Official 2022-2023 Gastroenterology Fellowship Application Cycle

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Osteopathic Med School
Low-tier IM Residency Program -->chief year
Comlex 43x, 49x, 48x (below average as passing is 400 for comlex and national average is 550)
LOR: 4 GI
3 publications with 5 pending acceptance
20+ abstracts


Applying very broadly. Trying to figure out what I can do to maximize my chances with very low board scores.
 
DOdocIMinteresr said:
Osteopathic Med School
Low-tier IM Residency Program -->chief year
Comlex 43x, 49x, 48x (below average as passing is 400 for comlex and national average is 550)
LOR: 4 GI
3 publications with 5 pending acceptance
20+ abstracts


Applying very broadly. Trying to figure out what I can do to maximize my chances with very low board scores.
Click to expand...

For better or worse, the ship on maximizing chances has sailed for this cycle. It all is what it is, no changing anything. Take advantage of the interviews you do get and make a strong impression. Good luck
 
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Hi guys. im new here.
Im a medpeds resident, applied to both IM and Ped gi looking to combine programs.
Have several of ped GI interviews but none for IM. I know things are slower this year, but I wanted to check with some of you guys.

NonUS IMG on J1 visa
Step 1 240s
Step 2 230s
Step 3 220s
No fails.

University affiliated MedPeds Program, small.
10 poster presentations (ACP, ACC, ACG, DDW, Nasphgan)
~ 5 QI projects
~ 2 research projects
~ multiple academic activities
~ chief resident
~ No publications

LORs are strong, but one is my PD, 2x GI peds, 1x GI adult.

Hoping for some feedback. Thanks! ✌🏻
 
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As you already noticed you will likely get the most play in the peds realm. For better or worse, this is likely to be the case for most med peds folks, the links to adult GI just aren’t there. To go into adult GI is a branch that doesn’t particularly jive with your current career path and people like feel you are more peds GI bound, true or not. It’s always been an interesting choice to me why people go into med peds as there are so few who actually end up using both. Anyways, your stats are decent, so hopefully you can make the best in the peds GI realm and capitalize on any adult GI interviews you do get if that’s what you really want.
 
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How is everyone doing?
Last week was the busiest week we had so far, hopefully it continues like that next week too.
Apparently ~1/3 of the programs have sent invites so far. Do you think there will be a second round for some of the programs or no?
 
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No second round but trickle invites here and there
 
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slopes23 said:
Hello Hello! Its feeling like that time of year, once again. I'll be applying for the first time with the rest of you and figured now is as good of a time as any to give the people what they want.

Feel free to post your stats and the inevitable
"what are my chances" questions as well as info on programs, interviews the gambit. I'm posting last years excel sheet, but think we should make a concerted effort to update it this year to increase the sample size.

Best of luck to all of you.

CURRENT {2022-23) GI Cycle App Spreadsheet

LAST YEAR'S (2021-22) GI Cycle App Spreadsheet
Click to expand...
Can I get access to last years GI cycle spreadsheet?
 
Luna Waves said:
Can I get access to last years GI cycle spreadsheet?
Click to expand...
Last years spread sheet is not mine to control (and I wasn't the one who locked it). You can see some of the data on our current cycle spreadsheet, it is located in a unmodifiable tab
 
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Does it help if residency program directors call GI Fellowship PDs about candidates (assuming they don't know each other)?
 
This is an int question even I was curious about. In my recent interview at a top prog PD started the conversation...."Yeah I got a lot of phone calls but u made it thru the cut".....Senior fellows from my residency have indicated that phone calls work in many situations. Esp if PD or PI is well known.
 
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May anyone comment on Wake Forest Vs. Henry Ford overall. Having a hard time determining how to rank between the two (overall training). Thank you
 
CentralLineexpert said:
May anyone comment on Wake Forest Vs. Henry Ford overall. Having a hard time determining how to rank between the two (overall training). Thank you
Click to expand...
Wake is way more academic then HF. The rotations at wake are much more teased out, ie you have rotations completely dedicated to reading capsules, to motility. These experiences are more bundled together at HF and is more realistic to how you would perform in a community setting and also the Detroit population is much more diverse. So take that for what you will. If you want to focus on a specific area and want to do academics you should pick Wake over Henry Ford.
 
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Matched at my #2. Congratulations to those that matched! To those that didn't, never give up. You will get in!
 
Matched at my #3. This is my fifth attempt. Please never give up even if people don’t believe in you. Only you know yourself and your accolades best.
 
