Would your PD know if you apply to a different specialty?

[threecoins]

I have a question, I am a resident in a categorical program and I am considering changing specialties ( for very good reasons) , the question I have is if I apply to ERAS this year and manage to intervew without anybody knowing , will the PD still know that I am applying this year through ERAS?
It might not be a good idea to just let the PD know because if you dont natch then you are screwed? any thoughts?

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[desoto]

I have a question, I am a resident in a categorical program and I am considering changing specialties ( for very good reasons) , the question I have is if I apply to ERAS this year and manage to intervew without anybody knowing , will the PD still know that I am applying this year through ERAS?
It might not be a good idea to just let the PD know because if you dont natch then you are screwed? any thoughts?

I do not know how you will keep him from figuring out your plans. The problem is when you tell him to keep him from making your life a living h*ll. Every advanced position I see advertised requires a letter from your current program director.

 

[Winged Scapula]

As desoto notes, most positions require a letter from your current PD stating that you are in good standing, etc. Wouldn't know any way around that and if you didn't tell them until you matched (if you were able to get that far in the match without a letter), IMHO they would be duly upset.

 

[atsai3]

I have a question, I am a resident in a categorical program and I am considering changing specialties ( for very good reasons) , the question I have is if I apply to ERAS this year and manage to intervew without anybody knowing , will the PD still know that I am applying this year through ERAS?
It might not be a good idea to just let the PD know because if you dont natch then you are screwed? any thoughts?

You should let your PD know about your intentions early in the process. That'll give him/her time to start looking for a replacement.

If you have to go through the Match, then you're in kind of a sticky situation. Because around December-January is when residents sign their contracts for the following year.

-AT.

 

[Winged Scapula]

I think contract signing depends on the program and department - we didn't sign ours until after the match; usually end of March/first of April. The date was chosen because programs have to give you 90 days warning if they aren't asking you to sign for the following July 1.

 

[kenfused]

Yeah, you need to tell your PD your intentions early on. It's pretty rare that a new program will take a transfer without first talking to your PD to make sure you're not a nut case or something. Eventually they'll find out. and your new programs (when you interview) will wonder why your PD is not writing you a letter of rec. (and if you ask for LOR from current program attendings, word will get around to the PD anyways..)

 

[8744]

I have a question, I am a resident in a categorical program and I am considering changing specialties ( for very good reasons) , the question I have is if I apply to ERAS this year and manage to intervew without anybody knowing , will the PD still know that I am applying this year through ERAS?
It might not be a good idea to just let the PD know because if you dont natch then you are screwed? any thoughts?

Please visit my humble and unassuming blog. Scroll down to the articles on the Residency Match. I did the same thing you are considering and matched out of a categorical position into EM.

Theoretically, everything in your ERAS application is confidential and the program directors at programs where you apply are not supposed to let your program director or anybody else know that you are applying to their program. And they usually won't early in the application process. But what are you going to do if a somebody calls your program director to ask about you before they offer you an interview?

Your program director is also not allowed to talk about you unless you give him permission so this would be an akward conversation anyways.

However, you will need a program director's letter at least indicating that you are in good standing at your program so you have to tell your program eventually. Coming clean early might be the difference between getting a decent letter and one that damns you with faint praise.

I don't want to re-hash my blog. Go to it.

 

[8744]

I have a question, I am a resident in a categorical program and I am considering changing specialties ( for very good reasons) , the question I have is if I apply to ERAS this year and manage to intervew without anybody knowing , will the PD still know that I am applying this year through ERAS?
It might not be a good idea to just let the PD know because if you dont natch then you are screwed? any thoughts?

By the way, your reasons are nobody's business but your own. They are neither good, bad, frivolous, or serious except as you consider them yourself.

You only signed a contract for a year and you are not an indentured servant. I've quit many jobs in my life either because I didn't like them or for better pay and I never did a tenth as much agonizing and soul-searching as I inexplicably did when changing residency programs.

 

[whatsthat?]

I had a friend who did not match into her specialty of choice and ended taking a categorical position in IM. She talked to her chief about her thoughts to reapply for a PGY2 position through ERAS (her first year would fulfill the internship requirement). She was told that 1) she would need to relinquish her position at her current program so that her PD could post it to get it filled. 2) if she did not match on her second round of apps then she would loose her slot at her current program.