late switch to OB/Gyn

[Castlehill2245]

After listening to every one tell me I was crazy for choosing OB, I changed my mind and applied to Anes. Now it's rank time and I did not like any of my interviews. When I was asked why I choose Anes. all of my answers were cheap and artificle. That's because my heart is not in Anes. Now I can't stop thinking about OB. Every time I see one of my old OB hommie's I get depressed about my decision and feel like I am making a big mistake. I was wondering if you guy's or gal's had any tips. It would be greatly appreciated

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[lilycat]

Freaky... I was/am in the exact same situation... applying to anesthesia, but heart wasn't really in it. Have you done an elective in OB/gyn yet? That's what answered it for me -- it's hard work, but I enjoyed myself so much more on my OB month than my previous anesthesia months that the issue became a no-brainer.

If you haven't done an OB/gyn elective yet, I would make sure to do one before graduation, both for the experience and for letters. If you go ahead and match in anesthesia this year, or at least match for your prelim or TY program, you can always reapply to OB next year, and up to 6 months of your intern year will count towards your OB residency. Going from anesthesia to OB will certainly be easier than the other way around. The other option would be to not match this year, and take a year to do research -- just depends on what you really want to do, and how serious you feel about this change.

Good luck. It's a hard decision, but now is definitely the time to be thinking about these things, rather than halfway through your residency.

 

[Castlehill2245]

Any do's or don'ts for applying to OB in Texas? What programs should I stay far away, and why?

 

[Stephanieukmed]

Any do's or don'ts for applying to OB in Texas? What programs should I stay far away, and why?

Another option to solve your problem would be to suicide rank a program you know you won't get into for anes. and try to scramble into an OB spot. It's a bit risky, but might save you from a year of misery if your heart really isn't in it.

 

[tiredmom]

my advisor said to stay away from baylor... not real specific, sorry. Also, my impression was that it was pretty hard to scramble in ob, I think they've matched nearly all of their spots for the last few years. Good luck.

 

[daisyduke]

There are unfilled spots in ObGyn... but not TONS. From last year's data, the following programs did not fill (although most only had 1 spot open, some had several spots):

Harbor-UCLA
Kaiser LA
King Drew
UCSF Fresno
Medical Center of Central GA
LSU Shreveport
Baystate Med Center
Grand Rapids
North Oakland Med Center
Brookdale Hospital NY
Brooklyn Hospital Center
Albany Medical Center
NYP Columbia
SUNY Brooklyn
U of Buffalo
Akron
Medical College of Ohio
Summa Health/NEUCOM
Lankenau Hospital PA
Hershey/Penn State
Palmetto Health (SC)
Greenville Hospital System (SC)
UT Memphis
Vanderbilt
Baylor
Eastern Virginia
Newport News
UVA

I was kinda surprised about UVA and Columbia. Both were listed as having 1 spot open. Weird.

*Also, UCLA has several prelim spots that they give away during the scramble. At my interview there, the PD told us that if something weird happened and we didn't match, to please call her for one of the prelim spots.

 

[Diane L. Evans]

Another option to solve your problem would be to suicide rank a program you know you won't get into for anes. and try to scramble into an OB spot. It's a bit risky, but might save you from a year of misery if your heart really isn't in it.

I like this option!!!!
Or not rank anyone and scramble for an OB slot lots of good programs go unfilled each year

 

[lilycat]

Another option to solve your problem would be to suicide rank a program you know you won't get into for anes. and try to scramble into an OB spot. It's a bit risky, but might save you from a year of misery if your heart really isn't in it.

This could be a viable option if you have done two things: 1) Have an Ob/gyn elective completed, or that you are currently taking, by the time of the scramble; 2) have an Ob/gyn letter ready to go if you apply for scramble spots.

The advice I've gotten from LOTS of sources is that if you want to scramble into a "good" spot, those PDs will want to see that you are somewhat serious about Ob and know that you are committed to it -- thus, the need for an elective and letters. They don't want to take a chance on someone who is very likely to drop out within the first year, esp. since Ob does have a decent attrition rate to begin with. However, if you just want a spot and don't care where it is, then the letter and elective are less important.

