what happens after prelim...?

[phillyfornia]

i'm very undecided right now about my career plans. i set up my schedule perfectly for EM but now i'm having some second thoughts about that. i'm considering anesthesia and rads but i'm not going to be able to do those rotations until later.

i'm going through different scenarios, and one of them is to apply only for a prelim year in 2007 and then applying for pgy-2 spots during my prelim year. if i did this, would it be difficult to find a pgy-2 spot that starts in 2008 (i.e. right after prelim)? i assume the only ones i would be able to find would be spots that people dropped or spots that went unfilled. so would that mean that i would probably end up at a mediocre program? also, could i apply for pgy-2 spots that begin in 2009? if i did this, would i just have a year off between prelim and pgy-2 or would i have to do another prelim year? also, if i were to apply for 2009 spots, would i have a shot at matching at a good program? or would i be at a disadvantage compared to someone straight out of medical school? thanks for any help.

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[Obedeli]

i'm very undecided right now about my career plans. i set up my schedule perfectly for EM but now i'm having some second thoughts about that. i'm considering anesthesia and rads but i'm not going to be able to do those rotations until later.

i'm going through different scenarios, and one of them is to apply only for a prelim year in 2007 and then applying for pgy-2 spots during my prelim year. if i did this, would it be difficult to find a pgy-2 spot that starts in 2008 (i.e. right after prelim)? i assume the only ones i would be able to find would be spots that people dropped or spots that went unfilled. so would that mean that i would probably end up at a mediocre program? also, could i apply for pgy-2 spots that begin in 2009? if i did this, would i just have a year off between prelim and pgy-2 or would i have to do another prelim year? also, if i were to apply for 2009 spots, would i have a shot at matching at a good program? or would i be at a disadvantage compared to someone straight out of medical school? thanks for any help.

You are not too late right now and I would push to take care of this BEFORE you graduate. Talk to the PDs in both departements as soon as possible. Having a "dead" year sucks. True, some programs reserve PGY 2 spots for anticipated transfers but I wouldn't count on that.

 

[GammaRay]

i'm very undecided right now about my career plans. i set up my schedule perfectly for EM but now i'm having some second thoughts about that. i'm considering anesthesia and rads but i'm not going to be able to do those rotations until later.

i'm going through different scenarios, and one of them is to apply only for a prelim year in 2007 and then applying for pgy-2 spots during my prelim year. if i did this, would it be difficult to find a pgy-2 spot that starts in 2008 (i.e. right after prelim)? i assume the only ones i would be able to find would be spots that people dropped or spots that went unfilled. so would that mean that i would probably end up at a mediocre program? also, could i apply for pgy-2 spots that begin in 2009? if i did this, would i just have a year off between prelim and pgy-2 or would i have to do another prelim year? also, if i were to apply for 2009 spots, would i have a shot at matching at a good program? or would i be at a disadvantage compared to someone straight out of medical school? thanks for any help.

Definitely DO NOT simply apply to preliminary programs. You will make your life unnecesarily difficult. People switch residencies during their prelim years all the time. I would recommend applying in radiology and if you decide to switch to anesthesia, go ahead and try. I say go for radiology b/c it is the more competitive residency. I suspect a rads to gas switch would be easier than vice versa. Good luck!

 

[Pir8DeacDoc]

don't throw yourself into something without really having some decent idea of what you're getting into. If you decide to go the prelim route than plan strategically. If you are competitive enough for rads then you can get a prelim almost anywhere you want so make sure to get a program that has a residency in whatever field it is you want to get into. I.e. do a prelim at a place with rads or gas.