[indian]

I was a surgeon in my country and I love surgery
but I realize the difficulties for an old grad and IMG like me
So can I apply for surgery and IM as a backup?

 

[Sabio]

Technically, you can
ERAS allows for any combination of applications
you can even associate the LORs that you wish with each and every application, so for example you can segment ur surgical LORs for the surgical programs and the medical LORs for the medical programs

However,

There's a small risk that people will be able to see what programs you have applied for
They will consider this a haphazard and irregular and some of them may go further by labeling you as a cheater

In ERAS, they don't have access to what you have applied for but in the same hospital committees may sometime cross-check their applicants (although this is very rare).

Bottom line,
You can safely apply to surgery and internal medicine but you need to play the LoR and the CAF right so that either of them won't know that you are applying to the other.
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[Sabio]

These ERAS instructions may also help:

How to Reserve a Slot for an LoR

1. Log into MyERAS at https://services.aamc.org/eras/myeras2010/.

2. Click on the Documents tab.

3. Click on the Letters of Recommendation tab.

4. Create a new letter writer by clicking Designate a New Letter of Recommendation Writer.

5. Enter the LoR Author Name and LoR Author Title/Department. The last field, Specialty(s) to which this letter will be assigned, is optional.

Important Note: The specialty field helps you identify your LoRs when assigning them to programs and helps ERAS Support Services identify LoRs when attaching them to your application. If you have a generic LoR that is applicable to all specialties, please specify the LoR as "All Specialty(s)." If you have a specialty-specific LoR, please specify the specialty to which the LoR applies.

6. Click "Save" when you are finished.

7. Repeat this process for all of your designated letter writers.

8. After you have finished designating your letter writers, click the check box next to the LoR(s) that you wish to reserve a slot for and enter your MyERAS password in the space provided.

9. Click "Submit Request" to complete the process. Make sure to click "Submit Request" instead of "Enter" after entering your password.

Important Note: Once you reserve the slot for your LoR, the LoR cannot be edited. If it contains errors, you will need to create a new slot as a replacement for the one containing errors. Inform ERAS Support Services at ECFMG of the error so that the document can be attached correctly.

 

[saurabh]

what ??? I dont understand why would someone call me cheater if i apply to both surgery and medicine,,, how come its wrong... i thought it would simply enhance your chances of getting more interviews

 

[lemontea88]

what ??? I dont understand why would someone call me cheater if i apply to both surgery and medicine,,, how come its wrong... i thought it would simply enhance your chances of getting more interviews

I think it is because during the interview, they will ask you why this field. And of course you have to say you love it thats why you want to do it. And if you actually love surgery, then you will be lying during the internal med interview.

Not sure if this is what sabio meant though.

 

[good_boy_1234]

People will be able to see what programs you have applied for
They will consider this a haphazard and irregular and some of them may go.........

What I know is no body can know the programs you applied for, even if they are two programs at the same hospital.

May you explain your point further...may I misunderstand your idea

 

[Sabio]

What I know is no body can know the programs you applied for, even if they are two programs at the same hospital.

May you explain your point further...may I misunderstand your idea

I was wrong in that post.
Residency Programs CANNOT SEE which specialties you have applied for