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Impressive! 1 out of 1 match that worked out great for you. Saved a lot of money haha.
Official 2018-2019 Cardiology Fellowship Application Cycle
- Thread starter AMST
- Start date
Impressive! 1 out of 1 match that worked out great for you. Saved a lot of money haha.
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Humble brag of the year ladies and gents
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I need honest opinion. Do programs look at age and year of graduation from medical school ! I finished medical school 2004 and finished residency 3 years ago but was doing research and other stuffs to build up CV. Almost 40 years old. I believe my CV is decent however not received single IV. Any one matched or has positive experience and in same boat. Sometimes I feel it is not worth it wasting more years if I will be judged based on Age.
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Thank you for posting up your experience. Amazing that you applied to just 50 and got 8. You must have had very good papers. I am thinking to either get training in clinical research or join non accredited fellowships however not easy thoughI graduated in 2015, did two years of hospitalist. Had total of 35 papers + presentations by the time I applied for 2017 cardiology match. Has permanent residency [in fact that's why did hospitalist]. Applied to 50 programs and got 8 interviews and matched in the end. Its doable. I think what matters is your commitment to cardiology. A guy I know matched 6 years out of residency as well same year. On the flip side, it does hurt your chances at some programs. Make sure to continue to be productive with research. Try to get original first author papers in good journals. May not all be JACC or Circ etc...
Yes this year we matched one of our own imaging fellow. So that is another route. Bottomline, stay committed to cardiology.
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For Any aspiring USIMGs
matched with 7IVs on 115 applied
220/212/224
9abstracts, 3pending pubs, US-IMG
Soaped FM, transferred to university IM, Matched university Cards program 1st attempt
My only piece of advice is make good relationships with people that will have your back ... it’s been a journey
matched with 7IVs on 115 applied
220/212/224
9abstracts, 3pending pubs, US-IMG
Soaped FM, transferred to university IM, Matched university Cards program 1st attempt
My only piece of advice is make good relationships with people that will have your back ... it’s been a journey
Last edited:
Applicant_2018
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What I have learnt is that people are clearly apprehensive about older (graduation, not age) graduates. One thing that people need is a title change; research alone will not cut it. You need a title of a non-ACGME fellow. If you go to place where they take their own that is best (but make sure that previous they took had similar profile) but those are rare. By best advise would be if you can find a fellowship, so that when you go you are a fellow with a current PD letter etc. Bottomline, every sort of people with every sort of profile get in and sometimes really good do not. For some it becomes hard and for some it works easily. If you keep at it, with a good plan you can get in.
GallavardinP
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US-IMG, matched #2 program
Step 1 257, CK 271, Step 3 249
Residency at university program
3 Abstracts, 2 poster presentations
16 invites, applied to 125 programs
Matched university cardiology program
Step 1 257, CK 271, Step 3 249
Residency at university program
3 Abstracts, 2 poster presentations
16 invites, applied to 125 programs
Matched university cardiology program
Maybe. But more likely the 14yrs since med school, 3 of which was in residency, is a bigger red flag. What have you been doing in this time? What's your cv? Can't critique programs unless we know where you're coming from. For all we know you maybe an IMG, 200 Step 1, community program and working for pharma.
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A lurker throughout the interview process, so thanks to everyone. Thought I'd put my app info here because I was a long shot, but managed to Match. Hopefully it can be encouraging to people. Looking at people's information, I honestly don't know how I got interviews or Matched. I'm humbled and realize that I'm fortunate. Best of luck to everyone: sorry if you didn't Match and congratulations if you did!
