Overview

The next step after making appropriate prospective choices of a specialty, and then prioritizing your options, is planning for securing a residency appointment. This process requires careful thought and strategic planning. At this point, it will be necessary to secure information about programs offering training in your selected field of interest. This should be carried out in an organized manner, so that your efforts can prove maximally effective. If possible, set aside some fixed time segments that can be devoted exclusively to securing a residency. This will (a) enable you to remain up-to-date with the status of your activities in this area, (b) facilitate meeting deadlines, and (c) allow you to respond in a timely fashion to any issues that may arise. By staying on top of things, you will maximize your chances of achieving success in this vital endeavor.

Specialty reality check

Applying the Specialty selection protocol as outlined in Chapter 2, you should have narrowed down your prospective specialties or to a prioritized list of the most suitable ones (see Form 2.4), (see p. 22). It is vital, however, to determine if these choices are realistic before you proceed to act further.

There are both subjective and objective aspects of carrying out a specialty reality check. These will be briefly outlined.

Subjective approach. You need to judge the validity of the factors that have influenced your choice of prospective specialties. This requires asking and answering the following questions:

• Are any of the role models who may have influenced you significantly represented among the specialties you have chosen?

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