Research for Heme/Onc fellowship

[PatNanym]

Hi. I'm an IMG and a PGY-1 in a university-affiliated community-based IM residency program. I am interested in Heme/Onc fellowship. My program does not have an in-house Heme/Onc fellowship. How should I go about equipping myself to be a competitive fellowship applicant? I don't have much research experience in Heme/Onc, just a couple of published oncology literature reviews. I'm working on a case report currently. If someone could guide me what I should be doing, that would be great. Thanks!

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[bashwell]

Hi. I'm an IMG and a PGY-1 in a university-affiliated community-based IM residency program. I am interested in Heme/Onc fellowship. My program does not have an in-house Heme/Onc fellowship. How should I go about equipping myself to be a competitive fellowship applicant? I don't have much research experience in Heme/Onc, just a couple of published oncology literature reviews. I'm working on a case report currently. If someone could guide me what I should be doing, that would be great. Thanks!

Can you arrange an away rotation somewhere with a heme/onc fellowship so you can impress, get a good LOR, get to know people, etc.?

 

[gutonc]

You need to do an away rotation somewhere. Preferably somewhere that has matched people from your school or residency previously.

Research is going to be less of an issue than the lack of a formal Hem/Onc rotation to get a LOR from.

 

[visari]

Preferably somewhere that has matched people from your school or residency previously.

Just stressing this point here. If I were you, I would avoid going to MDACC or MSKCC or places like that for an away where I won't have a chance of matching. Keep those as a last resort if everything else fails.

 

[atezolizumab]

Somewhat of add-on question. How much research is required to obtain a heme onc fellowship these days?

Not shooting for anywhere top tier but I'm a Caribbean IMG from a community hospital. I would be very happy with a quality mid-tier university program (e.g. Indiana, Kansas, Nebraska, Rush, Loyola).

 

[bobow98]

Somewhat of add-on question. How much research is required to obtain a heme onc fellowship these days?

Not shooting for anywhere top tier but I'm a Caribbean IMG from a community hospital. I would be very happy with a quality mid-tier university program (e.g. Indiana, Kansas, Nebraska, Rush, Loyola).

2 things holding you back

1) Carib
2) Community hospital

Without a PhD or something akin to that I think realistically your interviews will be from mostly community lower tier programs, just to line up expectations. You may get mid range interviews, but match is a different story unless something wows someone.

 

[lulu09]

Somewhat of add-on question. How much research is required to obtain a heme onc fellowship these days?

Not shooting for anywhere top tier but I'm a Caribbean IMG from a community hospital. I would be very happy with a quality mid-tier university program (e.g. Indiana, Kansas, Nebraska, Rush, Loyola).

Heme onc is becoming really competitive. Tons of amazing candidates on the trail and unfortunately I think it is getting tougher for IMG/FMGs from community hospitals with more limited research judging from the experience of my friends.

Not sure what year you are but you need to produce viable results before application ASAP, publications are the best but abstracts are also OK, aim for at least 3-5. Does your community hospital have an academic affiliate? Try to find a mentor that has some connections with the academic affiliate and see if you can work with him/her which then will get your foot in the door at least for the fellowship program at that academic affiliate. Alternatively, seek out mentors/connections to the academic hospitals within a 1-2 hour drive. If I learned anything from the match this year it is that the match is more regional that I thought, and personal connections go a long way. When the application itself isn't stellar, you gotta utilize all resources you have. And yes, I agree, you can't be picky. Apply widely when the time comes. Good luck!