What do fellowships look for in their applicants?

[otoforce1989]

Hi there,

I'm an Otolaryngology PGY3, trying to decide between Facial Plastics and Neurotology.

As part of this decision I was wondering if anyone had any insight into the most important criteria that fellowship programs look for in resident applicants, and are there any material differences between what FPRS and Neurotology value in a candidate (besides, of course, in both cases, focused interest in the specific field).

Is it most important to be prolific in research and publishing? Well regarded by your program's attendings? Have high in-service scores? A personal connection to the fellowship program?

Which of these are weighted most heavily and are there any I'm missing?

Thank you!

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[ZagDoc]

Very much depends on the fellowship. In general, academic fellowships generally tend to value things like prior publications, presentations, leadership roles more as one of their goals with the fellowship is to train future academicians who are going go on and publish, etc. I imagine this is not as weighted as heavily by PP fellowships but cannot comment specifically as my experience throughout my training has exclusively academic. In general, neuro-otology fellowships (especially at the big names) tend to be very academic.

I have never heard of a fellowship looking at in service scores in otolaryngology.

Letters of recommendation are important regardless of the fellowship as they provide the best insight out of everythin in your application into how you will function as a fellow.

That being said, I would say the most important consideration in fellowship is the interview day as this gives the best sense of how personalities mesh, whether you would be an enjoyable person to have around for a year or two, and if you goals for fellowship align with the fellowship experience.

 

[neutropeniaboy]

Fellowship directors look for the same things in potential fellows as they do in potential residents: trustworthiness, strong work ethic, accountability, humility and an ability to be trained in a team environment. None of us wants duds or residents who are disasters in the OR - obviously. Some fellowships have very strict criteria, but most want to see a track record of those things I previously mentioned. Academic pursuits and publications will matter for some fellowships, but they may be completely irrelevant for others. Some may care that you want to go into academics; others may not care at all and even poo poo academics. You can cover your bases and be competitive by being members of the societies, doing research, getting awards, etc. But I honestly think nothing will beat the demonstrable evidence of being a hard worker, team player and showing an enthusiasm for learning. It's revering the specialty we love and have devoted our lives to. You get this info only through LOR, phone calls and the interview. The stats are for making sure you're not an idiot.