- Joined
- Sep 29, 2011
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I remember opening the reapplicant thread day after day hoping to find some nugget of advice or hidden piece of wisdom that would fix my application and get me an acceptance. I was putting in the work. I had been successful in my activities. I had the passion. But didn't have the email saying, "Congratulations...."
Totally sucked. But eventually I made it through and got 3 acceptances off 3 interviews in my 3rd cycle. This year I'm finishing surgery residency and headed to a pretty good fellowship. I don't have specific advice for everyone in this thread but I will say that the most important first step if you're reapplying is to stop. Take a breath. Do something you enjoy to decompress. Then reevaluate a strategy to reapply. Don't just jump into it. It'll compound the stress and might not make you more marketable as an applicant. With the right changes to your application, you can get there.
Also reassess if medicine is the correct path for you. Medicine is changing a lot and there are alternatives to being a physician that are excellent. CRNA/PA, super nice paycheck and lifestyle with quality patient care. My friends who were devastated about not getting in to med school became PAs or did something outside of medicine now have great lives while I'm taking call and getting crushed in the hospital. Just something to think about as a lateral move, and not as a backup for failure.
In hindsight though, my "gap years" of reapplying were some of the most fun I had over the last decade of training and some of the most formative.
Good luck!
Totally sucked. But eventually I made it through and got 3 acceptances off 3 interviews in my 3rd cycle. This year I'm finishing surgery residency and headed to a pretty good fellowship. I don't have specific advice for everyone in this thread but I will say that the most important first step if you're reapplying is to stop. Take a breath. Do something you enjoy to decompress. Then reevaluate a strategy to reapply. Don't just jump into it. It'll compound the stress and might not make you more marketable as an applicant. With the right changes to your application, you can get there.
Also reassess if medicine is the correct path for you. Medicine is changing a lot and there are alternatives to being a physician that are excellent. CRNA/PA, super nice paycheck and lifestyle with quality patient care. My friends who were devastated about not getting in to med school became PAs or did something outside of medicine now have great lives while I'm taking call and getting crushed in the hospital. Just something to think about as a lateral move, and not as a backup for failure.
In hindsight though, my "gap years" of reapplying were some of the most fun I had over the last decade of training and some of the most formative.
Good luck!