1- Research: How many, what type, published or not: 5 published in peer reviewed journals as second author. Ongoing prospective observational research that I am heading
2- Posters or oral presentation: First author poster at AHA 2018
3- Did you do a chief year: Yes (3rd year chief)
4- Your residency program( university vs community): Community
5- How many interview invitations did you receive?: 5
6- USMLE scores? Step 1 198, Step 2 225, Step 3 235
7- What # did you end up matching at? #3
8- Matched? University program
9- Visa: US IMG (Caribbean)
10- Year of Med Schl Grad: 2016
1- Research: How many, what type, published or not: 5 published in peer reviewed journals as second author. Ongoing prospective observational research that I am heading
2- Posters or oral presentation: First author poster at AHA 2018
3- Did you do a chief year: Yes (3rd year chief)
4- Your residency program( university vs community): Community
5- How many interview invitations did you receive?: 5
6- USMLE scores? Step 1 198, Step 2 225, Step 3 235
7- What # did you end up matching at? #3
8- Matched? University program
9- Visa: US IMG (Caribbean)
10- Year of Med Schl Grad: 2016
to encourage old folks:
1- Research: How many, what type, published or not: > 10 published in peer reviewed journals, mainly in home country during PhD studies
2- Posters or oral presentation: >10 poster/oral presentations, including ESC, Hypertension AHA 2018
3- Did you do a chief year: No
4- Your residency program( university vs community): University (low-tier), year of graduation - 2019
5- How many interview invitations did you receive?: 10 (applied to 140)
6- USMLE scores? Step 1 224, Step 2 230, Step 3 239
7- What # did you end up matching at? #2
8- Matched? University affiliated program
9- Visa: Green Card
10- Year of Med School Grad: 2002 (39 YO)
1- Research: How many, what type, published or not: > 10 published in peer reviewed journals, mainly in home country during PhD studies
2- Posters or oral presentation: >10 poster/oral presentations, including ESC, Hypertension AHA 2018
3- Did you do a chief year: No
4- Your residency program( university vs community): University (low-tier), year of graduation - 2019
5- How many interview invitations did you receive?: 10 (applied to 140)
6- USMLE scores? Step 1 224, Step 2 230, Step 3 239
7- What # did you end up matching at? #2
8- Matched? University affiliated program
9- Visa: Green Card
10- Year of Med School Grad: 2002 (39 YO)
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I have been a silent observer of the thread. Here are my stats. Hope it helps/guides someone.
I am PGY 3. I have done MPH before starting residency.
1- Research: How many, what type, published or not? 1 (non-card) publication, working on couple of projects at CV dept in my own program.
2- Posters or oral presentation? 4 presentations/posters
3- Did you do a chief year? No
4- Your residency program (university vs community): Community
5- How many interview invitations did you receive? 4
6- USMLE scores? Step 1 251, Step 2 CK 224, Step 3 228, CS no attempt
7- What # did you end up matching at? #2, my home program
8- Matched program (university vs community) ? Community program
9- Visa : J 1
10- Year of Med Schl Grad: 2012
I am PGY 3. I have done MPH before starting residency.
1- Research: How many, what type, published or not? 1 (non-card) publication, working on couple of projects at CV dept in my own program.
2- Posters or oral presentation? 4 presentations/posters
3- Did you do a chief year? No
4- Your residency program (university vs community): Community
5- How many interview invitations did you receive? 4
6- USMLE scores? Step 1 251, Step 2 CK 224, Step 3 228, CS no attempt
7- What # did you end up matching at? #2, my home program
8- Matched program (university vs community) ? Community program
9- Visa : J 1
10- Year of Med Schl Grad: 2012
Your competitiveness is determined by how much your contacts from the fellowship program are going to vouch for you-make calls, write very strong LORs. And also if you work very hard, you should increase chances in the in house cardiology fellowship
IMG on visa
UsMLE Scores- 250s.
2 oral presentations and one poster at AHA and ACC. No published manuscripts but few in pipeline .
Residency year-2014.
Chief year- No. But doing a Masters in research post residency.
Applied to 90. 6 interviews. Matched at No 2. Community program in a great location.
Perisist with it and improve your CV in any manner you can and you will match.
There is no fixed formula.
UsMLE Scores- 250s.
2 oral presentations and one poster at AHA and ACC. No published manuscripts but few in pipeline .
Residency year-2014.
Chief year- No. But doing a Masters in research post residency.
Applied to 90. 6 interviews. Matched at No 2. Community program in a great location.
Perisist with it and improve your CV in any manner you can and you will match.
There is no fixed formula.
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I am applying to peds cardiology and match day is in 2 days, do you get an email from NRMP at 12pmET that you matched? does it say in the email where you matched or you have to login to the match site?
For people who matched, was there any post-interviews communication between you and your program?
For people who matched, was there any post-interviews communication between you and your program?
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Post interview I emailed the number 1 program to let them know they were my number 1. On match day some people received email and some logged into NRMP. I got an email with where I matched.
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What are the 3 spot available on NRMP?
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Can anyone please provide the lose of the unfilled spots? Thank you
Hey guys, just need some honest feedback here regarding re-applicants. I will be doing a one year non-ACGME fellowship in non-invasive imaging, hope to boost my CV with experience and research. I was wondering in terms of reapplications, do programs know that I will be applying again from ERAS? and if they were to somehow find out, would this be a red flag? would anyone recommend applying to programs I interviewed at already this year? When I apply I will be two years out of IM residency as I did a hospitalist year and part time research last year already.
In terms of my background: AMG from mid-upper tier university affiliated residency program with 6 publications (4 first author) and 6 abstracts (several as lead author), 2 poster presentations and 1 oral case presentation with decent board scores (242/243/225/CS pass).
