"Academic" transitional year, and how not to overapply to programs?

[NightFury]

I was just reading through the admissions requirements for Mayo's PM&R program, and it says "Qualified applicants must have completed one year of training in internal medicine, surgery or pediatrics, or a transitional year program at Mayo Clinic or in another academic medical setting."

http://www.mayo.edu/msgme/residenci...rehabilitation-residency-minnesota/admissions

Then, does that mean that a TY for them would need to be done at a program that is linked to a University? This might be a stupid question - if so, I apologize. It just seems like that eliminates many of the TY programs.

Also, I feel as though I am going about making my list of prelim and TY programs in the wrong way. I was choosing 1-2 for each location of advanced program I put on my list, but that really added up quickly so that now I have more TY/Prelim programs on my list than PM&R programs! Is it not really important to try and get an intern year by the program? For example, would it be a better approach for me to apply to intern years near where we are from (my husband will be with me), rather than all over the country? That would probably narrow down my list quite a bit, but I am also fearful of matching an advanced position without an intern year.

Also, I am a DO student, and I don't plan on doing our school's TY unless I don't match MD. Mainly because I can't rank them without getting kicked out of categorical positions. I have quite a few categorical programs on my list.

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[RangerBob]

I believe any TY program is fine with Mayo--I know someone currently in a TY (albeit an academically-affiliated one) on their way to Mayo for PM&R next year. But I'd recommend asking Mayo directly--the program coordinator was always very helpful when I called them last year with questions about applying, interviewing, etc.

I started out planning on applying to TY/pre-lims the same as you--one or two for each program. Just like you, I realized it was going to be way too many prelim interviews. While I thought it'd be much easier on my wife to match into a pre-lim in the same area as my advanced program (so she wouldn't have to change jobs twice), there was no way I could afford the time or money to interview at that may prelims, so I ended up applying to program in three areas.

1) Prelim/TY's within the same metropolitan area I went to medical school. For many we could keep living where we were, but more important was my wife could stay at her current job one more year.

2) Prelim programs that will interview you on the same day (if you express an interest!) as the advanced program (MCW did this) or didn't even require an interview for their prelim program (VCU, Mayo, though technically Mayo has two categorical spots rather than two prelim positions). There are probably at least a few others, but those are the only ones I interviewed at that I can think of off the top of my head.

3) Prelim/TY programs I was really interested in that were within a 4-5 hour drive. It would make things harder for my wife (she actually didn't care that much but this way I could keep the cost/time down by driving to the program the evening before and coming straight back.

I probably interviewed at a total of 13 PM&R programs and 8 prelims, and honestly I was really tired when January came around. (I had Nov and Dec off for research, though I had EM in Jan, which is probably the main reason for being tired--abnormal sleep-wake cycle plus no days off for a month...).

For any PM&R or prelim programs you're really excited about I'd try and interview at them earlier. I was able to work it out so I did all the TY/Prelims I was really excited about in Nov, did all but one PM&R interview in Nov and Dec (my dedicated "long distance" interviewing month) and I interviewed at prelims within Chicago during my EM month in Jan (plus one PM&R program). I was able to still be excited at the PM&R interview, but the prelim interviews were just really tough--I was tired and felt pretty burnt out at that point. I was falling asleep at one morning report!

If you can, I highly recommend bringing your husband with you on interviews. Most programs either invite or happily welcome spouses at the dinner (and some residents will bring their spouses), and I wanted to make sure my wife was willing to live in the places I was applying to. In addition, we made quite a few vacation trips out of it (I drove to all my interviews except the two in CA), and it made interview season a lot more fun and less lonely. My wife explored the city while I interviewed, and we usually had at least a day or two to explore together.

 

[NightFury]

I believe any TY program is fine with Mayo--I know someone currently in a TY (albeit an academically-affiliated one) on their way to Mayo for PM&R next year. But I'd recommend asking Mayo directly--the program coordinator was always very helpful when I called them last year with questions about applying, interviewing, etc.

I started out planning on applying to TY/pre-lims the same as you--one or two for each program. Just like you, I realized it was going to be way too many prelim interviews. While I thought it'd be much easier on my wife to match into a pre-lim in the same area as my advanced program (so she wouldn't have to change jobs twice), there was no way I could afford the time or money to interview at that may prelims, so I ended up applying to program in three areas.

1) Prelim/TY's within the same metropolitan area I went to medical school. For many we could keep living where we were, but more important was my wife could stay at her current job one more year.

2) Prelim programs that will interview you on the same day (if you express an interest!) as the advanced program (MCW did this) or didn't even require an interview for their prelim program (VCU, Mayo, though technically Mayo has two categorical spots rather than two prelim positions). There are probably at least a few others, but those are the only ones I interviewed at that I can think of off the top of my head.

3) Prelim/TY programs I was really interested in that were within a 4-5 hour drive. It would make things harder for my wife (she actually didn't care that much but this way I could keep the cost/time down by driving to the program the evening before and coming straight back.

I probably interviewed at a total of 13 PM&R programs and 8 prelims, and honestly I was really tired when January came around. (I had Nov and Dec off for research, though I had EM in Jan, which is probably the main reason for being tired--abnormal sleep-wake cycle plus no days off for a month...).

For any PM&R or prelim programs you're really excited about I'd try and interview at them earlier. I was able to work it out so I did all the TY/Prelims I was really excited about in Nov, did all but one PM&R interview in Nov and Dec (my dedicated "long distance" interviewing month) and I interviewed at prelims within Chicago during my EM month in Jan (plus one PM&R program). I was able to still be excited at the PM&R interview, but the prelim interviews were just really tough--I was tired and felt pretty burnt out at that point. I was falling asleep at one morning report!

If you can, I highly recommend bringing your husband with you on interviews. Most programs either invite or happily welcome spouses at the dinner (and some residents will bring their spouses), and I wanted to make sure my wife was willing to live in the places I was applying to. In addition, we made quite a few vacation trips out of it (I drove to all my interviews except the two in CA), and it made interview season a lot more fun and less lonely. My wife explored the city while I interviewed, and we usually had at least a day or two to explore together.

Thanks! That was a really helpful response!