Anybody match into EM from a transitional year?

[Redrox]

Anybody match from a TY year this year? Or meet anybody on the interview trail trying to do it?

Had me a horror show Monday, had no idea I would scramble.

I had 250's on both Steps 1 and 2, top fourth of my class, heavy volunteer experience as a spanish translator, international em experience, badass hobbies, I'm likable enough that school's having me speak at graduation, had my interviewers laughing. Had three programs beg me to choose them, said I was in their top ten.

But SLORS from July and August didn't make it in to ERAS until late late october. The June personal EM letter never got sent. I am a DO. And I had only gotten 7 interviews.

Yesterday I spoke to some of the people who interviewed me who said they had not thought I would be happy at their program considering how much I love the town I'm in now and the unavailability of the sport I practice elsewhere.

Didn't match. Scrambled into one of the seven places offering a transitional year, the only place I was able to apply to before ERAS crashed on Monday. Applying again September 1st.

How screwed am I?

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[xaelia]

I scrambled into EM after not matching as a TY. Not quite the same.

McNinja matched into EM from Surgery-Prelim.

 

[Sam212]

Holy ****! How many programs did you apply to? How many programs did you rotate at? It's totally baffling to me as to why you didn't match.

 

[caliboy007]

Holy ****! How many programs did you apply to? How many programs did you rotate at? It's totally baffling to me as to why you didn't match.

I interviewed at 19 and matched at #18... to put it lightly, I am very sad. I know there are those that didn't match but I sure didn't expect coming from an MD school and interviewing at 10 programs on the west coast, that I would end up where I'm going.

Question for the group - how easy is it to transfer for the PGY2 year? How hard is it to get a PD to support you if you've worked hard and just don't like it there?

 

[Sam212]

I interviewed at 19 and matched at #18... to put it lightly, I am very sad. I know there are those that didn't match but I sure didn't expect coming from an MD school and interviewing at 10 programs on the west coast, that I would end up where I'm going.

Question for the group - how easy is it to transfer for the PGY2 year? How hard is it to get a PD to support you if you've worked hard and just don't like it there?

Sounds like more of bad luck than anything else, well, at least you have a job and an attending's salary to look forward to in 3 years. Buddy of mine didn't match with 10 interviews.

 

[Redrox]

Holy ****! How many programs did you apply to? How many programs did you rotate at? It's totally baffling to me as to why you didn't match.

The TY PD was baffled too, loudly. So was my dean, my friends, my EMIG, the folk I tutor, my preceptor, my mom, etc. . .

All wil be well in time I think/hope. Only applied to 25 programs initially and in retrospect maybe I was a little unrealistic in which ones. Just had so many people at my school and who I rotated with who puffed up my head too much. Certainly was humble during the interviews knowing I had so few chances.

I applied a little late, too, September 17th on account of me fussing over the personal statement and being wiped from three intense months straight of rotations.

 

[Entgegen]

Couple of questions...

1. Was your TY program in charge of uploading your documents, SLORs, etc. into ERAS or was your medical school still doing that for you?

2. Since you were applying as an intern, did you have to get your med school to upload the MSPE again?

 

[tkim]

Couple of questions...

1. Was your TY program in charge of uploading your documents, SLORs, etc. into ERAS or was your medical school still doing that for you?

2. Since you were applying as an intern, did you have to get your med school to upload the MSPE again?

I don't think he's in a TY now, he just scrambled into a TY after not matching EM.

 

[Sam212]

The TY PD was baffled too, loudly. So was my dean, my friends, my EMIG, the folk I tutor, my preceptor, my mom, etc. . .

All wil be well in time I think/hope. Only applied to 25 programs initially and in retrospect maybe I was a little unrealistic in which ones. Just had so many people at my school and who I rotated with who puffed up my head too much. Certainly was humble during the interviews knowing I had so few chances.

I applied a little late, too, September 17th on account of me fussing over the personal statement and being wiped from three intense months straight of rotations.

Though I matched, thank god, same thing happened to me as well. My application wasn't as strong as you but i did score 235+ and applied to 40+ programs. Residents at my aways told me that I was gonna get an interview at every program I applied to, lol that didn't happen of course, not even close. I only got 12 interview, a few of which I had to make phone calls for. Matched in my top 5 at a place I didn't rotate at. Surprised because i ranked all the places I rotated at before the program I matched to. It was a very competitive year, needless to say.

 

[Entgegen]

I don't think he's in a TY now, he just scrambled into a TY after not matching EM.

I see. Anyway, I (and probably Redrox as well) would still be interested in any thoughts on my questions if anyone knows the answers...

 

[peppy]

Couple of questions...

1. Was your TY program in charge of uploading your documents, SLORs, etc. into ERAS or was your medical school still doing that for you?

