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[atm123]

Hello Everyone!

I am currently at PGY-3 who failed to match into a cardiology fellowship. I only had 2 interviews during the season. In my perspective, I was a decently competitive candidate (multiple research projects, chief resident, university program, leadership roles during residency). I am an IMG (but a US citizen) and USMLE scores were pass all on first attempt, but were a bit on the lower side (220's). I have taken a one year unaccredited cardiology research fellowship which I will be starting this July. I am not sure how much it will help me as applications are also due in July and I doubt I will have any publications in the few weeks I start. Any suggestions on what I can do to increase my number of interviews for the upcoming fellowship cycle? I am kind of confused and discouraged given I only had 2 interviews last cycle. TIA for the input!

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[aspiringcardiologa]

Hello Everyone!

I am currently at PGY-3 who failed to match into a cardiology fellowship. I only had 2 interviews during the season. In my perspective, I was a decently competitive candidate (multiple research projects, chief resident, university program, leadership roles during residency). I am an IMG (but a US citizen) and USMLE scores were pass all on first attempt, but were a bit on the lower side (220's). I have taken a one year unaccredited cardiology research fellowship which I will be starting this July. I am not sure how much it will help me as applications are also due in July and I doubt I will have any publications in the few weeks I start. Any suggestions on what I can do to increase my number of interviews for the upcoming fellowship cycle? I am kind of confused and discouraged given I only had 2 interviews last cycle. TIA for the input!

Hope I can help a bit here.
First, did you apply broadly last cycle? I would apply to all programs this time if location is not an issue and main goal is to match.
Also, ask for feedback on application from programs if possible. This time when you apply, make sure to state what has changed and how you have improved on your application.

 

[deleted980918]

2 interviews seems odd
How many did you apply?
Did your home program not take their own chief resident?

 

[atm123]

I applied very broadly and no, my home program PD did not rank me, unfortunately.

 

[deleted980918]

I applied very broadly and no, my home program PD did not rank me, unfortunately.

The fact that your home program PD did not even rank you despite being a chief resident and leadership role as you suggested is a major red flag. Maybe there’s something you don’t feel comfortable disclose on public forum but I would dig into why he/she didn’t rank you. Maybe it is the same reason other programs PD didn’t rank or interview you. Good luck

 

[atm123]

She has a trend of not ranking any internal candidates. Previous 3rd years and 4th years have not been ranked as well. 6 of us applied this year and no candidates matched internally. When I asked she said, leadership doesn’t matter to her. Unfortunately, I cannot use her to understand this better. Anyways, thanks for your response.

 

[MaxPlancker]

Is the IM program a lower tier but the cardiology program quite prestigious? I have seen this in a few cases where the cardiology program is a disproportionate tier to the IM program (e.g. Cleveland Clinic Cardiology versus Cleveland Clinic IM comes to mind though even there they take at least 1 internal each year).

 

[deleted980918]

Is the IM program a lower tier but the cardiology program quite prestigious? I have seen this in a few cases where the cardiology program is a disproportionate tier to the IM program (e.g. Cleveland Clinic Cardiology versus Cleveland Clinic IM comes to mind though even there they take at least 1 internal each year).

I have seen it in some mid tier programs too, NJMS comes to mind.

 

[cardiomd123]

I have seen it in some mid tier programs too, NJMS comes to mind.

The reverse holds true at NJMS. Their IM residency program is better overall compared to their cardiology fellowship in terms of training, exposure, etc. While the cardiology fellowship PD is great and routinely takes internal candidates, many of their competitive residents have elected to go to outside cardiology programs in the past given lack of high procedural volume (both IC and EP), lack of advanced HF/LVAD/Transplant, etc. which is partly due to the fact that Newark-Beth Israel is nearby and is a comprehensive heart transplant center. Otherwise the IM program at NJMS is really busy.