Time for a killer question.

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Faebinder

Slow Wave Smurf
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Alright time for a killer question. I hope we got recent applicants around here that are capable of answering this.

How many programs did you apply to, and at what number did you match at?

I'm trying to figure out how competitive is the sleep medicine match now.

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Alright time for a killer question. I hope we got recent applicants around here that are capable of answering this.

How many programs did you apply to, and at what number did you match at?

I'm trying to figure out how competitive is the sleep medicine match now.

There is no formal match system for sleep medicine thus far.

There is 59 ACGME accredited sleep fellowship programs and about 100 to 120 total spots per year. I applied to about 20 programs and recieved 10 interviews. MOst places who did not interview me sent me letters that they filled their spots internally.

I recieved 2 offers.
 
There is no formal match system for sleep medicine thus far.

There is 59 ACGME accredited sleep fellowship programs and about 100 to 120 total spots per year. I applied to about 20 programs and recieved 10 interviews. MOst places who did not interview me sent me letters that they filled their spots internally.

I recieved 2 offers.

Also, to add. The places that did not offer me a spot matched their own residents in at least 2/3 of the time.

Sleep Medicine has become very popular among all specialties who are eligible to apply. To my surprise, it was a very competitive fellowship to get. I am glad I matched.
 
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Also, to add. The places that did not offer me a spot matched their own residents in at least 2/3 of the time.

Sleep Medicine has become very popular among all specialties who are eligible to apply. To my surprise, it was a very competitive fellowship to get. I am glad I matched.

I was about to ask... how do you rate yourself honestly. Low or moderately or highly competitive on paper? Thanks for coming out of the woods. :biglove:
 
I was about to ask... how do you rate yourself honestly. Low or moderately or highly competitive on paper? Thanks for coming out of the woods. :biglove:

moderate to highly competitive
 
moderate to highly competitive

And that confirms it to me that it is moderately competitive. mmm. I wouldn't be surprised to see a match setup for it in the future.
 
And that confirms it to me that it is moderately competitive. mmm.

Based on an N=1 sample size?

Not very strong statistics, doctor . . . ;)

Nevertheless, I'd agree with your "moderately competitive" assessment. There are going to be some people who don't get a slot, but I suspect not too many.
 
Based on an N=1 sample size?

Not very strong statistics, doctor . . . ;)

Nevertheless, I'd agree with your "moderately competitive" assessment. There are going to be some people who don't get a slot, but I suspect not too many.

Agreed. :bow: However, it's all I got till more people come out of the woodwork. Still judging by what was said... 10 of the 20 places self recruit.. that's a moderately competitive fellowship and considering he is moderate to highly competitive... with only 2 offers... That's somewhat significant but lower than what i would expect (2 of 20 is 10%!! 2.5% is the limit). It tells me that currently it's not a walk in the park. I'd love to hear from more fellows.
 
Agreed. :bow: However, it's all I got till more people come out of the woodwork. Still judging by what was said... 10 of the 20 places self recruit.. that's a moderately competitive fellowship and considering he is moderate to highly competitive... with only 2 offers... That's somewhat significant (2 of 20 is 10%!! 2.5% is the limit). It tells me that currently it's not a walk in the park. I'd love to hear from more fellows.

I think that sleep medicine is a competitive specialty to get, probably mod to high. Just to give you an idea, I encountered many neurologists who had already done a year of neurophysiology and now were applying for sleep with excellent credentials, research, etc... I met an ENT resident with excellent credentials, IM residents that looked very good on paper who could have gotten any competitive IM specialties like GI, Cardio etc..., pulm/cc fellows who looked real good on paper. I met 3 psych residents from good schools, scores and credentials etc...

It definitely was not a walk in the park! Thats why I was very surprised...

Although, all these people looked really good on paper and I am sure they all landed a spot, the one thing that programs look for is evidence that you really are interested in sleep and not just for the cush lifestyle and $$$. This is true for everything else in life. There is no point spending the rest of your doing something you don't really care about.
 
I think that sleep medicine is a competitive specialty to get, probably mod to high. Just to give you an idea, I encountered many neurologists who had already done a year of neurophysiology and now were applying for sleep with excellent credentials, research, etc... I met an ENT resident with excellent credentials, IM residents that looked very good on paper who could have gotten any competitive IM specialties like GI, Cardio etc..., pulm/cc fellows who looked real good on paper. I met 3 psych residents from good schools, scores and credentials etc....

I'm interested in Sleep Med and am applying to Neuro Residencies. I'd like to do private practice and also I like a community based program without a sleep med fellowship. Do you all think it'll make much of a difference if I go to a community based neuro program over others more well known?

Thanks! :)
 
I'm interested in Sleep Med and am applying to Neuro Residencies. I'd like to do private practice and also I like a community based program without a sleep med fellowship. Do you all think it'll make much of a difference if I go to a community based neuro program over others more well known?

Thanks! :)

:hijacked:
 
Sorry, did not mean to 'hijack' your thread... I thought my question was relevant to the topic. If someone can answer it thanks!
 
Does it matter what your background is? I know people from all walks of life (Psyche, Neuro, Medicine, Pulm, ENT, etc) apply, are certain abckgrounds looked upon more favorably than others? thanks in advance
 
Overall, a pulmonary background is looked upon most favorably, especially over someone who just did general internal medicine or family practice. There are some programs that are biased towards psychiatrists and neurologists. There are a couple of child sleep fellowships that take primarily peds. I'm not too sure about ENT.

By the way, my background is internal medicine/psychiatry. At the time, that gave me an advantage over psychiatrists and made my chances about equal to those of pulmonologists.
 
The vast majority of programs take internal applicants. I come from a Med/Psych background - had a pub in sleep medicine, did a Chief year in both Psych and IM. I think I am fairly competitive but not nearly as "gunned out" as my co-chiefs who applied to GI and Cards. If things "don't go right" this March with Medicaid/Medicare ruling re: at home cpap titration - the revenue stream is going to take a hit. Applications will go down, I am sure. Personally, my patients can't figure out how to use Advair right, so I bet they won't understand the equipment and/or get an equivocal result that will need to be refined by a sleep doc (maybe this is just wishful thinking). My advice - target a program and show them how good you are. Do an away rotation, get some research going with one of the docs.
 
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