will it hurt or help me?

[BabyPsychDoc]

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I am strongly considering moving into Psych (still in the UK) next year and earning MRCPsych prior to moving to the US (which should be in 2011). The downside of it is that I will have a finished 2-yr programme in surgery in the USSR, a string of various standalone jobs plus an unfinished FM residency in the UK - with few completed postgraduate qualifications (other than my Cambridge MSc and the UK Diploma in Child Health). The obvious advantage is that I will a) keep my own sanity and b) accumulate more recent experience in Psych (but I will not be able to have MRCPsych on my US residency application, unless I apply in 2011 for 2012 Match).

I have discussed the switch with my UK psych attendings and they have been extremely supportive, saying that I "definitely have a career in psych" and that my incomplete FM training will not reflect negatively on my psych application. I wonder what the opinion of US-based psychiatrists would be, since ultimately I am planning on practicing over there? Will such a move help or hurt my application for residency in the US? I like to think it should help (demonstrated interest, additional recent experience in the specialty, etc) but I am concerned that it might be potentially viewed as "lack of staying power" etc...


I am just getting SO bored in FM that if it was not for my protected time in research (which I spend on psych projects!), I would have gone bonkers by now... Contraception visits and menstrual problems, URIs, UTIs and GI upsets constitute about 80% of my workload; I get really excited when I finally see a somatizer or at least a depressed person...So, every day I wonder what I endure this for. Did I say that I REALLY HATE O&G?

 

[Hurricane]

Many US residents switch into psych as PGY2s from specialties like FM, which isn't that different from your situation.

That said, with IMGs, admission committees do often wonder whether there is a real interest in psychiatry vs easy entry into the US system. So if you switched to psych while still in the UK, that would certainly demonstrate your commitment to the specialty.

 

[billypilgrim37]

Many US residents switch into psych as PGY2s from specialties like FM, which isn't that different from your situation.

That said, with IMGs, admission committees do often wonder whether there is a real interest in psychiatry vs easy entry into the US system. So if you switched to psych while still in the UK, that would certainly demonstrate your commitment to the specialty.

Could we write an SDN letter confirming your interest? 😉

 

[Faebinder]

Did you finish all three USMLEs? Finish the USMLEs (all three of them infact) and then discuss applying. Any discussion till all three are done is moot. (You can get away with Step 1 and 2 only if your scores are very high considering you are an old grad but in psychiatry having Step III is a definite plus since many fail that exam due to their focus on psychiatry and them forgetting their general medicine).

 

[BabyPsychDoc]

👍 I will list "billypilgrim37 at SDN" as one of my referees!

Could we write an SDN letter confirming your interest? 😉

 

[BabyPsychDoc]

Did you finish all three USMLEs? Finish the USMLEs (all three of them infact) and then discuss applying. Any discussion till all three are done is moot. (You can get away with Step 1 and 2 only if your scores are very high considering you are an old grad but in psychiatry having Step III is a definite plus since many fail that exam due to their focus on psychiatry and them forgetting their general medicine).

Yeah, this advice makes a lot of sense. I do have 238 on Step 1 and 257 on Step 2 (pass on CS) though, and I will be doing Step 3 shortly, so I am not worried about that.

 

[wolfvgang22]

Yeah, this advice makes a lot of sense. I do have 238 on Step 1 and 257 on Step 2 (pass on CS) though, and I will be doing Step 3 shortly, so I am not worried about that.

Very nice. 😀

 

[Doc Samson]

You could probably match now into a psychiatry residency in the US. If you wanted a competitive residency slot then the MRCPsych would certainly be very helpful to your cause.

 

[BabyPsychDoc]

Thanks to everyone for feedback - very encouraging!