What do fellowship programs see in your application?

[aspiringcardiologa]

PGY1 here. Would like some clarification about what goes in the fellowship application. Aware that med school transcript, class rank, all Step scores are visible. Obviously letters of recommendation from attendings, rotation evaluations, PD letter, CV as well.

Are these visible to fellowship programs:
- ITE scores
- rotation evaluations in chronological order? Curious because could see trend (improvement or worsening) as time goes by...hard a rough start the beginning of intern year but working on my weaknesses now and reaching out to my mentor on how to improve

Moreover, when are you supposed to pass the IM boards by? Do you take them prior to or during fellowship?

Any other factors or things that you didn't know prior to applying that you wish you knew?

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[CatFactorial]

-ITE scores will not be visible; otherwise that's an ACGME violation
-dunno if programs have access to actual rotation evaluations or not, but chances are they just read your program director's letter which should summarize
-pass IM boards before the year you plan on taking subspecialty boards. otherwise you won't be eligible to sit for subspecialty boards. best to get IM boards done the august after you finish residency (so while you are a first year fellow two months in).
-everything sucks and everything is good. make a decision on what you want to do and execute a plan. don't wait until you are a 2nd year fellow or later to figure out what you want to do when you grow up.

 

[Raryn]

PGY1 here. Would like some clarification about what goes in the fellowship application. Aware that med school transcript, class rank, all Step scores are visible. Obviously letters of recommendation from attendings, rotation evaluations, PD letter, CV as well.

Are these visible to fellowship programs:
- ITE scores
- rotation evaluations in chronological order? Curious because could see trend (improvement or worsening) as time goes by...hard a rough start the beginning of intern year but working on my weaknesses now and reaching out to my mentor on how to improve

Moreover, when are you supposed to pass the IM boards by? Do you take them prior to or during fellowship?

Any other factors or things that you didn't know prior to applying that you wish you knew?

In internal medicine, ITE scores are confidential and are not shared with fellowship programs.

There's no deans letter that includes all your rotation evaluations, but your PD does write a summative letter of rec that's basically required.

Most of us took our boards August of PGY4 year - that is, two months after starting fellowship. Depending on the fellowship, they may start you off on lighter months to allow you to study.