Preparing for Fellowship in Internal Medicine With a Focus on Pulmonary or Critical Care Medicine: Major Principles and New Realities

Matthew C Miles; Peter Lenz; Jennifer McCallister; Kristin M Burkart; Candace Huebert; Jason Moore; Laura Hinkle; Briana Short; Brent Bagley; Gabriel Bosslet

doi:10.1016/j.chest.2024.02.051

Preparing for Fellowship in Internal Medicine With a Focus on Pulmonary or Critical Care Medicine: Major Principles and New Realities

Chest. 2024 Jun;165(6):1458-1468. doi: 10.1016/j.chest.2024.02.051. Epub 2024 Mar 6.

Authors

Affiliations

¹ Section on Pulmonary, Critical Care, Allergy and Immunologic Disease, Wake Forest School of Medicine, Winston-Salem, NC. Electronic address: [email protected].
² Division of Pulmonary, Critical Care & Sleep Medicine, University of Cincinnati College of Medicine, Cincinnati.
³ Division of Pulmonary, Critical Care and Sleep Medicine, The Ohio State University College of Medicine, Columbus, OH.
⁴ Division of Pulmonary, Allergy, and Critical Care Medicine, Department of Medicine, Columbia University College of Physicians & Surgeons, New York, NY.
⁵ Division of Pulmonary, Critical Care, and Sleep, University of Nebraska Medical Center, Omaha, NE.
⁶ Department of Critical Care Medicine, University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, Pittsburgh, PA.
⁷ Division of Pulmonary, Critical Care, Sleep, and Occupational Medicine, Indiana University School of Medicine, Indianapolis, IN.

PMID: 38458432
DOI: 10.1016/j.chest.2024.02.051

Abstract

In this article, the authors provide guidance for applicants to any subspecialty in the medical specialties matching program, with a particular focus on those seeking a match into a pulmonary or critical care medicine training program, or both. The preparation, application, interview, ranking, and match steps are used to discuss available literature that informs this process. Preparing a fellowship application is discussed in terms of personal career goals, and specific strategies are suggested that can help a candidate to assess a program's fit with those goals. In addition to review of recent data on virtual interviewing and interview questioning, the authors provide practical recommendations for candidates seeking to maximize their success in the current interview environment. Finally, key points about generating a rank order list are summarized. This resource will prove useful to any candidate pursuing medical subspecialty training in the current era.

Keywords: critical care medicine fellowship; fellowship training; graduate medical education; internal medicine subspecialty training; interviewing; pulmonary and critical care medicine fellowship; pulmonary fellowship; recruitment.

Publication types

Review

MeSH terms

Career Choice*
Critical Care*
Education, Medical, Graduate / methods
Fellowships and Scholarships* / methods
Humans
Internal Medicine* / education
Internship and Residency / methods
Pulmonary Medicine* / education