Transferring residencies after 2 years.

[Poro]

Hi everyone,

I have been pondering on my future options and have been having trouble figuring things out with my girlfriend. (Due to circumstances we do not want to spend any time apart.) I will begin med school 2016 and she will be coming with me. She will then apply to schools within 30 min during my 2nd year putting us 2 years apart in our cycles.

She does not like the city in which my school resides in and would like to leave it asap. So she doesn't want to do her residency there or else we would be there 10 years. So now I am left with a few options:
1. defer 1 year + 1 year fellowship at my school to graduate 6 years from now (she applies for 2018 spots and we graduate at the same time and do couple matching residency)
2. I take 2 years off of med school graduation and apply couple matching with her
3. Go to residency and apply for another program with her 2 years from now.

Option 1 is risky because the fellowship program is pretty competitive.
Option 2 is risky because I remember reading somewhere that match rates drop significantly for people who apply with gap years? (I could be wrong)
Option 3 is risky because I don't know if this is even possible or how it would be looked upon. (I assume there are people who switch specialties. Not sure I would want to switch but if it is necessary...)

It would be way too selfish of me to ask her to wait 4 years to apply especially when she's already sacrificing 2 years. Also if she doesnt get in her first attempt (she has decent stats and EC's) she could apply again and defer acceptance 1 year. Then I could apply to all the programs near her school for residency and there would be no problem.

Without having entered medical school yet I cannot think of any other options out there that do not include separation of us.

Could I get some input or some advice in the realities of these options? (thinking and theorizing is easy)

Thanks in advance!

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[Bacchus]

Whatever you do, remember this from the ACGME:

"the final year 2 years of education must be in the same location"

When I google this, I only find this in the GS bylaws. I'm not sure if it applies to other specialties. I have been told it does by my PD and co-residents but I can't find anything online to substantiate it.

 

[Law2Doc]

Hi everyone,

I have been pondering on my future options and have been having trouble figuring things out with my girlfriend. (Due to circumstances we do not want to spend any time apart.) I will begin med school 2016 and she will be coming with me. She will then apply to schools within 30 min during my 2nd year putting us 2 years apart in our cycles.

She does not like the city in which my school resides in and would like to leave it asap. So she doesn't want to do her residency there or else we would be there 10 years. So now I am left with a few options:
1. defer 1 year + 1 year fellowship at my school to graduate 6 years from now (she applies for 2018 spots and we graduate at the same time and do couple matching residency)
2. I take 2 years off of med school graduation and apply couple matching with her
3. Go to residency and apply for another program with her 2 years from now.

Option 1 is risky because the fellowship program is pretty competitive.
Option 2 is risky because I remember reading somewhere that match rates drop significantly for people who apply with gap years? (I could be wrong)
Option 3 is risky because I don't know if this is even possible or how it would be looked upon. (I assume there are people who switch specialties. Not sure I would want to switch but if it is necessary...)

It would be way too selfish of me to ask her to wait 4 years to apply especially when she's already sacrificing 2 years. Also if she doesnt get in her first attempt (she has decent stats and EC's) she could apply again and defer acceptance 1 year. Then I could apply to all the programs near her school for residency and there would be no problem.

Without having entered medical school yet I cannot think of any other options out there that do not include separation of us.

Could I get some input or some advice in the realities of these options? (thinking and theorizing is easy)

Thanks in advance!

There are better options than you have listed. You could take a research year off between second and third year to make yourself more competitive, and then go into an advanced field that allows you to do a prelim year locally. You could do a dual degree that might extend your graduation to match. And so on. As for your plans, the first two are bad ideas, and as for the third, a fellowship is something you do after residency, not before. But as mentioned, you don't control the selection process for residency/fellowship so it's not something you can bank on.

 

[NotAProgDirector]

This whole plan seems to assume that she will get into your medical school 2 years from now, which may never happen.

In any case, if being together is the most important thing, and if she does get into your medical school, your best plan is to find a way to delay graduation by 2 years so you graduate together. As L2D has mentioned, 1-2 years for research, or another degree (MPH/MBA), or this fellowship you speak of, are all options.

 

[Psai]

4) You do what's right for you and disregard her. You don't even know if you will be together in the next few years. Taking any time off hurts your application, especially if the reason is just for you to wait for your girlfriend. You don't know that she will get into medical school and even if she does, there is no guarantee that you will match together.

