Tips and Strategies for Matching Into an REI Fellowship - Residents and Research

Drs. Victoria Jiang, MD and Zachary Walker, MD share tips and strategies on securing research opportunities, cold emailing, and some great strategies for residents from smaller/community programs with limited to no research opportunities.

Hello, my name is Dr. Victoria Jiang and I'm your SREI associate member co-chair. Hi, I'm Dr. Zach Walker and I'm a member of the ASRM Education Committee and today we're going to be talking to you about tips and tricks of matching into REI fellowship. Woof, I remember matching into fellowship.

It was one of the most exciting but stressful times and so we hope to actually talk to you about some of the most important things that we considered when we were applying and also things that we were considering when we looked at the other end as a fellow. So you want to jump right in? Yeah, I think the first thing we should start with is research. Research is such an important part of your application and I think that I get a lot of these common questions about how do I do research, like who should I be working with, what projects should I be involved in, and what if my program doesn't have the appropriate resources or the projects that I'm interested in.

Those are very very good questions and you know as a resident considering research it can just feel like another checkbox that we have to do to get closer to fellowship but you need to consider when thinking about research a couple of things. One is does this project align with my goals or values I have set for myself to get into fellowship? Two, is this project feasible for me to complete while I am in residency? And three, what is the timeline for publication? I think those are really important questions. I remember being in the depths of nights and long weekends and trying to figure out exactly where research was going to fit into that when it always felt like it was on the back burner.

I think feasibility is key and that's the first thing that we want to talk about is feasibility. Feasibility means that maybe considering a retrospective cohort study for a database that is already IRB approved for a group that maybe has already published from that database. You're really trying to establish yourself and carve a role for yourself in that research team for a well-oiled team that already knows how to work with that data and maybe don't sign up for that chart review because that's going to be the last thing you want to do after nights.

Very very good points. We have all kind of had that scenario pop up when we are in a project and maybe have taken more than who we signed up for, but definitely one of the key things that we see as a fellow reviewing applications is the amount of participation that a resident had during the research project. So I think another thing we can talk about is what if my program doesn't have research for me to do? And I like to bring up additional projects that may be available at your site such as projects with maternal fetal medicine that may be related to REI but may not be specific REI projects such as adverse pregnancy outcomes for IVF patients or doing something with placental anomalies related to IVF.

These are kind of common research projects that are aligned with REI values and are important for us to know about. Another one would be with GYN oncology looking at oncofertility patients and how their services are rendered or their care that they received or outcomes of oncofertility patients. Those are things that you can also do at your site if they are available and can be REI related topics.

I think that's a really important point. I see a lot of people who may have decided to have a mid-career shift. So for example, they're two years into residency and maybe they were thinking about being an MFM but then suddenly they saw the light and were like, wow REI is great.

I mean we do have one of the best fields in the business and so I feel like a lot of the switches can be common. But we don't want to lose any credit for what you've already had. So what that means is see your project through.

It's more important to have one or two projects where you've actually seen from beginning to end getting that first author publication than being the middle author in a bunch of smaller projects. And so get your credit where it's due and mention in your personal statement exactly why you may have wanted to switch from a different specialty into the field of REI. Because that can really explain a lot of that interest and be able to kind of frame the project that you did and then also make sure that you're not resetting in the middle of residency.

I totally agree. What if they don't have a program that has research? Like what if they're coming from like a smaller program or a community program that maybe is not linked to an academic program or they don't even have an REI fellowship at the program that they're training at? Then what do you do? Those are very, very good questions and very tough. I know that a lot of mentees that I've had have come from community programs that don't have an REI faculty or they rotate with a private practice and may not have that relationship to do research as readily available as some of the academic institutions.

So one of the things I recommend is doing an away rotation. Away rotations are very, very useful. It can expand your network.

It can give you more opportunities to see what it's like to practice REI in a different state. And it also gives you the ability to do more research if that's something you're interested in. But you want to make sure that you're careful about that, right? Because I feel like it's one long interview.

You want to make sure that you're super stellar, very responsive. What were the things that you like to say? So it's productive, professional, and personal. Oh, the three Ps.

Yeah, we love the three Ps. So we love the three Ps. And what are they again? Productive, professional, and personal.

Yes. And so make sure that when you're signing a four-hour away rotation that you're thinking about what kind of program you're interested in, you're setting a good example, and you're also being professional during that time because you want to make sure that every moment really matters, especially when you're thinking about receiving letters from those people. Yes, and if you are having difficulty finding which programs offer away rotations, I know there are some working movements going on within SRAI to create a list of away rotations available to residents to go to, but also sending out an email to certain program coordinators or fellowship directors to see if there are any opportunities for you to come and do an away rotation is another way to go about it as well.

Yeah, I think I was always afraid of the cold email. Cold emails can be super intimidating, but this is your career. It's time for you to carve out your role and your niche, and if you want to just jump in there, there's the only thing to be afraid of is for them to say no or for them to not respond.

And so just put yourself out there because they're going to remember your name when they're going through those applications.