TOTAL...If you switch to a 3 year long residency after 2 years, it would create funding problems for the new program you start....This mean you really do need to take a year off after intern year if you decide to switch now?

 

[Law2Doc]

Couple of questions...

1) So it seems most people consider a switch in the winter of intern year and positions crop up around January...But I ALSO see positions opening up NOW of either prelims that don't want to start in their chosen field this year or people leaving categorical programs...Isn't it scary to tell a PD you're leaving with four weeks notice? I'm sure a nice PD won't give you a bad letter if you're a decent resident...I see people in the frenzy to switch these days. esp as the year winds down...So are there two peaks in the switching season, january and now?

2) Is it bad to take a year off after intern year? I'm told it doesn't look bad in the way it does when you have a gap in med school education.. After all, most programs understand you are switching specialties, so why continue in your original field and not get credit while applying again? Plus it would be a pain to find time to interview if you're still in residency...Plus you could do research...But yeah, loan interest will mount...Of course, it's not worse than being in a lifetime of specialty you hate.

3) Also, I don't get this whole funding thing I just learned about. I know of people that have completed 2 years of a residency that was 4 years long and then switched to start as a pgy1 at another specialty that was 3 years long...Won't they be risking losing a year of funding? So I don't think it's impossible, but then I keep reading or learning about how the "clock" for acgme funding is set when you FIRST start residency, that if you start a 4-year long residency you are funded for four years TOTAL...If you switch to a 3 year long residency after 2 years, it would create funding problems for the new program you start....This mean you really do need to take a year off after intern year if you decide to switch now?

1. People usually try to make switches starting on July 1 because programs are on July to July calendars, give or take a week. If someone bails in the winter, that usually means there was an issue or an unforeseen opening. but it's logistically complicated to just add a new trainee mid year.

2. Gaps in the resume always look bad. How bad depends on the reasons. But it always looks better to keep yourself doing something clinical rather than stop, have a year during which your new skills wane, and then try to pick up where you left off.

3. ACGME funding drops after the number of years of your original residency, but you still get funded a portion of a year. This may make you less marketable to some programs, but some would rather have partial funding and a full residency program rather than fewer warm bodies.

 

[clement]

1. People usually try to make switches starting on July 1 because programs are on July to July calendars, give or take a week. If someone bails in the winter, that usually means there was an issue or an unforeseen opening. but it's logistically complicated to just add a new trainee mid year.

2. Gaps in the resume always look bad. How bad depends on the reasons. But it always looks better to keep yourself doing something clinical rather than stop, have a year during which your new skills wane, and then try to pick up where you left off.

3. ACGME funding drops after the number of years of your original residency, but you still get funded a portion of a year. This may make you less marketable to some programs, but some would rather have partial funding and a full residency program rather than fewer warm bodies.

On #1, no I wasn't saying people bail in the winter, but they would let their PD know by January or so that they're going to start looking to find something by July 1 of that same year...Then you have the group that decide in June of that same year rather than Jan that they want to peace out. In which case the PD has four weeks to advertise. That would prob piss of a PD but if they were a resident in good standing, really, the PD can't write anything bad about them in their letter, even with short notice...I would think.

On #2, agreed that gaps are generally not a good idea. But if you decide you're switching from OB/GYN to path...Why would you do another year of OB/GYN, limiting your interview time and not getting credit? I doubt the path programs would look down on that- so long as you didn't lay around the couch and watch Jerry Springer all day for a year and have a decent letter of good standing from your OB/GYN PD. Am I wrong?

 

[clement]

bump...anyone else have thoughts?