What is the transitional year?

[prettypea]

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It's not included in the residency, is it? So what is the point of doing an additional year?

 

[Bertelman]

It's not included in the residency, is it? So what is the point of doing an additional year?

It is required for some residencies. It is the intern year. PGY-1. It is most definitely a part of your residency as a whole, just not technically part of your chosen specialtie's residency. Some specialties like anesthesia, radiology, etc. require an intern year separate from the training you do for your anesthesia or radiology residency. Take anesthesia, for example. Not all anesthesia programs require you to do a transitional year. About a third of the programs integrate this into their curriculum, so there are some 4-yr programs, and there are some 3-yr programs

You can search these forums for a better explanation, or visit the ACGME website, or pick up a book like First Aid for the Match or Iserson's for more details.

 

[tacrum43]

It is required for some residencies. It is the intern year. PGY-1. It is most definitely a part of your residency as a whole, just not technically part of your chosen specialtie's residency. Some specialties like anesthesia, radiology, etc. require an intern year separate from the training you do for your anesthesia or radiology residency. Take anesthesia, for example. Not all anesthesia programs require you to do a transitional year. About a third of the programs integrate this into their curriculum, so there are some 4-yr programs, and there are some 3-yr programs

You can search these forums for a better explanation, or visit the ACGME website, or pick up a book like First Aid for the Match or Iserson's for more details.

I am thinking about going into Anesthesia, and I was wondering about this too. It seems that there aren't enough transitional year spots to go around.

I've heard that you can also do your PGY-1 in medicine or surgery. Could you explain how that works? You have a separate match list for these, right?

Thanks.

 

[Winged Scapula]

I am thinking about going into Anesthesia, and I was wondering about this too. It seems that there aren't enough transitional year spots to go around.

They are fairly competitive positions and you are also competing against Derm, Psych and other specialties for these TYs.

I've heard that you can also do your PGY-1 in medicine or surgery. Could you explain how that works? You have a separate match list for these, right?

Thanks.

Yes, you submit two match lists: one for your intern year (rankilng either Prelim Med or Surg or both; most people do Prelim Med) and one for your advanced specialty. It works the same for Anesthesia as it does for any other Advanced Match (ie, ENT, Derm, etc.)

A couple of days before Match day you will receive notice from NRMP that you either:

a) matched to both your Intern and Advanced Match
b) matched to your Intern year but not your Advanced program
c) matched to your Advanved program but not to your Intern year
d) did not match

If you failed to match to either Intern year, advanced program or both then you are eligible for the scramble.

 

[AmoryBlaine]

One thing I've noticed alot of confusion about among my younger colleauges: there are 3 types of interns.

1. Categorical - this is a person who is an intern in the exact field in which they are going to specialize. A categorical IM intern will be doing their next 2 years of medicine at the same hospital.

2. Preliminary - this person is doing 1 year of Surgery of Medicine before proceeding on to another specialty. You can be a Gen Surg prelim who is heading into Neurosurgery, you might meet a Medicine prelim who is doing radiology, derm, rad onc. Surgical prelims are occasionally people who failed to match into the competitive surgical subspecialties and are reapplying.

3. Transitional - these intern years are not specifically in either Med or Surg and TEND to be easier work-wise and more competitive to obtain.

 

[tacrum43]

They are fairly competitive positions and you are also competing against Derm, Psych and other specialties for these TYs.



Yes, you submit two match lists: one for your intern year (rankilng either Prelim Med or Surg or both; most people do Prelim Med) and one for your advanced specialty. It works the same for Anesthesia as it does for any other Advanced Match (ie, ENT, Derm, etc.)

A couple of days before Match day you will receive notice from NRMP that you either:

a) matched to both your Intern and Advanced Match
b) matched to your Intern year but not your Advanced program
c) matched to your Advanved program but not to your Intern year
d) did not match

If you failed to match to either Intern year, advanced program or both then you are eligible for the scramble.

Thanks! That cleared it up for me.

 

[star8]

Hi, I heard that you could do a transitional year if you are undecided as to which residency to go into. Can you do a prelim year for the same reason?

 

[Bertelman]

Hi, I heard that you could do a transitional year if you are undecided as to which residency to go into. Can you do a prelim year for the same reason?

Yes, you can match only to a Prelim year. This often happens despite the best plans of applicants, so certainly you can choose to rank only prelim years.

Two problems:
1) The prelim institution will want to know why you are applying. "I don't know what I want to be when I grow up" doesn't gain much respect. I'm not saying you won't be able to match into a prelim year, because surgery prelims will always take a nother piece of warm flesh to round at 0500, and medicine prelims go unfilled every year. But you will have to be very convincing with your PS.

2) When exactly do you plan to determine what you will do? During the remaining few months of fourth year? Don't expect to figure it out during your first three months of internship, in time to reapply through the match. That leaves you with outside-the-match positions.

It may be easier to think about what you may want to do, and rule out what you know you don;t want to do. If you are looking at medical subspecialties, you don't have to know right now. Just go IM, and figure it out in a couple years by the time you need to start applying for fellowships. Really don't know? Try FP, which gives you a much broader base of experiences, to include OB/GYN, maybe some surgery. In three years, you'll be able to reapply to whatever specialty you see fit.

 

[TRAMD]

Transitional year is the pina colada on a tropical beach of prelim years.