Transferring between EM residency programs

[thesquarepeg]

Hi colleagues. I know the question of "Can I transfer to another EM program?" has been asked before, but it seems to have usually pertained to personal reasons. I'm thinking of transferring for professional reasons.

I decided on EM late in the game in fourth year and didn't really know what I was doing when I applied. I matched into a decent, not-very-competitive MD community program, but would like to work in the west somewhere (where family is) when I'm done.

Thing is, jobs in my home area are extremely competitive, and I'm concerned that with my training I will have limited job options. I'm considering whether I could transfer into an academic EM program (possibly even a four year program) that would make me more competitive for jobs in the future. I didn't apply to any four-year programs in the match, as I thought I wouldn't want the extra year of wage loss. Now I think the extra year could be very useful, as many of the out-of-state attendings back home attended four-year institutions.

Not sure how to approach this without burning bridges at my current program. Thank you very much for any useful advice.

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[fahimaz7]

Hi colleagues. I know the question of "Can I transfer to another EM program?" has been asked before, but it seems to have usually pertained to personal reasons. I'm thinking of transferring for professional reasons.

I decided on EM late in the game in fourth year and didn't really know what I was doing when I applied. I matched into a decent, not-very-competitive MD community program, but would like to work in the west somewhere (where family is) when I'm done.

Thing is, jobs in my home area are extremely competitive, and I'm concerned that with my training I will have limited job options. I'm considering whether I could transfer into an academic EM program (possibly even a four year program) that would make me more competitive for jobs in the future. I didn't apply to any four-year programs in the match, as I thought I wouldn't want the extra year of wage loss. Now I think the extra year could be very useful, as many of the out-of-state attendings back home attended four-year institutions.

Not sure how to approach this without burning bridges at my current program. Thank you very much for any useful advice.

You can get a job into any private group from a 3 or 4 year residency. Academia is different, as they want people with either a 3 year training + experience or a 4 year residency (so that the PGY4 isn't supervised by a newly minted attending who was a PGY3 the year before). Make sense? If you want to be competitive then do well in residency, have good letters, and try and network to the place you want a year ahead (and possibly rotate there for an elective).

 

[gman33]

Finding a transfer spot is very difficult.

Your thinking is way off.

Just be a great resident.
If you want academics a fellowship would help you more. They are easy to get, because most residents don't want one.

 

[Fox800]

Someone would have to leave their home program to find you a spot - this is very unlikely. Don't count on this happening. Every EM residency slot filled this year.

Work hard, finish your training. Look for jobs back home. Maybe think about a fellowship closer to home if that might help you. Most EM-based fellowships are not that hard to get into and if you did fellowship in the area you want to work, that's built-in networking and time to job-hunt right there. Plus it'd help get an academic job.

 

[thesquarepeg]

Good advice so far, appreciate it a lot. Thank you.

 

[emergentmd]

Don't sweat it. If something falls in your lap, go for it. No reason to waste time cold calling, but that is likely your best choice.

When its time to get a job, make connections into the hard to penetrate city. If not, there will be a job with likely better pay within 30 miles. At the end of the day the vast majority of ED docs works in the city they want to live.

 

[Angry Birds]

Here's the thing: you need to notify your PD before you ever contact another program. Once you contact your PD, your program will frantically look to replace you. If they replace you, and you don't find another program to match into, guess who is out on the street?

So, this is risky. I agree with what was said by others above.

 

[Tenk]

Just finish your residency while networking like crazy at ACEP and also through recruiters. Just tell them you only want to work at X location and to only come to you with offers from there. That's how I found my job!

 

[The White Coat Investor]

I'd stay where you are and use other methods to get your desired job. Transferring is a big deal for the old program, the new program, and you. And it's pretty tough to transfer into a better program because they don't tend to have openings. That said, in my class of 11 we had one doc get kicked out, another doc transfer to a different program for personal reasons, and a doc come from a program that lost accreditation to replace that doc. So transfers do happen, even into good programs, but it's not very common and nobody is going to help you out much for your reasoning.

 

[enalli]

As others have said, it's best if you stay where you are and perform well.

If you really want to transfer, the first step is looking for vacancies. SAEM and CORD both maintain lists of these:
Residency Vacancy Services
https://www.cordem.org/i4a/pages/index.cfm?pageid=4082

There seem to be more vacancies advertised than usual. In any case, you'd need a much better reason for transferring than your current one for anyone to take you seriously.