 

[ShambhalaRed]

[/QUOTE]
*Also, UCLA has several prelim spots that they give away during the scramble. At my interview there, the PD told us that if something weird happened and we didn't match, to please call her for one of the prelim spots.[/QUOTE]
Also, University of Hawaii added a prelim spot this year. I don't really know how all that works or how competitive it is to get into, but it's probably worth keeping in the back of your mind. Hawaii is a great program with really strong OB numbers.

 

[margotz]

Stay away from wich baylor College in Houston or University in dallas!!!!?????





QUOTE=tiredmom]my advisor said to stay away from baylor... not real specific, sorry. Also, my impression was that it was pretty hard to scramble in ob, I think they've matched nearly all of their spots for the last few years. Good luck.[/QUOTE]

 

[Diane L. Evans]

lillycat excellent advice.

 

[pda]

can someone post more information on UCLA prelim spots? I am not aware that OB/Gyn needs a prelim year. I am applying to pediatrics but decide to switch to ob/gyn last minute. I will try to scramble into Ob/gyn.

Good luck everyone.

 

[Alician]

UCLA is unique in that they offer spots for PGY1 year in OB/GYN. THe spots are usually for people who don't match into a four year program. They have to apply for a PGY2 spot the next year and usually fill a spot someone else left. UCLA said on their interview day that they have these spots to train residents at a strong university program in order to fill other spots around the country where programs have holes. They also said..call us if you don't match cause we'd love to have you for a year.

 

[2bOb]

There are unfilled spots in ObGyn... but not TONS. From last year's data, the following programs did not fill (although most only had 1 spot open, some had several spots):

Harbor-UCLA
Kaiser LA
King Drew
UCSF Fresno
Medical Center of Central GA
LSU Shreveport
Baystate Med Center
Grand Rapids
North Oakland Med Center
Brookdale Hospital NY
Brooklyn Hospital Center
Albany Medical Center
NYP Columbia
SUNY Brooklyn
U of Buffalo
Akron
Medical College of Ohio
Summa Health/NEUCOM
Lankenau Hospital PA
Hershey/Penn State
Palmetto Health (SC)
Greenville Hospital System (SC)
UT Memphis
Vanderbilt
Baylor
Eastern Virginia
Newport News
UVA

I was kinda surprised about UVA and Columbia. Both were listed as having 1 spot open. Weird.

*Also, UCLA has several prelim spots that they give away during the scramble. At my interview there, the PD told us that if something weird happened and we didn't match, to please call her for one of the prelim spots.

are all these unfilled spots prelim, or also categorical; also, in ref to one of the above, i ranked albany over an nyc university program b/c the people seemed nicer and am not sure if that's wise...any info on albany? AT ALL?

 

[2bOb]

There are unfilled spots in ObGyn... but not TONS. From last year's data, the following programs did not fill (although most only had 1 spot open, some had several spots):

Harbor-UCLA
Kaiser LA
King Drew
UCSF Fresno
Medical Center of Central GA
LSU Shreveport
Baystate Med Center
Grand Rapids
North Oakland Med Center
Brookdale Hospital NY
Brooklyn Hospital Center
Albany Medical Center
NYP Columbia
SUNY Brooklyn
U of Buffalo
Akron
Medical College of Ohio
Summa Health/NEUCOM
Lankenau Hospital PA
Hershey/Penn State
Palmetto Health (SC)
Greenville Hospital System (SC)
UT Memphis
Vanderbilt
Baylor
Eastern Virginia
Newport News
UVA

I was kinda surprised about UVA and Columbia. Both were listed as having 1 spot open. Weird.

*Also, UCLA has several prelim spots that they give away during the scramble. At my interview there, the PD told us that if something weird happened and we didn't match, to please call her for one of the prelim spots.

are all these unfilled spots prelim, or also categorical; also, in ref to one of the above, i ranked albany over an nyc university program b/c the people seemed nicer and am not sure if that's wise...any info on albany? AT ALL?
oh yeah, btw, how do i get a hold of this list?

 

[daisyduke]

That list is categorical spots. I have a PDF of all the programs and specialties listing # of positions and # filled for the 2005 match. PM me with your email address and I can send you the entire PDF if you like.

 

[Flea girl]

are all these unfilled spots prelim, or also categorical; also, in ref to one of the above, i ranked albany over an nyc university program b/c the people seemed nicer and am not sure if that's wise...any info on albany? AT ALL?
oh yeah, btw, how do i get a hold of this list?

Check scutwork.com. They have the list too.