Transitional Year for US-IMGs?

[medsRus]

Should US-IMGs apply for transitional year programs? Do they have any hope? Thank you.

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[Long Dong]

Should US-IMGs apply for transitional year programs? Do they have any hope? Thank you.

There is always hope, how much is the question? And that can be answered with what are your board scores like? At one of my interviews the interviewer only knew my board scores and was like "there is a spot for you here if you want it."

 

[medsRus]

How about >240 on Step 1.

 

[Long Dong]

How about >240 on Step 1.

Keep hope alive then. Go for it.

 

[medsRus]

Keep hope alive then. Go for it.

Thanks, will do. But, should I apply to both IM-prelim and TY at the same institution? How many? Any IMG-friendly programs? Thank you.

 

[Long Dong]

Thanks, will do. But, should I apply to both IM-prelim and TY at the same institution? How many? Any IMG-friendly programs? Thank you.

Yes definately do prelim and TY, and don't know about same insitution though. Apply to all that you'd think you'd be happy at. As for IMG friendly I don't know, my TY were all U.S. grads going into derm (2), optho (2), rads (2), EM (2) or gas (2).

 

[RussianJoo]

yep this is the case for the transitional years at my hospital as well. all are US grads going
to Derm, Rads. and my transitional year program is at a ****ty community hospital in NJ.

 

[dragonfly99]

TY's are hard to get, even for US grads matching into competitive specialties. It's simply a function of the fact that there aren't nearly as many TY programs as medicine prelim years, and the fact that TY's tend to be very cushy so more people want them.

I say if you want to try, just go for it...but I would hedge my bets by applying to 4 or 5 TY years, and also a bunch of medicine years.

Also you need to factor in the fact that a lot of TY rotations won't transfer over/be counted if you end up going in to something like medicine later...I mean you would probably only get credit for 3 months or something. So if you are going for a TY year, make sure you are confident you can match into some specialty for a PGY2 that accepts a PGY1 TY year. It's a shorter list than the number of specialties that accept a medicine year.

 

[PeepshowJohnny]

Worth a shot, but realize with a 240+ Step 1, for the most competitive/cush TY spots you're going to be competing against graduates of top US medical schools with 250+ Step 1's.

 

[medsRus]

Also you need to factor in the fact that a lot of TY rotations won't transfer over/be counted if you end up going in to something like medicine later...I mean you would probably only get credit for 3 months or something. So if you are going for a TY year, make sure you are confident you can match into some specialty for a PGY2 that accepts a PGY1 TY year. It's a shorter list than the number of specialties that accept a medicine year.

Thanks for the feedback and advice. Do neurology programs accept TY for their PGY-1?

 

[dragonfly99]

No medsrus, neurology requires an internal medicine prelim year. Neurology, when it began, was actually an offshoot/subspecialty within internal medicine - at least I think it was.

Transitional years sounded cool to me when I was a med student, and perhaps we should all have the opportunity to do one, but the reality is they aren't accepted for most specialties, probably because they tend to be less demanding and often the intern has less responsibility than an intern in IM or surgical prelim year. Still, they are a good way to get a foundation of general medical knowledge, and thus are accepted for fields like radiology and ophthalmology.

 

[Long Dong]

I am about 3 years out from interviewing for TY's but in my experience i did not meet one US-IMG or FMG at my 10-12 TY interviews. Most of the canidates I met were rad onc, radiology, optho, derm i think.

Transitional years can be extremely competitive to the point of sometimes being more difficult to land than the advanced standing spots. The applicants are for the most part the top US graduates. It seems that there would be little room for IMG's of any type.

Yeah same here, I interviewed at all the TY in Cali did not meet one IMG/FMG on those interviews. But can't say it can't be done, just look at SGU looks like they matched 7 TY last year: http://www.sgu.edu/ERD/2008/ResidPost.nsf/BYPGY?OpenView&RestrictToCategory=PGY1&Count=-1

 

[SoCuteMD]

yep this is the case for the transitional years at my hospital as well. all are US grads going
to Derm, Rads. and my transitional year program is at a ****ty community hospital in NJ.

That actually makes the TY more competitive. Community hospitals often have better pay, benefits, and hours. TY is generally not a big academic year - more of a "filling time til I get to do my specialty of choice" year.