Specialty Choice: Internal Medicine

Q: What particular activities should first and second year students get involved with who are interested in pursuing this specialty?

Internal medicine student interest group, shadowing and research if interested/able.

Q: Are research experiences important in your specialty?

Not required, but they can help strengthen your application.

Q: If so, do these need to be specialty specific research experiences?

Any research experience is better than no research experience!

Q: Does class rank matter?

For certain (“higher-tier”) programs, yes. Also, doing well in the first two years of medical school is always looked on favorably during residency interviews and prepares you to do well on your Step 1 exam. 16.4 percent U.S. seniors who match are members of AOA.

Q: When should I ask for letters of recommendation (LORs)?

Ideally you should ask for letters in May but absolutely no later than July, allowing your letter writers adequate time to upload your letter prior to the ERAS application submission date of Sept. 15. Your personal statement and CV should be ready as well as many letter writers will request this in order to write you a strong letter.

Q: How many LORs do you need?

At least three.

Q: Is a letter from a chair required?

Yes

Q: Do all letters need to be written by members of this specialty?

No

Q: Does your Step 2 CK score matter?

It can help for more competitive programs.

Q: What electives would you recommend for someone who is interested in pursuing this specialty?

Any internal medicine electives, dermatology and ICU/critical care.

Q: Should a student interested in this specialty do away rotations?

This is an individual decision based on your goals.

Q: Which month is recommended to take off to interview?

Most interviews are from mid-October through mid-January.

• Family Medicine
• Medicine/Pediatrics or other combined medicine programs
• Emergency Medicine

• Length of program: Three years
• Number of accredited programs: 424
• Transitional year needed: No
• Combo programs: Many are available; Med/Peds is the most common
• Common variations among programs:
  • Clinic schedule: Some programs have an “X + Y” format in which you will have a certain period of outpatient or elective time (X, usually at least 1 month) with a consecutive block of time for inpatient experiences (Y, usually at least 2 weeks). Other programs stick to more traditional clinic half day every week.
  • Didactics: Varies among programs as well. Could be a set half day, could be regular noon or morning conference.

Many possibilities. Some popular ones include cardiology, GI, heme/onc, nephrology, infectious disease, allergy and immunology, general internal medicine. See the AAMC Careers in Medicine website for all of the options.