In terms of my background: AMG from mid-upper tier university affiliated residency program with 6 publications (4 first author) and 6 abstracts (several as lead author), 2 poster presentations and 1 oral case presentation with decent board scores (242/243/225/CS pass).
If programs interviewed you and you did not match there, it’s highly unlikely they’ll call you for interview again. Obvious exceptions to these are programs that know you very well-where you did residency, hospitalist, research etc. In these cases, it’s ok to meet PD/Mentor regarding your chances and how you may improve them.
For programs that didn’t interview you are likely to call you for interview if there is a significant change in your cv from prior year. If there is not, wouldn’t be a great idea to apply to the same program in a years time.
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Programs will likely know, not sure if there's an actual setting in ERAS on their end to flag re-applicants, but in the end it won't hurt to re-apply to the same programs if you want, you may get lucky. I know some who didn't match, re-applied and re-interviewed at same places, maybe you just fell thru the cracks. However, with your stats it's a bit surprising you didn't match, hopefully you talked to someone about it to figure out why.
What about the two year gap after residency? I’ve heard up to 2 years it’s fien and becoming more common these days. Need some input on this.
Yes. One or two years is ok. You should be in good shape. Mine was more than 4 years so I did get feedback it’s harder the further away from residency. It helps to show you have been doing research/presenting during this time.
Ya, I was really surprised too...had 14 interviews and didn’t match. Hoping to just pin it on bad interviews.... If programs find out you didn’t match last year is that a big red flag? I feel like that might have hurt me a bit on the as many asked (and I don’t want to lie obviously). What are your guys thoughts? Other than that there doesn’t seem to be any major deficiencies on my app. I don’t know the statistics off hand, but isn’t having > 10 invites almost a guaranteed match?
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To echo what was said above, you should think long and hard about why you didn't match. Application-wise, you should have matched this cycle, being AMG, good board scores, and published research. I would talk to your mentors and/or letter writer who you TRUST. Perhaps you weren't good at interviews. Perhaps a LOR was quite detrimental. Perhaps you didn't apply broadly enough. Regardless, unless you pinpoint exactly what went wrong (because something clearly did), it will be difficult to match next cycle despite additional research.
Now to answer your question, yes it will be a red flag but certainly not so much that your application won't be looked at. Most programs have a number of people who does the initial filtering process (usually a combination of PD/APDs) and they may remember your application from last year. However, if your app is different and you brand yourself differently, I don't think that will be a dealbreaker.
You sir, are crazy
Unless they are interviewing you for a second time, they wont know you interviewed last year. people apply for fellowship a year late for so many reasons (to a year of research, hospitalist, chief residency). And even if you told them that you did not match last year--> it is not a red flag as long as your CV matches and you interview well. Honest reasons for not matching include limiting oneself to a particular city (that could change from one year to other), poor interview skills, weaker CV etc. You can always highlight what you did to improve CV (if you are going to go around telling programs why you didn't match)
So seems like a lot of programs straight up asked if I didn’t match this cycle due to a gap year. What are your guys thoughts on the best way to answer this question? Feels like a lot of interviewers lost interest and cut the interview short as soon as I mentioned not matching but it’s hard to predict what kind of person each interviewer is. Would it be better to not answer the question directly and instead focus on other things (research during gap year, skills gained with a non-ACGME accredited Cardiology imaging fellowship etc) or is full disclosure The best approach?
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Was this the 2nd time you've applied to cardiology and not match? You made it sound like you took a year off to be a hospitalist and focus on research and this was your first attempt. If you already tried twice and didn't succeed, I would really pinpoint where it all went wrong and try your best to fix that. Otherwise, it may be time to consider a different career.
In terms of how to answer the question after failing to match, I would think it depends on the rapport you have with the interviewer and you probably have to decide during each conversation how much to disclose. I definitely would not bring it up if you aren't directly asked; however, coming across as dodging the question is bad, since everyone talks to everyone and the truth will come out. You should prepare 2 types of answers: one (if not asked directly) I wanted to get more exposure to the field and more research to strengthen my CV, and two (if asked directly), no, I did not match and here is what went wrong, here is what I've done to correct that... the latter hopefully you can knock it out of the park by showing you've identified the problem, worked hard to fix it, and then show how dedicated and persistent you are in trying to become a cardiology fellow.
Yes, this was the second time I applied. Each time I received over 10 invitations (programs from high to low tiers), so really doubt it’s on paper, and likely interviews (although if you guys can think of anything please share your thoughts!), but so far it’s been a frustrating process of looking over every detail of my app and speaking to mentors/PDs of programs I applied to and not finding any glaring red flags.
