I know I want to be an interventional radiologist; I am convinced it is everything I want out of a medical career. That being said, there is no way I am going to match to the new IR residency, nor a radiology (ESIR) residency. My gpa is too low, I go to LECOM, I doubt I will be able to publish much--basically I am not competitive. Should I only apply to IR/ESIR residencies, and when I don't get one, take a year off to improve my resume for the next match; or would this only hurt my chances? Am I better off matching in a specialty I think is ok & sucking it up for the rest of my life, or take some time off and go for what I love?
Should I take a year off or match?
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If you can swing it financially, it's only one year of your life. I'm not sure which person you are in the photo, but both of you look pretty young. Then just dual apply the following year. But you would need to move somewhere where you can do a TON of research, which will be a challenge in and of itself (especially financially, again).
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Why not go for a Radiology residency and then do an IR fellowship? That would likely be easier to obtain.
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An IR "fellowship" will not exist in its current form by the time OP matches. They are transitioning to a 2 year independent "residency" done after a diagnostic radiology residency.
I would tell OP to apply broadly to DR places along with integrated and ESIR places. The number of ESIR places are growing. If you match a non ESIR DR program and do the 2 year independent pathway, you wouldn't lose any time compared to taking a research year on the front end and possibly matching ESIR/IR.
Also my experience has been many who are deadset on IR end up liking DR more.
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But wouldn't the Independent IR residency be essentially the same thing as the current IR fellowships?
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Yes. Except it will be a year longer than the current path (i.e. 5+2 rather than 5+1) unless your residency has you do a ton of IR rotations. The change in terminology is confusing at best. The two non-integrated paths are still fellowships in all but name.
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It's an extra year with confusing terminology.
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Thus another pathway for the OP to consider that is probably much easier and better than her stated plan.
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Agree. That was my recommendation since the time of a year off plus 6 year integrated is same as 7 year independent path.
My previous post was mainly to clarify the new confusing terminology they have instituted for others.
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I thought someone said that even non fellowship trained rads folks will do some interventions like biopsies and drainages and such. Maybe that would be enough to keep the op satisfied if they can't get in to the ir specific training?
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Maybe, but it doesn't make me happy when I get someone that just sorta does IR when I need IR's help...
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Yeah but sometimes it is so easy I could probably do it myself with an ultrasound or even just palpation and some luck but it is just simpler to have rads do it. Or it is a nice juicy target on ct without a ton of worrisome stuff nearby. If they are someplace where there is a skilled guy for backup for the tricky stuff it could be fine
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IR has just become synonymous with radiology procedures. Every place is different but many places any non vascular procedure is done by general or body radiologists.
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This question is asked commonly -- if I can't get the field I want, should I match into something else (usually a prelim) and then try to match the next year, or should I take a year off and then try to match the next year? There isn't a simple answer. The way I look at it is this -- would taking a year off help fix your application? If your GPA / class standing / USMLE/COMLEX are the problem, then a research year isn't going to fix any of that, and matching with a gap year may actually hurt you. If the problem is not enough rads experience / research / etc, then a gap year might help a bunch. Matching to prelim will give you clinical experience, but will also make re-applying to rads difficult (as it will be hard to take off time for interviews).
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I'm not really sure how much GPA matters here. LECOM is a big school. There are probably a lot of people with low GPAs. My question for you is what year are you? Did you take Step 1 yet? If so, how'd it go? You don't really mention clinical grades or boards, so I'm really wondering what year you are.
If you are very early on (like MS1/2), there's still a lot that can happen for you. First off, you might change your interests (I know, I know, it never happens right?). Second, you might do very well on boards, provided you put in the effort. Third, you could still get involved in some research, especially during clinicals. That's what I did, and it was much easier doing research in 3rd or early 4th year than 2nd year.
If you're an MS3, then how'd boards go? You took USMLE Step 1, right? You're further in the process, but having good scores will make DR somewhere very doable for you and you can go for an interventional "residency" afterwards. At least then, if you don't manage to get interventional, you have DR to fall back on with some procedures in the right setting if you become comfortable with them during residency. I agree with the others that an extra year might not be as useful as going DR and then interventional, same time spent, but at least you're getting paid to do it. But who knows, maybe you have connections with a radiologist at a big center that you can do a ton of research with over the next year with a gap year.
