Work as a hospitalist, then go into rheuma?

[europeanIMG]

Hi,

I am not so famililar with the US system so would appreciate some advice.

I plan to do residency in IM.

Do most guys go directly into fellowship after residency or do many ppl work as internists for a few years? (In my country it is hard to get into competitive fellowships without working experience as an internist but I´ve got the impression things are the other way around in the US, correct?)

I would like to work as a hospitalist for a few years, like 3 years or so, to get a green card and to gain some more experience before I´ll start fellowship. Is that a bad plan?

My plan is to go into rheuma? How hard is it to get a fellowship in a good location? Do they require research experience?

My second choice is endo. is that harder or easier to get?

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[europeanIMG]

come on guys?

noone knows if I can work as a hospitalist for 3 years and then go into rheuma or endo?

would it be a huge disadvantage (or maybe even an advantage) not to apply for fellowship directly after or even during residency?

 

[pedronavaja2005]

come on guys?

noone knows if I can work as a hospitalist for 3 years and then go into rheuma or endo?

would it be a huge disadvantage (or maybe even an advantage) not to apply for fellowship directly after or even during residency?

It's best if you apply before or as soon as possibly after you finish residency. The longer you wait after residency the less competitive you become. I'm not quite sure why this is so but it appears that it is the case for most applicants.

 

[gutonc]

come on guys?

noone knows if I can work as a hospitalist for 3 years and then go into rheuma or endo?

Chill...it's a holiday weekend over here. Everyone's either on call, on the beach or on the slopes.

would it be a huge disadvantage (or maybe even an advantage) not to apply for fellowship directly after or even during residency?

You can do anything you want. The longer you're out of residency though, the harder it can be to get a fellowship. Rheum is semi-competitive just because there aren't that many spots out there. If you're going to shoot for rheum after a couple years out, you're going to need something that makes you stand out (research, a connection, etc) from the rest of the applicants. Being an FMG will make things harder on you as well.

If you have passing step scores, a license and a pulse, you can find an endo spot.