hey all... i am about to start on the road to interviews for either EM or IM (or both :confused: )....just a quick question that i am kinda curious about....and i would be REALLY curious (as would other people I am sure) to find out from the fellows too...these are (obviously) all optional and give as much or as little information as you want....

1) how many places did you apply

2) how many places did you interview

3) did you get 1 of your top 3 (or 5)

4) are you happy you made the decision to go where you currently are

5) if you had to do it over again, what would you change (i.e. advice for the novices about to enter the interview trail)

5) board scores (REALLY OPTIONAL since there is already like 5,000 threads on this)

Okay, I'll bite. I think I applied to fewer IM programs than other people I've talked with, but my overall numbers of places interviewed are fairly typical. Hopefully this helps your curiosity. :)

1) how many places did you apply
residency: I think around 12, don't really remember, though
fellowship: 10

2) how many places did you interview
residency: 10
fellowship: 7 (cancelled my other 3 interviews because of scheduling problems -- it's hard to be on an ICU month during interview season!)

3) did you get 1 of your top 3
yes - top choice for both.

4) are you happy you made the decision to go where you currently are
very

5) if you had to do it over again, what would you change (i.e. advice for the novices about to enter the interview trail)
I wish I would have been more picky about which particular location/city I wanted to be in and then focus there for my residency applications. There are so many good IM programs out there with very similar qualities -- at least 2 or 3 good ones per city. I didn't feel like I knew where I wanted to live, so I just kind of randomly picked 1 or 2 programs in each major city. I realized quickly into the interview process that there were certain cities I couldn't see myself living in, so crossed some programs off my list right away. It ended up narrowing down my list of "acceptible" programs very quickly, since it turned out that there were only 3 cities I felt like I could actually live in. So I kind of wished that I had focused my efforts and applied to more programs in each of those 3 cities. It probably wouldn't have changed my outcome, though, since I think I would have ranked the same program as my first choice. I wouldn't have changed anything for fellowship apps -- learned my lesson from the first time around.

5) board scores (REALLY OPTIONAL since there is already like 5,000 threads on this)
Don't think this matters much for IM, as multiple threads have already discussed. My scores were good but not stellar -- I think they were somewhere in the 230's for each of the steps.

My scores were good but not stellar -- I think they were somewhere in the 230's for each of the steps.


what...are you kidding me...."not stellar".... :confused: :confused:

hell....i am curious to know what you think is stellar!?!?! :idea: :rolleyes: :)

what...are you kidding me...."not stellar".... :confused: :confused:

hell....i am curious to know what you think is stellar!?!?! :idea: :rolleyes: :)

lol - sorry, maybe I shouldn't have said that. While I knew they were good, I never thought my scores were anything special because most of my friends got 240's and above. Maybe I need to hang out with a different crowd... :)

Regardless, USMLE really does not matter much for IM residency, and matters even less for fellowships. As other threads have discussed, there are other things that are much more important.

If you are interested in EM and plan on practicing somewhere relatively rural where you will also be treating kids you might also consider Med/Peds. I applied to 16 EM residencies, interviewed at, and ranked 6 (had to cancel 3) and wound up scrambling into Med/Peds. It is an awesome choice for me as I do plan on practicing in smaller towns, and I can do EM, intensivist, or clinical stuff. Good luck to you.

If you are interested in EM and plan on practicing somewhere relatively rural where you will also be treating kids you might also consider Med/Peds..

hey eky...just the thought of having to do a peds month during ANY residency/internship is making me sick.... :barf:

not a big fan of peds, but that's just me.... i am interested in the relatively rural thing b/c after doing residency in NYC, I plan on having a back yard as well as not paying $30.00 for parking somewhere for 1/2 an hour...however, i don't want to end up in appalachia either where i may be treating someone's sister who brings in her husband who also happens to be her brother (maybe it makes things more efficient :laugh: :laugh: )...i DO appreciate the input though as one of my friends here is HIGHLY undecided whether she wants to do IM or Peds and I'll pass the message along to her (if she already doesn't know about it)...she's from Ohio and wants to go back there....would you guys know of some relatively decent programs out there....she is a self proclaimed "not the brightest bulb on the Christmas tree, but not the dimmest either!"