triple boarding -FM/IM/Geriatrics

[pariah007]

Wanna board certify in IM soon after graduating from my FM residency in 4 months .I will start a Geriatrics fellowship in Jan to get more elderly medicine experience . I am tired of being an FP and dont want to spend the rest of my life like that , I will NEVER practice rural medicine with LOS OF PROCEDURES either .The sole reason I am in FM now is that I was not good enough to get into anthing but FM then . I was failing in my USMLE's despite studying very hard due to what later got diagnosed as B12 deficiency that was not letting my neurons fire in a competetive situation like a board exam .

Well , things are different now , I have worked hard , repleted myself , and am looking to move on for more success . I want to finish my FM residency first so I get something in hand which would be a back up for my adventures .Doing the FM residency has given me a platform to stand on in the world of American Medicine and I am thankful for that . But hey , I am not satisfied being a family doc at all .


I wanna do IM so I could possibly do Cards or Endo and practice that specialty with special focus on my Geriatric patients . I really want to do Gero Cards or Gero Endo . Since Geriatrics is not a separate board specialty like Pediatrics yet , I want to make it happen long route . But I dont mind learning and training for that .

How much credit will I get for doing a full family residency ? In other words how many years of IM residency will ABIM require before they let me board cerify in IM after I have done
a)3 years of FM ,
b)3 years FM plus 1 year GM in a FM based GM fellowship ,
c)3 years FM plus 1 year GM in a IM based GM fellowship ?

Please advise .

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[elwademd]

Wanna board certify in IM soon after graduating from my FM residency in 4 months .I will start a Geriatrics fellowship in Jan to get more elderly medicine experience . I am tired of being an FP and dont want to spend the rest of my life like that , I will NEVER practice rural medicine with LOS OF PROCEDURES either .The sole reason I am in FM now is that I was not good enough to get into anthing but FM then . I was failing in my USMLE's despite studying very hard due to what later got diagnosed as B12 deficiency that was not letting my neurons fire in a competetive situation like a board exam .

Well , things are different now , I have worked hard , repleted myself , and am looking to move on for more success . I want to finish my FM residency first so I get something in hand which would be a back up for my adventures .Doing the FM residency has given me a platform to stand on in the world of American Medicine and I am thankful for that . But hey , I am not satisfied being a family doc at all .


I wanna do IM so I could possibly do Cards or Endo and practice that specialty with special focus on my Geriatric patients . I really want to do Gero Cards or Gero Endo . Since Geriatrics is not a separate board specialty like Pediatrics yet , I want to make it happen long route . But I dont mind learning and training for that .

How much credit will I get for doing a full family residency ? In other words how many years of IM residency will ABIM require before they let me board cerify in IM after I have done
a)3 years of FM ,
b)3 years FM plus 1 year GM in a FM based GM fellowship ,
c)3 years FM plus 1 year GM in a IM based GM fellowship ?

Please advise .

you're not elgibile to sit for the abim until you've completed im residency. so, as far as i understand, completion of your fm residency only allows you to sit for the fm boards.

completion of a geriatrics fellowship will allow you to sit for the geriatrics boards only.

 

[NotAProgDirector]

The ABIM will consider giving you one year of credit towards IM for completing a FM residency. This must be requested by an IM PD -- so you'd need to be accepted into a program, and then the PD would petition the ABIM for credit. Much would depend on what rotations you had done, etc. They might only give you 6 months credit, but usually are reasonable and give a full 12 months.

Although Geri is not truly a "board" yet, you do get a CAQ in Geri after completing a fellowship and taking an exam, which allows you to market yourself as a "Board Certified Geriatrician". Of note, there are a couple of shady organizations such as "The American Board of Geriatrics" which are not affiliated with the ABIM/ABFP and are basically diploma mills.

A year of Geri will count for no credit towards an IM residency, regardless if it is completed in an IM or an FP program. Completing Geri in an IM program might make you more competitive for an IM residency, though -- you could do some IM rotations during your Geri fellowship, for example.

There are combined IM/Geri programs that get you certification in both fields. You can search for them in FREIDA.

Getting a Cards spot as an IMG with poor board scores is mostly impossible in today's climate. Perhaps Cards will become less competitive over time, but I wouldn't hold my breath. Some community programs take fellows only from their own program, and then anything is possible.

Good luck!