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fleetenema said:
Matched at my #3. This is my fifth attempt. Please never give up even if people don’t believe in you. Only you know yourself and your accolades best.
Click to expand...
Props to you for not giving up. My first attempt, middle of list but very content and happy I matched.
 
Matched to my #1. Over the moon.
 
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Any help with the list of non-accredited hepatology fellowships? Thanks!
 
Hi, I'm a first year medical student at a US MD school who has a preliminary interest in gastroenterology.

I'm still years away from the process, but during my first four years of medical school, outside of studying, what things should I be focusing on to be a successful applicant down the line? I will try to pursue some sort of GI research over the summer but what are some things that you all as applicants would recommend?

I don't want to put all my eggs in this basket, but I'm also aware it is a very competitive fellowship and so I want to at least have a gameplan in mind. Thank you so much :)
 
Be the best medical student you can be, no need to pigeon hole yourself, especially this early. Keep your options open, board scores and research matters. Find a balance between research volume and research quality (it’s a fine balance and skewed too much one way or the other is sub-optimal). (Skewing too far towards research quality can look like signing ono a multi year big name research project that will see you be a middle author anyways if published at all, and you sunk 4 years to get 1 publication. Why you will be included in as a med student will be limited by the start but a good mentor will know how to help you navigate this. Be a good person and someone that others enjoy working with. Relationships matter, a lot, especially mentor relationships. They lead to letters and people going to bat on you behalf. The further along you get becomes more who you know and less what you know.

Have self confidence in sticking your neck out there for management items but don’t be overconfident to the extent that it comes across that you are hard to teach. All of that should culminate to getting into the best possible residency program you can (program prestige is important for competitive fellowships and something you can’t change once you match). That’s really all you need to worry about for the foreseeable future. If still interested in GI, check back in around this time of your MS4 year to inquire how you should set yourself up for research in intern year given the conference timelines.

Enjoy med school.
 
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Akrylix said:
Hi, I'm a first year medical student at a US MD school who has a preliminary interest in gastroenterology.

I'm still years away from the process, but during my first four years of medical school, outside of studying, what things should I be focusing on to be a successful applicant down the line? I will try to pursue some sort of GI research over the summer but what are some things that you all as applicants would recommend?

I don't want to put all my eggs in this basket, but I'm also aware it is a very competitive fellowship and so I want to at least have a gameplan in mind. Thank you so much :)
Click to expand...

The truth with no sugar coating.

Focus on getting into a big name residency. Residency name matters. You need to try and get into a university program with an in house GI fellowship ( work on securing this spot as the ultimate back up). Focus on step scores ( step 1 is pass now so make sure you get a high step 2). You need good letters to get into a great university residency program ( which means being a great med student on your rotations. First 2 years just don't fail any classes, 3rd year are your rotations and where you'll get your letters). Of course it is possible to get into GI from a community program but a lot harder. Work hard now and make life easier on yourself.
Programs want to show off on their websites well known residencies to attract similar applicants. It is what it is. Once you get closer to applying you'll understand a bit more of politics in the GI application cycle. Research if you can focus on GI that would be great, even doing case reports is ok as a med student. Once you get into residency you need to have original research and more case reports and get abstracts accepted to ACG/DDW meetings. You'll need NEW letters and this comes from being a top tier resident at your institution , need a great letter from your PD and GI attendings.

1. Residency name / university program
2. Step scores/ letters
3. Research

Maximize these 3 to maximize you matching into GI.

Many do not match the first time, it is the most competitive specialty.. but if you work on those and with a bit of luck hopefully you'll match the first time applying ( I luckily did)

Good luck!
 
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Hi Everyone! I have enjoyed reading and learning from everyone of you on here.

I wish to find out; can someone get in to fellowship with just an EAD card, instead of a J1 or H1B visa?

Thank you so much for your time.
 
RaiImposs said:
Hi Everyone! I have enjoyed reading and learning from everyone of you on here.

I wish to find out; can someone get in to fellowship with just an EAD card, instead of a J1 or H1B visa?

Thank you so much for your time.
Click to expand...
Hi, yes you can. I got into residency and fellowship on an EAD card.
 
Akrylix said:
Hi, I'm a first year medical student at a US MD school who has a preliminary interest in gastroenterology.

I'm still years away from the process, but during my first four years of medical school, outside of studying, what things should I be focusing on to be a successful applicant down the line? I will try to pursue some sort of GI research over the summer but what are some things that you all as applicants would recommend?

I don't want to put all my eggs in this basket, but I'm also aware it is a very competitive fellowship and so I want to at least have a gameplan in mind. Thank you so much :)
Click to expand...
Hi,

1) Obtain great USMLE scores

2) During residency, be the best resident you can be. Be dependent, punctual, diligent, and take no shortcuts. Attending letters of recommendations are important for fellowship match

3) Get involved in research early on during your residency. Not easy to do but very possible.

