Transitional Year LORs

[koalax3]

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Hi,

I was wondering for those who applied for transitional years, what kind of LORs do you need? Most programs I looked at just said 3 LORs but didn't specify if they had to be from surgery...medicine..etc. Is it ok just to give my 2 ophtho letters and then 1 medicine? Or do I have to get 3 medicine letters?

Thanks!

 

[ophthal3]

I just matched into a TY program - and none of them required strictly Medicine letters. In fact, I had none. I sent in 2 ophtho, 1 surgery. Nobody seemed to have any problem with this. I didn't even change my personal statement, just used the same one from ophtho. hope this helps

 

[turkdlit]

Sorry for not contributing to your question koalax, but I have a related one...

Are transitional years the only option if one doesn't match? Is there anything else you can apply to in the NRMP match so that during that year you can re-apply to ophtho?

Also, how competitive are the transitional year spots to get? There don't seem to be too many of them...

Thanks!

 

[ophthal3]

Other alternatives are a year of internal medicine ("medicine-prelim"), a year of general surgery ("surgery-prelim") or maybe even a year of pediatrics or family medicine (I have heard of people doing peds or family med prelims, but don't actually know anyone who has gone this less-popular route). By and large, the majority of ophthalmology residents do transitional or medicine-prelim internships. Look on the American Academy of Ophthalmology website for more details, the site specifies the requirements of an internship to qualify as PGY1 for ophthalmology.

Transitional internships are known for being quite competitive. They are more broad based (more electives) and generally have easier schedules/less call than medicine prelims. Most, if not all, transitional programs also include a month of surgery, a main difference between medicine-prelims. You will be competing for spots with top applicants going into dermatology, radiology, rad-onc and anesthesiology, in addition to ophtho applicants. It is wise to apply to a few medicine-prelims as well, as a backup.

 

[turkdlit]

Other alternatives are a year of internal medicine ("medicine-prelim"), a year of general surgery ("surgery-prelim") or maybe even a year of pediatrics or family medicine (I have heard of people doing peds or family med prelims, but don't actually know anyone who has gone this less-popular route). By and large, the majority of ophthalmology residents do transitional or medicine-prelim internships. Look on the American Academy of Ophthalmology website for more details, the site specifies the requirements of an internship to qualify as PGY1 for ophthalmology.

Transitional internships are known for being quite competitive. They are more broad based (more electives) and generally have easier schedules/less call than medicine prelims. Most, if not all, transitional programs also include a month of surgery, a main difference between medicine-prelims. You will be competing for spots with top applicants going into dermatology, radiology, rad-onc and anesthesiology, in addition to ophtho applicants. It is wise to apply to a few medicine-prelims as well, as a backup.

Everything I wanted to know...thanks Ophthal! Sorry to the OP for hijacking the thread...