 

[Poro]

There are better options than you have listed. You could take a research year off between second and third year to make yourself more competitive, and then go into an advanced field that allows you to do a prelim year locally. You could do a dual degree that might extend your graduation to match. And so on. As for your plans, the first two are bad ideas, and as for the third, a fellowship is something you do after residency, not before. But as mentioned, you don't control the selection process for residency/fellowship so it's not something you can bank on.

That is a great idea! For safety I think I will try to research between 3rd and 4th. So I she doesn't get into Med school we are not stuck there for 5 years. How does prelim work? Could you link or describe it to me? The fellowship is at the Med school where we can get paid for a year to help with anatomy lab and such. Pretty competitive though. Dual degrees for mba at my school still finishes in 4 years so that's not a choice.

This whole plan seems to assume that she will get into your medical school 2 years from now, which may never happen.

In any case, if being together is the most important thing, and if she does get into your medical school, your best plan is to find a way to delay graduation by 2 years so you graduate together. As L2D has mentioned, 1-2 years for research, or another degree (MPH/MBA), or this fellowship you speak of, are all options.

I agree thanks!

4) You do what's right for you and disregard her. You don't even know if you will be together in the next few years. Taking any time off hurts your application, especially if the reason is just for you to wait for your girlfriend. You don't know that she will get into medical school and even if she does, there is no guarantee that you will match together.

I understand that there will be difficulties but her life matters to me and I want to do my best to accommodate her. I've already mentioned the possibility of her not getting accepted in which case there are contingency plans. Thanks for your input.

 

[Winged Scapula]

Moving to Pre-Allo as the OP is not a resident physician

 

[235009]

How does prelim work? Could you link or describe it to me?

Fields such as ophtho, derm, radiology, anesthesia, neuro require a year of internal medicine or surgery internship as your first year of residency. Alternatively you can do a "transitional year" (glorified 3rd year) as your intern year. You don't have to do this at the same hospital as your specialty training.

 

[Poro]

Fields such as ophtho, derm, radiology, anesthesia, neuro require a year of internal medicine or surgery internship as your first year of residency. Alternatively you can do a "transitional year" (glorified 3rd year) as your intern year. You don't have to do this at the same hospital as your specialty training.

Okay thanks! This might be a great option for me. I'll read up on this.

 

[gyngyn]

Whatever you decide, do not plan on taking time off between medical school graduation and residency.
US Seniors are prime meat for PD's.

 

[Squamous Eddie]

Whatever you decide, do not plan on taking time off between medical school graduation and residency.
US Seniors are prime meat for PD's.

Want to piggy back off this thread. So if I want to apply to a really competitive residency, like Derm, if I choose to take a year off to do research, when is it advisable to do so? Between 2nd and 3rd year, or after 3rd year?

 

[mimelim]

A) all of this is pointless. Don't base your future plans off of potential residency/fellowship choices that may or may not ever even come to fruition.

B) don't make any plan that depends on transferring residency programs.

This is all you need to know.

4) You do what's right for you and disregard her. You don't even know if you will be together in the next few years. Taking any time off hurts your application, especially if the reason is just for you to wait for your girlfriend. You don't know that she will get into medical school and even if she does, there is no guarantee that you will match together.

Obviously this depends on the individuals, but I disagree with the sentiment of "disregarding". The right thing for anyone is what will make them happy, both now and later. For many, if not most, someone's significant other plays a large role in their happiness. They also modulate someone's ability to maximize their professional prowess. There are no guarantees with anything. It is perfectly fine to take calculated risks to make medical education work for someone's significant other.

Want to piggy back off this thread. So if I want to apply to a really competitive residency, like Derm, if I choose to take a year off to do research, when is it advisable to do so? Between 2nd and 3rd year, or after 3rd year?

The more common is between MS2 and MS3, but I have known students to do either.

 

[Law2Doc]

Want to piggy back off this thread. So if I want to apply to a really competitive residency, like Derm, if I choose to take a year off to do research, when is it advisable to do so? Between 2nd and 3rd year, or after 3rd year?

Between 2nd and 3rd year is a more natural break point as you are leaving the classroom setting and starting rotations.

 

[gyngyn]

Want to piggy back off this thread. So if I want to apply to a really competitive residency, like Derm, if I choose to take a year off to do research, when is it advisable to do so? Between 2nd and 3rd year, or after 3rd year?