4) Get to know the GI fellows well during residency as well as the GI program director. Don't brown-nose, just introduce yourself, let them know of your passion in GI, see if you can shadow while they're scoping, ask to join in any ongoing research with them, etc

5) Several years down the line, we hope to hear good news from you regarding the GI fellowship match
 
koolkooper said:
Hi,

1) Obtain great USMLE scores

2) During residency, be the best resident you can be. Be dependent, punctual, diligent, and take no shortcuts. Attending letters of recommendations are important for fellowship match

3) Get involved in research early on during your residency. Not easy to do but very possible.

4) Get to know the GI fellows well during residency as well as the GI program director. Don't brown-nose, just introduce yourself, let them know of your passion in GI, see if you can shadow while they're scoping, ask to join in any ongoing research with them, etc

5) Several years down the line, we hope to hear good news from you regarding the GI fellowship match
Click to expand...
Also a med student interested in GI. One follow-up question to this is, how reliable is the re-applying process if one fails secure a GI fellowship the first go around? I've heard you can do a chief year, strengthen your app and apply again. Essentially people say that if you want to get into GI, it will happen, but you may need to keep trying and reapply. Is that accurate, one can just keep reapplying and still have a chance a third time, for example?
 
subdermallight said:
Also a med student interested in GI. One follow-up question to this is, how reliable is the re-applying process if one fails secure a GI fellowship the first go around? I've heard you can do a chief year, strengthen your app and apply again. Essentially people say that if you want to get into GI, it will happen, but you may need to keep trying and reapply. Is that accurate, one can just keep reapplying and still have a chance a third time, for example?
Click to expand...

Not sure exactly about how reliable the re-application process is. Some people get in the first time, others second time, others third time etc. I personally know someone who didn't match during 3rd year of residency. Did a 4th year chief and didn't match. Left to work as a hospitalist but still kept applying every season for 3 years. He finally matched after his 5th attempt. Most of my friends that I know matched their second time. Very few matched the first time. The ones that matched the second time, worked as hospitalists while being heavily involved in research during their spare time.
So yes, if you don't get in the first time, keep re-applying. But don't stand idle. Keep doing research, network with the GI crew and you will get in eventually, if not in your first time.
 
subdermallight said:
Also a med student interested in GI. One follow-up question to this is, how reliable is the re-applying process if one fails secure a GI fellowship the first go around? I've heard you can do a chief year, strengthen your app and apply again. Essentially people say that if you want to get into GI, it will happen, but you may need to keep trying and reapply. Is that accurate, one can just keep reapplying and still have a chance a third time, for example?
Click to expand...

Chief year is usually decided in 2nd year, so you can’t just suddenly choose to do a chief year after not matching. Also, while you can continue to reapply and people certainly do, I wouldn’t call it reliable in that you are guaranteed to get in eventually just by forcing your application in the mix. If you didn’t make it in the first year, as mentioned it’s important to be constant improving your application in a meaningful way. But if you are a med student, just focus on making it in the first time, otherwise life starts getting more complicated.
 
Hello,



Long time lurker. I just had a general question or pattern I have been noticing. I see that some programs have applicants that are accepted but have minimal to no research in their resume that are from Osteopathic medical schools (DO). I personally know of 2-3 in specific programs that were also accepted and have 1 case report or nothing at all. I am curious as to why this is ( is there a political agenda pressuring programs to accept osteopathic candidates just to balance out MD’s?). I just find it interesting so many other applicants have had to present countless abstracts and publish papers to be a competitive applicant. I am an osteopath resident myself interested in GI and I am just wondering why this is (Do I have an upper hand now this pattern is emerging?). Any input would be appreciated. I understand there are many factors involved, but I know of more competitive MD candidates with more research , good letters, great resident etc. that was not chosen over the osteopathic candidates. I feel like this is a taboo topic but the trend is there..
 
This seems like a difficult trend to verify. Most GI fellows don’t have their CV as public information, so knowing the true extent to people’s research seems unlikely. As to the 2-3 people you claim to know have done little to no research, I would counter that they are anecdotal anomaly’s and not indicative of a “trend”. Moreover, research is only but one piece of the application, the farther you get in your career the more things tend to skew towards who you know and less what you know. At this stage, that can manifest itself as especially strong letters of recommendation from big name writers, or personal phone calls. Other times, applicants know faculty personally from working with them.

