Transitional Year vs. Prelim Radiology

[Mecadine]

Help Please!!!


I'm an MSIV and I'm thinking about just doing a transitional year to have an extra year to pick a specialty. I'm pretty sure I want to do something like radiology or pathology but not confident enough to pick yet.

Will I have to complete another prelim year if I get accepted to radiology after my transitional year? If not, do programs look down on the transitional year vs. prelim year in that specialty?

I'm an Army HPSP student and want to probably do radiology at Tripler after my transitional year... would I be better off just applying for the prelim radiology year even though I'm not 100% sure???

Thanks to anyone with advice...

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[Law2Doc]

Help Please!!!


I'm an MSIV and I'm thinking about just doing a transitional year to have an extra year to pick a specialty. I'm pretty sure I want to do something like radiology or pathology but not confident enough to pick yet.

Will I have to complete another prelim year if I get accepted to radiology after my transitional year? If not, do programs look down on the transitional year vs. prelim year in that specialty?

I'm an Army HPSP student and want to probably do radiology at Tripler after my transitional year... would I be better off just applying for the prelim radiology year even though I'm not 100% sure???

Thanks to anyone with advice...

Transitional years count as PGY-1 years for most advanced specialties, including radiology, you won't have to do a prelim year on top of that. I would caution that because transitional years are known to be more "cushy" than most prelim years, they are often sought after by everyone going into derm, optho, rads, anesthesia, rad onc. So they are often the MOST competitive spots in the match because the best of each of these highly competitive fields are fighting over the scant spots. Thus planning on using a transitional year to buy time to choose a specialty is often a long-shot, unless you have the kind of stats that ensure you to get the more competitive spots. The days when folks actually used these residencies to make a decision came and went once the advanced programs decided these "cushier" paths counted toward PGY-1 credit. Statistically, you probably will end up in a prelim spot rather than transitional.

 

[smq123]

Help Please!!!


I'm an MSIV and I'm thinking about just doing a transitional year to have an extra year to pick a specialty. I'm pretty sure I want to do something like radiology or pathology but not confident enough to pick yet.

Will I have to complete another prelim year if I get accepted to radiology after my transitional year? If not, do programs look down on the transitional year vs. prelim year in that specialty?

I'm an Army HPSP student and want to probably do radiology at Tripler after my transitional year... would I be better off just applying for the prelim radiology year even though I'm not 100% sure???

Thanks to anyone with advice...

- There is no such thing as a "prelim radiology" year. You can only do a preliminary year in Internal Medicine, Surgery, Peds, or Family Medicine.

- It doesn't matter if you do a transitional year or a preliminary year. Whenever you are applying for radiology through the Match, you are applying for a spot TWO YEARS from now. So, unless you go outside the Match and happen to find an empty PGY-2 slot, yes, you will have to repeat a preliminary year/transitional year, or, spend a year working/doing research. But you wouldn't be able to start right away if you apply to radiology through the Match.

 

[Law2Doc]

- ...
- It doesn't matter if you do a transitional year or a preliminary year. Whenever you are applying for radiology through the Match, you are applying for a spot TWO YEARS from now. So, unless you go outside the Match and happen to find an empty PGY-2 slot, yes, you will have to repeat a preliminary year/transitional year, or, spend a year working/doing research. But you wouldn't be able to start right away if you apply to radiology through the Match.

He won't have to repeat a year, the transitional year counts as the PGY-1 year. And you probably don't want to repeat the PGY-1 year anyway for funding reasons. But you are right that you push everything back a year if you apply for an advanced program, having already done your PGY-1 year, in the match.

 

[colbgw02]

As an Army HPSP student, your situation is completely different. The above advice is sound for a civilian applicant, but it does not apply for you.

I think you may have asked this question in the military medicine forum, so I'll refrain from reposting the information you received there. If you have questions, PM me.