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That's strange. You should do practice interviews with a mentor you trust. Another thought is to stop applying to "top-tier programs" and focus on mid-lower tier programs with strong clinical training and apply very broadly, as in use your hospitalist money to apply to 100+ programs. And start wrapping your mind around another career in case you don't succeed a 3rd time.
Just throwing this out there: unless you are atrocious at interviews or have perhaps the worst luck, it's possible your application was torpedoed when PDs called and asked about you. Most PDs/mentors want their applicants to do well so would advocate for you... with your stats, it's highly irregular that you didn't match.
Applicant_2018
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I have seen people in the past who did not match despite good number of interview calls/ CV etc because of a negative letter; which they later on got access to for 1 year spots apps etc and realized that their mentor had practically tried to ruin their application instead of refusing to give LOR they had given a very negative LOR.
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Well that doesn’t make sense because the institute would most likely not interview to begin with.
Applicant_2018
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I guess no one expects this; LOR titles are read, applications reviewed and invitations are sent before reading LORs in details off course.
So for this next upcoming year (second year away from residency), would it be better to do just a hospitalist year and finish whatever projects I did as an imaging fellow the year prior? I’m debating between that and doing another one year non-ACGME accredited fellowship (i.e. CHF), but am worried it would appear as a red flag (i.e. taking any fellowship that opens, regardless of interest), and perhaps even raising concerns I didn’t match a second time. With the hospitalist position, at least I can spin it off as needing to complete research projects from last year, new LORs from staff I worked with as a fellow last year, etc, all while having to support family, but I know a hospitalist year raises red flags at some institutions as it shows lack of commitment to Cards. What do you guys think? If I continue to publish even whilst being a hospitalist, would that be sufficient to show I’m committed to the field? I’m just so paranoid about not matching a third time. Anyone know someone who is in a similar situation as mine and ended up being successful?
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The non ACGME accredited HF fellowship is only useful if you get a ton of publications out of it. If you spend the year shadowing people in LVAD clinic or seeing consults or whatever - sure you’ll learn and see plenty of cool stuff and get good letters, but I don’t know if people will care as much.
This is my two cents. Others may disagree
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I don't think it matters what you do this year honestly. What is much, much more important is trying to figure out where it all went wrong (I know this may not be possible) and doing everything you can to fix it. Ongoing productivity is a bonus. Luck be with you.
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1- Research: How many, what type, published or not: 4 (One first author on review paper published in International peer reviewed journal, one ACP Poster presentation, One ACP abstract publication, One retrospective chart review in process).
2- Posters or oral presentation: First author at ACP presentation
3- Did you do a chief year: No
4- Your residency program( university vs community): University
5- How many interview invitations did you receive?: 8, accepted 7
6- USMLE scores? Step 1 216, Step 2 223, Step 3 216
7- What # did you end up matching at? #6
8- Matched? University program
9- Visa: US Grad
10- Year of Med Schl Grad: 2016
2- Posters or oral presentation: First author at ACP presentation
3- Did you do a chief year: No
4- Your residency program( university vs community): University
5- How many interview invitations did you receive?: 8, accepted 7
6- USMLE scores? Step 1 216, Step 2 223, Step 3 216
7- What # did you end up matching at? #6
8- Matched? University program
9- Visa: US Grad
10- Year of Med Schl Grad: 2016
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1- Research: How many, what type, published or not: 9. QI/Small Prospective/Retrospective studies mainly in areas of EP. 5 Publications (2 First Authored)
2- Posters or oral presentation: 12 poster and 3 oral presentations
3- Did you do a chief year: Yes, QI
4- Your residency program( university vs community): University
5- How many interview invitations did you receive?: 21, visited 18
6- USMLE scores? Step 1 and Step 2 CK 240s, Step 3 220s, All Steps including CS first attempt
7- What # did you end up matching at? #1
8- Matched? Upper Mid-Tier Community Program
9- Visa: J1
10- Year of Med Schl Grad: 2011
2- Posters or oral presentation: 12 poster and 3 oral presentations
3- Did you do a chief year: Yes, QI
4- Your residency program( university vs community): University
5- How many interview invitations did you receive?: 21, visited 18
6- USMLE scores? Step 1 and Step 2 CK 240s, Step 3 220s, All Steps including CS first attempt
7- What # did you end up matching at? #1
8- Matched? Upper Mid-Tier Community Program
9- Visa: J1
10- Year of Med Schl Grad: 2011
Happy Doctor :)
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Hey guys, which program do you think is better Emory or THI?