Additionally, not all programs are equal, many community programs have relatively less emphasis on research because of their nature, and so are more willing to take applicants that have less research (although this is not true across the board as research still serves as a way to distinguish between applicants all things being otherwise equal, and there exist some minimal ACGME research requirements that programs have to abide by and so it tends to be helpful to have fellows who are independent in this regard.)

Finally, except at specific community programs which only take DO applicants (there are relatively few) I feel comfortable saying that DO grads are generally at a relative disadvantage across the board as compared to US MD grads.
 
I'm currently a third-year Internal Medicine resident, and our team is in the process of establishing a new Gastroenterology fellowship program that will be transferred from another hospital to ours. This program currently accommodates two fellows every year, but we are striving to convince the Program Director to increase the capacity by adding a third spot. Our hospital is relatively large, with over 500 beds, and we also provide care at another hospital with roughly 250 beds. Our consultation list comprises approximately 50 patients each day, including both new consultations and follow-ups.

Could you please provide me with assistance in persuading the Program Director to approve the third spot? Additionally, if you could share your schedule with me, I believe it would be tremendously beneficial.

Thank you.
 
This seems both like a troll post but also a weird thing to troll about. Not sure what you are asking, (what you are asking for seems weird tbh). If your PD decides how many spots they get because of what the consensus of student doctor network says than they should probably not be PD. This also doesn’t seem like a 3rd year level writing, and the number of patients on the consult list seems unreasonable (10% of patients in the hospital are consulted to GI, every day, yeah right)
 
slopes23 said:
This seems both like a troll post but also a weird thing to troll about. Not sure what you are asking, (what you are asking for seems weird tbh). If your PD decides how many spots they get because of what the consensus of student doctor network says than they should probably not be PD. This also doesn’t seem like a 3rd year level writing, and the number of patients on the consult list seems unreasonable (10% of patients in the hospital are consulted to GI, every day, yeah right)
Click to expand...
Actually, every word on that post was true. I am not sure why I would troll. Also, yes the list is 50 consults between new and follow-ups. It is a community program, GI gets consulted for mild pancreatitis sometimes. Chill bro.
 
Lol. You have 50 patients with mild pancreatitis? Why can’t you sign off on them in 2 seconds if you are required to see the consult. If you have a 50 person consult census consistently in a 500 bed hospital something has gone terribly wrong in your system and it won’t be fixed by adding another fellow.

Explain to me how you hope we can “help you convince your PD for the 3rd spot.” Do you think it’s really that easy? You’re a third year resident, do you think the PD/admin are looking to you for advice as to whether an additional spot is needed? Do you think they care what SDN has to say on the matter especially with no context or actual detail. Moreover, do you think it’s that easy to add a spot? You realize an additional spot requires additional funding ACGME funding, right?

Moreover, you want people to share their schedule with you for no specific reason? Your whole post is absolutely a joke and if it’s not then you have no meaningful understanding of how fellowship structures function. Good luck with your application. Best to you and your program.
 
slopes23 said:
Lol. You have 50 patients with mild pancreatitis? Why can’t you sign off on them in 2 seconds if you are required to see the consult. If you have a 50 person consult census consistently in a 500 bed hospital something has gone terribly wrong in your system and it won’t be fixed by adding another fellow.

Explain to me how you hope we can “help you convince your PD for the 3rd spot.” Do you think it’s really that easy? You’re a third year resident, do you think the PD/admin are looking to you for advice as to whether an additional spot is needed? Do you think they care what SDN has to say on the matter especially with no context or actual detail. Moreover, do you think it’s that easy to add a spot? You realize an additional spot requires additional funding ACGME funding, right?

Moreover, you want people to share their schedule with you for no specific reason? Your whole post is absolutely a joke and if it’s not then you have no meaningful understanding of how fellowship structures function. Good luck with your application. Best to you and your program.
Click to expand...
Why so angry? :D If you cannot help just ignore the post. Just because something you think you can't achieve, doesn't mean it's not achievable. And what is the big deal with sharing the schedule? lol. Programs post it on their websites most of the time.
I understand all that you have said, and I already took care of it :) Chill bro.
 
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StomachDoctortobe said:
Why so angry? :D If you cannot help just ignore the post. Just because something you think you can't achieve, doesn't mean it's not achievable. And what is the big deal with sharing the schedule? lol. Programs post it on their websites most of the time.
I understand all that you have said, and I already took care of it :) Chill bro.
Click to expand...

