Match for Fellowship Programs?

[Stinky Tofu]

I heard that the AAPM&R and the AAP are thinking about starting a formal match for Pain, Spine, Sports, & MSK. What do people of the idea?

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[paz5559]

I heard that the AAPM&R and the AAP are thinking about starting a formal match for Pain, Spine, Sports, & MSK. What do people of the idea?

I have been actively pushing the idea for about two years now, so I am very much in favor. Unless felowship directors feel the need to go outside the system, it is an optimal way to take pressure tactics, nepotism, and exploding offers (you can have the spot, but only if you tell me yes right now) out of the equation.

 

[Stinky Tofu]

Unless Anesthesia Pain fellowships participate in the match, I am against a match just for PM&R fellowships.

 

[paz5559]

Unless Anesthesia Pain fellowships participate in the match, I am against a match just for PM&R fellowships.

In order to accomodate just such concerns, the first babystep in instituting a match that has been proposed is to create a common offer date, to fall immediately after the AAPM&R annual meeting. The intension was for this date to consistantly preceed determinations by the vast majority of anesthesia programs.

 

[drusso]

For various reasons, anything short of a formal match program (such as a common offer date) leaves sponsors and fellowships program vulnerable to anti-trust lawsuits. Therefore, a common offer date will not work. It either has to be a full match program like Derm does for Mohs' sugery of ENT does for facial plastics, or nothing at all.

Resident leaders from the AAPM&R and AAP RPC's, in conjunction with AAPM&R staff and Board liaisons, have been working on various feasibility issues. At the end of the day, residents need to have a very clear idea of what they want in the fellowship matching process. The current discussions have focused exclusively on PM&R-based programs because those contacts are within our specialty's reach. I don't think anyone has formally approached individuals in the anesthesia world about this issue.

If any readers know of individuals in the Anesthesia RRC or other active or influential individuals who might be interested in this please let me know.

 

[paz5559]

For various reasons, anything short of a formal match program (such as a common offer date) leaves sponsors and fellowships program vulnerable to anti-trust lawsuits. Therefore, a common offer date will not work. It either has to be a full match program like Derm does for Mohs' sugery of ENT does for facial plastics, or nothing at all.

Resident leaders from the AAPM&R and AAP RPC's, in conjunction with AAPM&R staff and Board liaisons, have been working on various feasibility issues. At the end of the day, residents need to have a very clear idea of what they want in the fellowship matching process. The current discussions have focused exclusively on PM&R-based programs because those contacts are within our specialty's reach. I don't think anyone has formally approached individuals in the anesthesia world about this issue.

If any readers know of individuals in the Anesthesia RRC or other active or influential individuals who might be interested in this please let me know.

In fact, this is the standard scare tactic the Academy has been using for the past 4 years in order to do nothing. There are multiple subspecialties in Internal Medicine that already have just such a Common Offer Date arrangement, and none of theose entities have ever been subject to any legal challenge.

The Academy's attorneys are misreading the Congressional action that insulated the Match from anti-trust litigation in order to protect the status quo. Fellowship directors like the system just as it is, and it is up to us as residents to raise our collective voices and demand that we be treated fairly and equitably. The claim that "that is how you will be treated in the real world" is a false arguement, because in the real world, you will come to the table in a position of power similar to that of your potential employer (ie they need you just as much as you need them). This is clearly not the case when applying to prestigious fellowships.

We as residents need to make it known that this is an issue we feel strongly about, and that we will not stop demanding action until progress is made. Contact the AAPM&R. Contact the AAP. Make sure they know you want a match. They can't ignore us if we speak in one clear, cohesive, collective voice and make our wishes heard. (end of diatribe)