It doesn't matter when you do it as long as it's before you graduate. It's usually after either 2nd or 3rd year. Make sure you are actually going to strengthen your application before you decide to do this. An unproductive year or an application that didn't have have a strong foundation can lead to a wasted year without the desired outcome. I see this happen at least a couple of times a year. It also happens after a productive year with a strong candidate so seek wise counsel before making this commitment. It's also becoming more common for schools to allow unmatched students to remain enrolled for a year of "research" in order not to lose their US Senior status. We don't know how this will be perceived, but a research year is far from a panacea.

 

[Law2Doc]

It doesn't matter when you do it as long as it's before you graduate. It's usually after either 2nd or 3rd year. Make sure you are actually going to strengthen your application before you decide to do this. An unproductive year or an application that didn't have have a strong foundation can lead to a wasted year without the desired outcome. I see this happen at least a couple of times a year. It also happens after a productive year with a strong candidate so seek wise counsel before making this commitment. It's also becoming more common for schools to allow unmatched students to remain enrolled for a year of "research" in order not to lose their US Senior status. We don't know how this will be perceived, but a research year is far from a panacea.

OP would need to use the year wisely but if done right it could get his graduation date and his SOs more closely aligned without hurting his competitiveness and maybe even improve it.

 

[gyngyn]

OP would need to use the year wisely but if done right it could get his graduation date and his SOs more closely aligned without hurting his competitiveness and maybe even improve it.

I actually see this more commonly as reason for a "year of research" than anything other than physical and mental health/substance issues. If the year off doesn't seem to fit the applicant's career trajectory, PD's will immediately suspect one of these common reasons.

 

[pstrick]

I think an easier option would be to find a new SO.

 

[Med Ed]

Could I get some input or some advice in the realities of these options? (thinking and theorizing is easy)

Thanks in advance!

This is all you need:

You're welcome.

 

[WedgeDawg]

Want to piggy back off this thread. So if I want to apply to a really competitive residency, like Derm, if I choose to take a year off to do research, when is it advisable to do so? Between 2nd and 3rd year, or after 3rd year?

At my school, people do it immediately following the clinical year, but we are on a 1.5 pre-clinical curriculum.

OP, I think if this is what ends up happening, you should try taking time off from med school during med school. There are plenty of ways to do this. You can do a research year, you can do an MBA, you can do an MPH, you can do a masters in more or less anything tangentially related to medicine, or you could do one of the few fellowship programs that exist (like what the Doris Duke program was before it stopped, which is more or less another research year). There are a lot of options.

 

[Law2Doc]

At my school, people do it immediately following the clinical year, but we are on a 1.5 pre-clinical curriculum.

OP, I think if this is what ends up happening, you should try taking time off from med school during med school. There are plenty of ways to do this. You can do a research year, you can do an MBA, you can do an MPH, you can do a masters in more or less anything tangentially related to medicine, or you could do one of the few fellowship programs that exist (like what the Doris Duke program was before it stopped, which is more or less another research year). There are a lot of options.

There are a lot of these options, but I think the point gyngyn was making is that it needs to not look like "time off from med school". Make sure it's something productive and looks like an obvious useful trajectory to get to your ultimate target.

 

[mvenus929]

Do not take gap years between med school and residency.

If I am understanding your situation correctly, you have gotten into medical school and your girlfriend will be applying in two years. As I see it, you have many more options than you propose.

1. Your girlfriend waits to start med school until you graduate, and you aim for residency where she gets an acceptance. You will have much more flexibility after you complete residency to go wherever she matches for fellowship.

2. Based on the fact that your girlfriend is moving with you, I'm guessing she is not in school at present. Can she apply a year early and shrink the gap between the two of you to one year? It's a lot easier to make that match happen.

3. She can attempt to apply to more schools and you can attempt to transfer schools after your second year to her new school (though this is a long shot and you run the risk of being in two different cities for two years).

4. You suck it up and live apart for a period of time.

The way I see it, the success of whatever plan you decide hinges on a lot of factors outside your control... She may not be accepted to your school. You may not still be together in 2 years. You might match somewhere you didn't expect because it's better to match somewhere than not at all. She might match somewhere else. Obviously, these last two are minimized if you are in the same match cycle, but you would both be reducing your chances at matching.