transferring after PGY1 year?

[tr]

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Hi everyone,

I need a little bit of advice about this.

I am a PGY-I. I matched into a program very far away from the area where I grew up and did all of my training (from undergrad on up). Part of this was for personal reasons, and part of it a feeling that I just needed to get away and experience something new. (I was a fairly strong candidate, my specialty is not too competitive, I was recruited heavily by a number of top programs - incl phone calls with the magic words, "ranked to match" - and the program where I am was my first choice.)

Anyway I am not super-happy with my decision. The program is OK but I just really miss all my family and friends and I am not sure this area of the country is for me.

I am seriously considering trying to transfer back to my home program or to another program in my home city. I was pretty heavily recruited at home as well but I did not rank them first (even though they are considered a stronger program than the one I did rank).

I was wondering what people thought about this, and if you had any advice about what the protocol is. Do I call the program director? or email the chief resident, whom I met when I intereviewed last year? A twist is that the program director I met with when I interviewed left and there is now an interim director whom I don't know.

And when/what do I tell the PD where I am now? Should I wait until I have more information or let him know now that I am thinking about making a switch?

 

[Pir8DeacDoc]

I can't give you specific ideas but maybe I can help a little bit.....


Without giving information you don't want to share, what is your speciality? or how many years is your residency? The answers you get will vary I would imagine based on this. I.e. if you are NSurg and have 6 more years at a place, that's different than 2 more years with family med.


To me as an outsider it sounds like you might just be going through that low point of intern year. Far from home, crappy hours, everyone tells you what to do, etc. I can relate. I grew up exclusively in the south and moved and am now doing my residency in northern New England. Change of pace, damn right. But it's fun to broaden and expand your horizons. See if you can stick with it and if not, then be honest with all parties involved. Your current PD would probably be helpful if you were honest with them about your reasons.

 

[buckley]

I have heard of people doing it before, everyone of them had the blessing of their current PD. It would be hard to coordinate the transfer, I can imagine, if you are not sure if there's a vacancy to where you are actually transferring so I would check on that. It would be easier of course if you're just doing a prelim year.
Think a lot about it though because ou wont want to come across as wishy washy to any PD when it come to your decisions. And ou aways want to have them on your side, no matter what.
Should you decide to really leave your program, I will advise you to schedule a one-on-one wth your PD even before letting anyone else know. Emphasize personal reasons as to why you are leaving and remain grateful for the opportunity you've had with them.
Good luck!

 

[tr]

Without giving information you don't want to share, what is your speciality? or how many years is your residency? The answers you get will vary I would imagine based on this. I.e. if you are NSurg and have 6 more years at a place, that's different than 2 more years with family med.

It's a four-year residency. I am really feeling bad at the thought of three more years in this part of the country.

To me as an outsider it sounds like you might just be going through that low point of intern year. Far from home, crappy hours, everyone tells you what to do, etc.

You know what's funny, I can't even say that's true. My hours have been great and everyone I've worked with has been very supportive. The far from home thing applies, but the rest not so much. Actually part of the reason I chose this area of the country is because I felt it would be calmer and less stressful. All that is actually true, but I find myself missing the energetic vibe of my original area and institution.

I can relate. I grew up exclusively in the south and moved and am now doing my residency in northern New England. Change of pace, damn right. But it's fun to broaden and expand your horizons. See if you can stick with it and if not, then be honest with all parties involved.

That's the thing about sticking with it... I figured I would give myself a few months to see if I could acclimate. I am pretty conservative at heart and don't adjust well to change (and this is a big change). But it's been a few months and I'm still not too happy, and if I wait much longer I won't have the option to leave. I know many programs keep a couple of slots for PGY-IIs (our program always adds a few people after the intern year) but those slots might be going/gone pretty quickly.

Your current PD would probably be helpful if you were honest with them about your reasons.

Yeah, the PD here seems pretty nice. So you think I should talk with him before I start talking to PDs in my home city?

 

[Alphaman006]

Would anyone be able to advise me on retrieving my original ERAS file? I am attenpting to transfer from my current residency program to another for social reasons and I need to forward the new program a copy of my old ERAS app. I have registered on ERAS with a new token but have been unable to locate my old file. Is there a specific location on ERAS that I should be looking? Thanks for any advice you can offer.