Hello everyone, I am an incoming IM intern that is interested in going into pulm/cc. I initially was an EM applicant that unexpectedly and unfortunately had to SOAP. Given the recent reports and the doom and gloom I was reading about EM during the interview season, maybe it was a blessing in disguise.
But anyways, I happily find myself in an IM program now and wanted to humbly request any guidance on making myself a stellar applicant for a pulm/cc fellowship. I am a USMD who matched into a University program that is more of a community/academic hybrid.
Not to get into specifics too much, but I will not be able to go into fellowship right after residency, so there will be a gap where I will be practicing as an attending before trying to apply into fellowship afterwards.
Any and all advice would be appreciated, thank you in advance!
This is just what I've heard from others who matched pulm/cc. Not saying you have to do everything to get interviews necessarily, but again this is just what I've heard, especially if you want to be a "stellar applicant."
1.
Reputation of IM residency. Not saying this is right or wrong, just how it is. Hopefully you have an in-house fellowship.
2.
Stand out at your residency. Make sure you're always the one with a great attitude, willing to help, willing to learn, building good rapport with everyone.
3. Do as many
electives as you can or want and get good
LOR's from them.
4.
Involve yourself in leadership. For example, if you are offered to be a chief resident. This might also be a good way for you to spend the time in between residency and fellowship since you mentioned you aren't planning to go into fellowship right after residency. Another example is participating in committees such as sepsis committee. Consider going to things like journal clubs, didactics, etc. Just to get yourself known, get people to see you're interested.
5.
Research. Whether case reports, posters, abstracts, presentations, or publications. No one expects you to be the first author on a paper published by NEJM or JAMA, or to have published tons of papers like many IMG's, but try to have at least one or two research experiences that you can talk about in a significant or meaningful way. If possible, aim for CHEST (ACCP), ATS, or SCCM. All have sections for IM residents. Many programs provide a free trip to CHEST (ACCP), ATS, or SCCM. Ask the fellows if you can help on their projects or ask the fellows if they know who is a good mentor to work with to publish. Fellows always seem to know! At least you can do QI projects, I think they're required as part of ACGME, so work with your program to figure out a project (e.g. sepsis committee). Anyway your university program should be able to help guide you here.
6.
Craft a good narrative about yourself. Be able to express this narrative in interviews. For example, what's your 5-10 year goal? Do you want to be a physician-scientist, a medical educator, in a practice based in a particular community, etc. Just be more specific than "I want to do research." And make sure to have some evidence (e.g. research) to back up your narrative about yourself.
7.
Remember there is no "best" fellowship program, per se. There are some bad ones, but there are plenty of good ones. It's more about what your goals in life are and where you want to end up working. Not going to some brand name program. Lots of people on this forum have talked about what to look for in a good pulm/cc program so it'd be good to ask them or search this forum. Again, it's not necessarily about brand names.
8.
If all else fails, maybe you could apply to pulm only programs (not sure if this is more competitive or less competitive), then apply to CCM the next year. That would make it the same time frame (2 years + 1 year). Or if you're fine not doing pulm, and you are open to other things, then you could do something else like ID or nephro which are much easier to match, then do a 1 year CCM fellowship.
