There aren’t that many combined programs, so those spot are very limited. However, the applicant numbers to them also tend to be smaller - because the combined programs are longer and pay for residents is so low compared to what they can earn post-residency, it’s not generally popular option. From the Advanced Data Tables at http://www.nrmp.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/03/Advance-Data-Tables-2017.pdf it appears that there are 7 programs this year offering the combination jonri indicated (pediatrics+ anesthesiology) - and only 9 spots offered (so most of those programs are accepting only a single resident).
Not only are there not many combined specialty residencies, for most subspecialties there is only one pathway that leads there.
In @jonri example, you cannot become a pediatric anesthesiologist by doing a peds residency because there’s no option for a anesthesiology fellowship. The only path to pediatric anesthesiology is a anesthesia residency followed by an additional 1 year fellowship in pediatric anesthesiology. (Same is true for pediatric orthopedic surgery, pediatric neurology, pediatric psychiatry, pediatric ENT, pediatric surgery…)
You can become a pediatric emergency medicine physician by doing a residency in either in EM or peds, but the length of required fellowship to subspecialize via either path is 3 years. (So you’re essentially doing a whole second residency in the other specialty.)
Because of this one way path, med students really need to have a pretty good idea of where they want to go when they start picking specialties and residencies.
WUSTL has a pretty good website about residency paths and options.
[Residency Roadmap](https://residency.wustl.edu/Choosing/Pages/ChoosingASpecialty.aspx)
And the reason why the reason why medical grads don't do multiple residencies (aside from the fact the residents & fellows aren't paid much) is that >95% residencies & fellowships are funded by Medicare and there are very inflexible rules about how many years of funding a medical grad is allowed for the post-grad education. So a medical grad will get 3-4-5 years of lifetime funding (depends on specialty), but there aren't funds to pay for training beyond that. (Fellowships have separate funding from medicare and separate rules.) So if a medical grad wants to do a second residency, their training funds have been exhausted and the sponsoring program has to eat the cost. (Understandably few programs are willing to do that.)Yes, the more I learn the more I can see that FDIL is very fortunate to have been selected for her residency – and the combination is really certification in two separate specialties, not a “sub” specialty. If it weren’t for the geographic issues & her relationship with my son, it would be definite cause for celebration – of course she hadn’t even met my son when she started medical school – they started dating when she was a 2nd year student.
Does anyone know where you can see how many spots each program specialty has?
If someone was applying for - say peds - at a particular program, how would they know how many spots that program has?
I do not know where you can see it but I know that you can see it. D could tell me
how many slots there were and how many interviewed for each of the dermatology programs.
That information is published in materials available to med students – this document has the data for years past: http://www.nrmp.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/04/Main-Match-Program-Results-2012-2016.pdf
So for example, you can see that the pediatrics program at the University of Alabama, Birmingham, took 22 residents in 2016. That’s up from 20 in 2012.
It doesn’t change much from year to year-- but I’m sure that med students would have access to that info via the ERAS system or their med school advising. (I’d also imagine that when a new program opens up in a limited specialty it’s probably announced with some fanfare).
Someone asked about applying for more than one residency, I know a student who was on track for one option and then in the first month of PGY4 they had a rotation in another specialty. The original application and LORs were already prepared, so submitted, then the student had to redo their fall schedule and get a second rotation and LOR in that new specialty. Because year two begins in July and the residency apps go in the beginning of September, and some interviews begin in October, whilst other specialties interview well into February, this student actually did 20 interviews total, half in each specialty, in order to stay in the running for the original choice and still gather enough info to gauge their interest in the new option. They could have ranked all 20 programs if concerned about placing or unsure.
This is frowned upon as no residency program wants to feel they are being played so it was tricky when interviewing twice at many programs! The student could not let either program find out about the other.
RE: post #183
You can also find that information ERAS
https://services.aamc.org/eras/erasstats/par/display8.cfm?NAV_ROW=PAR&SPEC_CD=321
There are link to the home page for every residency program listed–including DO residencies and fellowships.
And you can get even more detailed info in FRIEDA. (FRIEDA requires registration to get access to the database). Frieda has very detailed info about each program–how many slots, how many slots are filled for each year of the program, a list of clinical sites, typical rotation schedule among sites, and info about benefits like-- vacation days, sick and parental leave policies, insurance coverage. There might even be salary ranges.
FRIEDA–https://www.ama-assn.org/life-career/search-ama-residency-fellowship-database
^^^^
Thanks! Helpful!!