I'm interested in Interventional Cardiology, with a plan of dedicated 25% Academic and 75% Private practice.
Thank you in advance!! Congratulations to all of you guys for having this passion on this amazing field as Cardiology is!!
I'm interested in Interventional Cardiology, with a plan of dedicated 25% Academic and 75% Private practice.
Thank you in advance!! Congratulations to all of you guys for having this passion on this amazing field as Cardiology is!!
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Maybe wait until you actually get an interview before comparing, and it's not clear what 25% academic 75% PP means. If you want to do academics, probably lean towards emory.
Happy Doctor :)
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Thank you for your sincere opinion. Yeah I know I should wait until, but I think sometimes it's okay to ask in advance in order to apply some info into your planning (doing elective, research rotation, looking LoRs from, etc in the place that you are interested in).
And regarding with 25/75 academic/PP I meant that I think I would like to invest my time in such ratio of 25% doing academic clinical research, while 75% treating patients, being part of a private group, etc, something like that. Hope I made it more clear.
Anyway, I really appreciate your input. All the best bro!!
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I'm just going to be honest here. 25/75 academic/PP split doesn't exist. Maybe in rare circumstances but by and large, it's very rare anymore.
#1) If you want to do clinical research (I'm talking long-term, not one paper and done type of thing), you either need $$ from grants or industry. Neither is going to pay you substantial money to do research on the side.
#2) If you want to do 25% teaching or administrative, then definitely easier. You will take a paycut though.
A lot of times, when you first start out, you have to do the research on your own time. More like 90% clinical + 30% research = 100+20% time you have to put in of your own personal time (weekends/nights/etc). As you expand your research repertoire and get grants, then it's easier to negotiate for protected research time.
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Agree, it sounds like the poster in question needs to more closely evaluate what he wants to ultimately do in his career. It’s hard to sustain a strong research career in a private practice and generally is not fruitful. This in addition to the fact that we know most research output is BS anyway from an impact standpoint
Happy Doctor :)
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Oh okay, I understand what you are saying guys, I was not aware of such details. Then, in that case, I think I would like to do clinical practice in an academic environment, maybe a part-time academic job and part-time private job, is it possible? Because I always enjoy to teach and to learn in a group setting, with discussion, conferences, etc. That's why I also had in mind about splitting my future into the unreal concept of 25/75 research/private... Thanks a lot for your inputs, I really appreciate it!!
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Sure those jobs exist. Most academic places now have faculty who are all clinical based or on clinical tracks where you get to work with fellows and all that. It's just your salary is going to a significant cut. Like at least a good 30% (100k+/yr), are you going to be ok with that?
Unfortunately, for most places, teaching is one of those things that just doesn't get compensated (or well) at least.
Happy Doctor :)
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I think I'll be more than happy being within a nice academic environment with such salary, due to the fact that I really love to teach other doctors what I've learnt along my medical path, and moreover due to the incomparably elevated salary that I'll still be earning in contrast with the average 20k/yr that most of some good hospitalists earn in my country.
Thank you so much for taking the time to share your opinion.
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You should probably work and worry about matching a residency in the US before even contemplating your ultimate career in cardiology. You need to actually spend time working with and teaching residents before making grand plans.
Your other post in the IMG thread about aiming for UTSW gives me a clue that you may not have a good handle on what you are or aren’t competitive for (especially with zero research).
Happy Doctor :)
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Please don't be mad at me, I know that I ignore many facts, and I apologize if I said something inappropriate, or if I used inadequate ways to express what I have in my mind.
I just like to follow what Benjamin Franklin and Winston Churchill said; “By failing to prepare, you are preparing to fail” and “He who fails to plan is planning to fail”, respectively.
I am aware that many of my plans might not work out how I'm expected to be, or that I may be wrong regarding with what I have in my mind right now, or that something might not even be what I expected to be like, etc; but making mistakes and changing paths is all part of human beings, and asking silly questions can sometimes be a good way to learn, I think.
And about the research issue though, unfortunately, there are no significant research opportunities in my country, we are never taught to do research in most of our medical schools, and my parents didn't have enough money to pay me for some research electives or something else. Right now I'm trying to get some loans and funding in order to move into a 3-people department in the US or even a cheaper option if possible, while being on b1b2 visa, and see if I get to find an IMG-friendly mentor for a clinical research volunteering. Then I'll start paying all my debt off once I get to match into a program.
I do respect your thoughts bro, and again, I apologize for any type of inappropriate behavior that I could've had or any bad comment that I could've made.
I wish the very best to all of you guys!!