Lol. Not angry, just baffled and chuckling at your naivety. It’s not that getting another spot is unachievable, it certainly is. It’s just abundantly clear that you don’t have a clue as to how to go about getting it, starting with the recognition that a resident wouldn’t be the one responsible for getting a new fellowship spot in the first place. You are correct, they do post sample schedules, so if that’s good enough and you know it, why did you ask for it?
 
slopes23 said:
Lol. Not angry, just baffled and chuckling at your naivety. It’s not that getting another spot is unachievable, it certainly is. It’s just abundantly clear that you don’t have a clue as to how to go about getting it, starting with the recognition that a resident wouldn’t be the one responsible for getting a new fellowship spot in the first place. You are correct, they do post sample schedules, so if that’s good enough and you know it, why did you ask for it?
Click to expand...
You are absolutely right and much smarter than me. Your wisdom and vast experience made my day. No! made my whole life <3
 
slopes23 said:
We do what we can.
Click to expand...
Assuming this guy isn't trolling....

I think what he's really trying to do is to increase his chances of matching into this said fellowship, hence him looking for ideas to present to the program to stand out "hey PD ! let me present this to you to make myself look good....". I get it, need to get every edge you can to match. I do agree with you 50 patients/ day is a bit excessive ...but maybe he is just exaggerating. But yeah...it is not just up to the PD. The funding comes from the GME and many factors go into that. There are many programs that try to add a 3rd slot.. I know of a program that has been trying for 6 years + with no luck at all...

@StomachDoctortobe , slopes23 is knowledgeable and has experience. He is just telling you how it is by the way you asked the question. You don't need to get so defensive. But yeah , if the reason is to try to secure a spot in that GI program, it makes more sense why he's asking it... whether that'll improve his chances are unknown...
 
A 50 patient consult service on 750 beds (if it actually exists) can only be explained by an arrangement designed to generate as much revenue as possible while seeing patients who could undoubtedly be managed by medicine. Sounds like a terrible place to do fellowship but probably a lucrative place to cosign midlevel notes. These patients probably have endo consults for diabetes, pulm consults for mild asthma exacerbations, etc.
 
TheOsteoPath1113 said:
Hello,



Long time lurker. I just had a general question or pattern I have been noticing. I see that some programs have applicants that are accepted but have minimal to no research in their resume that are from Osteopathic medical schools (DO). I personally know of 2-3 in specific programs that were also accepted and have 1 case report or nothing at all. I am curious as to why this is ( is there a political agenda pressuring programs to accept osteopathic candidates just to balance out MD’s?). I just find it interesting so many other applicants have had to present countless abstracts and publish papers to be a competitive applicant. I am an osteopath resident myself interested in GI and I am just wondering why this is (Do I have an upper hand now this pattern is emerging?). Any input would be appreciated. I understand there are many factors involved, but I know of more competitive MD candidates with more research , good letters, great resident etc. that was not chosen over the osteopathic candidates. I feel like this is a taboo topic but the trend is there..
Click to expand...
The last charting outcomes is from 2018 with match rates that are much much higher for MDs than DOs. While it is possible that a few select prior DO programs favor DO applicants and that you would be exposed to those programs as a DO, I think the statement that "the trend is there" is wishful thinking
 
Not entirely accurate. There are academic residency programs (albeit not upper eschelon) who struggle to fill chief spots. The reasons for this are not hard to understand. It is not unheard of for programs to back fill a remining one or two chief spots with an unmatched candidate. it is a problem for a residency program to have an unfilled chief sport from a funding perspective- if the program can run without that chief, then the hospital won't fund it. Anywhere with a VA often has the ability to expand chief positions rapidly. A clinical chief, a PSQI chief, etc.
slopes23 said:
Chief year is usually decided in 2nd year, so you can’t just suddenly choose to do a chief year after not matching. Also, while you can continue to reapply and people certainly do, I wouldn’t call it reliable in that you are guaranteed to get in eventually just by forcing your application in the mix. If you didn’t make it in the first year, as mentioned it’s important to be constant improving your application in a meaningful way. But if you are a med student, just focus on making it in the first time, otherwise life starts getting more complicated.
Click to expand...
 
Dr. Stable-Genius said:
Not entirely accurate. There are academic residency programs (albeit not upper eschelon) who struggle to fill chief spots. The reasons for this are not hard to understand. It is not unheard of for programs to back fill a remining one or two chief spots with an unmatched candidate. it is a problem for a residency program to have an unfilled chief sport from a funding perspective- if the program can run without that chief, then the hospital won't fund it. Anywhere with a VA often has the ability to expand chief positions rapidly. A clinical chief, a PSQI chief, etc.
Click to expand...

Absolutely true. But this is certainly not the majority of the case, as such would direct you to my use of “usually.” But, your point is an important clarification.
 
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