Now if you think you wouldn't get DR, you could always apply for an internship as a backup, then reapply. Only you can really judge whether this is worth the risk to you as opposed to doing something else.
If you are very early on (like MS1/2), there's still a lot that can happen for you. First off, you might change your interests (I know, I know, it never happens right?). Second, you might do very well on boards, provided you put in the effort. Third, you could still get involved in some research, especially during clinicals. That's what I did, and it was much easier doing research in 3rd or early 4th year than 2nd year.
If you're an MS3, then how'd boards go? You took USMLE Step 1, right? You're further in the process, but having good scores will make DR somewhere very doable for you and you can go for an interventional "residency" afterwards. At least then, if you don't manage to get interventional, you have DR to fall back on with some procedures in the right setting if you become comfortable with them during residency. I agree with the others that an extra year might not be as useful as going DR and then interventional, same time spent, but at least you're getting paid to do it. But who knows, maybe you have connections with a radiologist at a big center that you can do a ton of research with over the next year with a gap year.
Now if you think you wouldn't get DR, you could always apply for an internship as a backup, then reapply. Only you can really judge whether this is worth the risk to you as opposed to doing something else.
hallowmann,
Sorry I am responding to this a year later; apparently I never got an email notification that were responses to my post. At the time I wrote my original post, I was a 2nd year & hadn't taken boards. I'm now a 3rd year & I took USMLE & COMLEX. Scored a little under average for USMLE & a little over average for COMLEX.
After getting more familiar with the IR pathways, my plan is to do what you & DrBowtie recommended & shoot for DR + fellowship/independent IR. I really haven't been exposed to DR procedures yet, so I think you & DrBowtie are right--I may end up being happy with DR. Since 2nd year, I made some progress: I received a travel scholarship to go to the SIR national meeting, set up an IR elective at Kaiser in LA, and was accepted on the medical student council through SIR. I really wanted to show my interest in IR; although now I am worried that this will be a disadvantage when applying for DR residencies...
In an effort to get more exposure to DR, I plan to go to RSNA. I also wanted to set up a DR elective, but unfortunately this has been harder than anticipated. If this fails, I am considering using the elective to pursue research, but even so, it has been just as difficult to get guidance. I have a couple of interesting cases that a urologist from the Erie VA showed me, and I think they would make for good case reports, but this urologist doesn't have experience with research, plus I imagine there will be roadblocks trying to get research cleared through the VA. Looks like I could use a fancy research connection like you mentioned...
I'm not sure what my immediate next steps will be, but I do appreciate everyone's comments & found them helpful, even if in retrospect!
Sorry I am responding to this a year later; apparently I never got an email notification that were responses to my post. At the time I wrote my original post, I was a 2nd year & hadn't taken boards. I'm now a 3rd year & I took USMLE & COMLEX. Scored a little under average for USMLE & a little over average for COMLEX.
After getting more familiar with the IR pathways, my plan is to do what you & DrBowtie recommended & shoot for DR + fellowship/independent IR. I really haven't been exposed to DR procedures yet, so I think you & DrBowtie are right--I may end up being happy with DR. Since 2nd year, I made some progress: I received a travel scholarship to go to the SIR national meeting, set up an IR elective at Kaiser in LA, and was accepted on the medical student council through SIR. I really wanted to show my interest in IR; although now I am worried that this will be a disadvantage when applying for DR residencies...
In an effort to get more exposure to DR, I plan to go to RSNA. I also wanted to set up a DR elective, but unfortunately this has been harder than anticipated. If this fails, I am considering using the elective to pursue research, but even so, it has been just as difficult to get guidance. I have a couple of interesting cases that a urologist from the Erie VA showed me, and I think they would make for good case reports, but this urologist doesn't have experience with research, plus I imagine there will be roadblocks trying to get research cleared through the VA. Looks like I could use a fancy research connection like you mentioned...
I'm not sure what my immediate next steps will be, but I do appreciate everyone's comments & found them helpful, even if in retrospect!
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