ENT and Int. Med

[solocup]

Hi there,

 

I know I'm getting ahead of myself but I have a rough idea what specialty I'll eventually pursue after med school. I'm interested in Cardiology and ENT. Is it alright to put down Int Med and ENT on CaRMS? Or should I choose disciplines that are roughly in the same ballpark, say, ENT and Gen. Surg? Thanks.

[Talon01]

Choose whatever you'd like to do most! (unless I'm missing the question)

[melimelomed]

I just went through the match and matched into ENT.

Here is my advice: If you really want to go into ENT, you should be commited to ENT. While in theory, it is always good to have a backup, especially when applying into a competitive speciality, I can tell you that pretty much everybody that I met on the interview tour that had a serious backup (i.e. had split up their electives between 2 specialities) did not match into ENT. I don't know where they ended up, but applying into a competitive speciality with electives in 2 different fields is difficult when program directors will be comparing you with students that have inly done ENT electives.

[bayervillager]

Hey melimelomed (or other upper years more knowledgable about the match),

 

I'm a first-year med student so I'm still trying to wrap my head around all the match strategies. I'm very curious about the whole back-up thing and whether it hurts or helps you.

 

I'm wondering whether you know anybody who did only ENT electives but went unmatched after the first iteration. If you do, how are their experiences and how are their chances matching to another specialty in the 2nd iteration?

 

Thanks so much!

[solocup]

Well that's precisely the problem with competitive specialties. Not only is it hard to get in, it's hard to get in where you want too. So is it realistic to have Int. Medicine as a back-up? I presume Int. Med directors will also figure out that I'm using it as a backup too. Just putting down ENT w/o backup seems risky but what's the use of a backup if directors know that you're holding their field as a 2nd choice and they'll not likely take you anyway?

[coastalslacker]

Program directors have no idea you applied to any programs other than their own. However, they do make inferences based on what electives you have done. This may be less of an issue as many schools now mandate that you perform electives of at least 2 weeks in 3 different specialties.

 

As an aside, I heard Internal was more competitive this year, but it hasn't been in the past and I believe there were still spots left in the second round.

[Satsuma]

Hey Solocup

 

Once you do some electives you may find you don`t like one or the other. For ENT be sure you like surgery...and are patient enough to handle the sometimes very long tedious surgeries of ENT. ENT was pretty high up on my list when I started but I learned that I really don`t like surgery at all. Also understand the pros and cons of choosing a surgical specialty.

 

But nothing stops you from applying to both. Just need to tailor your electives accordingly.

 

People do say that if you want ENT you need to just focus on ENT. I find it is hard to really commit to though....at our school we only get 1 week of ENT classes in 2nd year, 1 week of ENT in 3rd year and the department won`t take anyone for electives until 3rd year (and we have no elective time 3rd year). So the minimal exposure kind of makes it hard for you to decide you want to commit yourself 100%.

[Blake]

ENT has a decent lifestyle (not that many emergencies, patients relatively healthy so no ICU call at 2 AM) and ''cool'' surgeries (a lot of microscope stuff, etc). Look into it...

 

Definitely miles away from Internal Med, but if both float your boat.

[juicyprunes]

What about the manditory elective diversification that most schools are now adopting - i.e. do electives in at least 3 different fields?

 

Could you, in theory, do your diversification electives in IM-related fields, and leave the rest for your ENT electives?

 

Any thoughts?

[solocup]

Well I'm spending most of my time in Med I shadowing physicians in various fields and finding out their lifestyles and nuances about their practices (going to clinics and ORs), instead of studying , so that I can structure electives and choose summer research fellowships according to what I would like to do in the end. But initially I was concerned about not getting in anywhere b/c backups might fail as program directors can infer that I'm using them as backup plan. I guess the trick is really the choice of electives (for eg rays is relevant to both surg and IM) and the network of ppl who can recommend me strongly.