Advice requested for timing of EM auditions and getting SLOE

[krispyyo]

Hey everyone. I am a DO student who is gunning for a DO ortho spot next year. Because of the brutal competition, I want a backup plan. EM will be my backup since I've always been interested in it and of course it's awesome. The problem is that because of ortho auditions, I will not be able to do an EM rotation until November or maybe October at the earliest.

I plan on doing the rotation at a residency program so that I can get the SLOE/R. Is this too late in the game to be getting a letter in order to get EM interviews in either DO or MD programs? Is there any chance of interviews/matching without the letter? I've got~650 COMLEX and mid 230's USMLE, good ortho, FM, and IM LORS, and one EM related poster presentation at an EM conference. Should I even bother with this plan or should I find a different backup specialty altogether? Any advice is appreciated.

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[DoctorMedic]

Generally you should pick a surgical specialty if you plan to try again for orthopedics in the future. Not having a SLOE until November will mean you probably don't get many if any interviews, and that will be left overs. I would strongly encourage you to reconsider that plan in general. Additionally, unless you have something super special even EM is competitive and those scores don't guarantee anything. You would be middle of the pile to begin with. Ultimately if you can get a SLOE but end October that is the LATEST to have any shot at EM. November is just too late IMHO.

 

[racerwad]

I agree with doctormedic here. You would be too late in the cycle with good (but not amazing - sorry) scores to have much yield in EM interviews. I would work hard on making it happen in ortho.