Unfilled Fellowship Position for a candidate without IM background

[Mario_MD]

Hello, I am an ECFMG-certified physician with 2+ years of ACGME-accredited residency experience from Harvard-affiliated training programs in General Surgery (2 years) and Anesthesia (6 months) and an MPH from Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health.

I made a series of bad decisions and chose the wrong specialty but I want to reinvent myself and pursue medicine. I am planning to apply for the 2020 IM match. However, given that I have been away from clinical practice for a few years now, I am considering enrolling in an unfilled clinical fellowship to help my transition back into IM.

Please let me know if you have any leads or tips or suggestions. My only requirement is for a position that allows me to transition back to patient care. I am open to any specialty.

Thanks!

p.s. I have a green card and do not need visa sponsorship.

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[rokshana]

Hello, I am an ECFMG-certified physician with 2+ years of ACGME-accredited residency experience from Harvard-affiliated training programs in General Surgery (2 years) and Anesthesia (6 months) and an MPH from Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health.

I made a series of bad decisions and chose the wrong specialty but I want to reinvent myself and pursue medicine. I am planning to apply for the 2020 IM match. However, given that I have been away from clinical practice for a few years now, I am considering enrolling in an unfilled clinical fellowship to help my transition back into IM.

Please let me know if you have any leads or tips or suggestions. My only requirement is for a position that allows me to transition back to patient care. I am open to any specialty.

Thanks!

p.s. I have a green card and do not need visa sponsorship.

So what makes you think that

1. Other than nephrology and maybe ID, that you can do an IM fellowship without having done an IM residency...I mean it’s one thing if you were already trained IM in your home country, but it doesn’t sound as if that is the case...you have done bits and pieces of 2 other residences, neither of which you completed. The fact that they were at “harvard” affiliates really is of no consequence...you didn’t finish them...

Plus
2. I believe the new ACGME guidelines require completion of an ACGME IM residency to be accepted to an ACGME IM fellowship .that started maybe 2015?

 

[mszzeta]

1. If you are AMG and was in Harvard-affiliated programs (let's say the big three, not some community programs people have not heard), and you have not had any major accidents (such as killing a pt in your residency or being arrested by police for something. Quitting a program and reconsider one's career is very common), then it should be easy for you to match into a decent IM program

2. I personally think you totally underestimate your ability to transition back to an IM intern even if it has been years after any clinical experience. There are tons of IMGs with 5+ years without any clinical exposures and just start their IM residency and do fine. I doubt you need such a transition

3. If you really need a transition, I know there are lots of positions unfilled for nephrology (the nephrology fellowship can be more malignant than IM residency, be careful), some for palliative care, geriatrics and ID. It should not be difficult for you to be taken but think twice for these probably unnecessary additional years for you

 

[mszzeta]

1. If you are AMG and was in Harvard-affiliated programs (let's say the big three, not some community programs people have not heard), and you have not had any major accidents (such as killing a pt in your residency or being arrested by police for something. Quitting a program and reconsider one's career is very common), then it should be easy for you to match into a decent IM program

2. I personally think you totally underestimate your ability to transition back to an IM intern even if it has been years after any clinical experience. There are tons of IMGs with 5+ years without any clinical exposures and just start their IM residency and do fine. I doubt you need such a transition

3. If you really need a transition, I know there are lots of positions unfilled for nephrology (the nephrology fellowship can be more malignant than IM residency, be careful), some for palliative care, geriatrics and ID. It should not be difficult for you to be taken but think twice for these probably unnecessary additional years for you

Sorry just saw "ECFMG", which means that you are an IMG. Things may be a little complicated

Still, you have 2.5 years very strong USCE which should make you very competitive than most IMG. But I understand that it is overall much more difficult for IMG to find a decent residency spot (let's say this is what you want, not just any small community program) compared to AMG

It is hard to say how competitive you are given this very little information. But fellowship options are there and I do know some IMG who fail to match into a residency spot choose this route.

 

[Mario_MD]

Sorry just saw "ECFMG", which means that you are an IMG. Things may be a little complicated

Still, you have 2.5 years very strong USCE which should make you very competitive than most IMG. But I understand that it is overall much more difficult for IMG to find a decent residency spot (let's say this is what you want, not just any small community program) compared to AMG

It is hard to say how competitive you are given this very little information. But fellowship options are there and I do know some IMG who fail to match into a residency spot choose this route.

Thank you for your honesty. I am just trying to maximize my chances. I have been working in life science consulting and healthtech since 2016 so I don't want future PD's to questions my ability to transition back into clinical training. I have time until I match so I thought of getting back into clinical training of some sort. Wost case scenario I could do observerships.

Could you put me in touch with some of the IMG's who you know to have transitioned into a fellowship?

 

[Mario_MD]

So what makes you think that

1. Other than nephrology and maybe ID, that you can do an IM fellowship without having done an IM residency...I mean it’s one thing if you were already trained IM in your home country, but it doesn’t sound as if that is the case...you have done bits and pieces of 2 other residences, neither of which you completed. The fact that they were at “harvard” affiliates really is of no consequence...you didn’t finish them...

Plus
2. I believe the new ACGME guidelines require completion of an ACGME IM residency to be accepted to an ACGME IM fellowship .that started maybe 2015?

I don't think there are any such rules. I know of folks who have been accepted to fellowships without an IM residency and in some case without any US GME experience at all.,

 

[rokshana]

I don't think there are any such rules. I know of folks who have been accepted to fellowships without an IM residency and in some case without any US GME experience at all.,

Actually there are

https://www.acgme.org/Portals/0/PFAssets/ProgramRequirements/CPRFellowship2019.pdf

Though interestingly enough those that have done AOA and Canadian residency do seem to be eligible .

They probably did non ACGME or nonaccredited programs...those depend on who is sponsoring them and are generally to help educate foreign doctors to take info back to their home countries.

Again, why do you think you can do an IM fellowship when you have no IM background?

What happened that you only did 2years of surgery? Prelim years and didn’t get a cat spot? And why only 6 months of anesthesiology? Were you dismissed or did you quit?

 

[gutonc]

Duplicate thread. Closing.