2. Since you were applying as an intern, did you have to get your med school to upload the MSPE again?

Your med school is still responsible for your ERAS stuff after you graduate.
I asked the PD for a LOR to vouch for what a good intern I was, but that was all that my internship had to do with my application.

 

[mom2doc]

The TY PD was baffled too, loudly. So was my dean, my friends, my EMIG, the folk I tutor, my preceptor, my mom, etc. . .

All wil be well in time I think/hope. Only applied to 25 programs initially and in retrospect maybe I was a little unrealistic in which ones. Just had so many people at my school and who I rotated with who puffed up my head too much. Certainly was humble during the interviews knowing I had so few chances.

I applied a little late, too, September 17th on account of me fussing over the personal statement and being wiped from three intense months straight of rotations.

I'm confident you'll match next year. Even with your great board scores, there's anti-DO bias that you might not have fully factored in, especially if you were reaching. Apply to a ton of programs early, include DO friendly schools, and add some non-ideal locations just to be safe. You sound like you have the right attitude. Good luck.

 

[Redrox]

I'm confident you'll match next year.\.

Thank you for the kind words, I'm sure I'll be fine, I think, I hope. This program had two TY's match into EM in the past three years so I suppose they know what they're doing and I'll do the same.

I'm an intensely positive guy, but the prospect of being asked next year by every. single. interviewer. why I didn't match sounds a little grim. This past year I got the exact same questions every 10 minutes on my home town and even that was a little irksome, sounded a bit canned after a few maybe.

While I'm out of the country next month I'm writing personal statement variants for each program, thanking each of my letter writers for their help and the PD's for interviewing me and letting them all know I'm reapplying next year. Gonna rotate the ED in July and get a new LOR. Gonna break down and reread some books about medicine on the floors, next year'll sting a bit as it is without me looking foolish. Think I'll buy a kayak, too.

 

[deuist]

I interviewed at 19 and matched at #18... to put it lightly, I am very sad. I know there are those that didn't match but I sure didn't expect coming from an MD school and interviewing at 10 programs on the west coast, that I would end up where I'm going.

Question for the group - how easy is it to transfer for the PGY2 year? How hard is it to get a PD to support you if you've worked hard and just don't like it there?

Why did you rank them if you didn't want to go there?

 

[docstar1]

Why did you rank them if you didn't want to go there?

Long time lurker, finally registered to post.

We were told at our school to rank every program we interviewed unless you would rather scramble (and potentially not have a job) than match to that program. I ranked every program and am in a similar predicament (as are many at my school) where I matched towards the bottom of my rank list in New York. I am also quite devastated but know that there are always spots on the SAEM website for vacant positions in upper years. So worst case, if I really don't end up liking it, I switch out. I would rather be somewhere I don't like than taking a year off and figuring out how to successfully re-apply.

 

[Tallerand]

Keep your head up. If you rock your transitional year you'll have a very good chance of matching next year. My best friend just matched out of prelim surgery year into her #1 ER choice with board scores under 210 and no honors in med school. The fact that she worked her ass of her transitional year and proved she was a worker really helped her. That and applying to 50+ progams

 

[EM_Rebuilder]

I think you violated some of the most important rules of applying to EM residency...

Apply EARLY; that application should be submitted within a week or two of being able to be submitted. After working closely as a chief this year with the interview process, late applicants were not even considered. I believe this is the norm and not the exception.

OVER apply to programs; it costs extra, but your situation costs you MUCH more than a couple grand more in application fees and travel.

NEVER think you are a sure thing, shoe in, top man and will undoubtly match at the place you most want to go to. Good scores, top LOR, etc is the norm in emergency medicine. Unless you have convincing evidence that you have a reason at said program and are likable, you are just another one of the hundred people with good scores, top LOR, etc.

Good luck next year; sometimes people are just the victim of the match. Keep the goal in site, its just another year and not a big deals in the whole scheme of things.

 

[Saladin MD]

I did a TY, then matched EM. You should be fine.

 

[jbar]

Also a lesson in figuring out what programs are looking for, and not selling yourself in such a way that makes them think you won't fit in there. So if you love skiing, you might not want to mention it in your personal statement if you are going to be applying to a bunch of places without skiing. Similarly, how would a program know how much you love your current city unless it is in your application or you mentioned it during the interviews? Not saying that is why you didn't match, but it may be a lesson to take away from this.

 

[islandAddy1881]

Looking to revive this thread a bit as I am now in the position of being an EM reapplicant in 2016 after matching a TY in 2015. Any tips/wisdom from those who previously took this path?

 

[deuist]

* Get a killer rec letter from your program director
* Do some research and get published
* Rotate through the emergency department and get a current rec letter from one of the attendings there

 

[islandAddy1881]

* Get a killer rec letter from your program director
* Do some research and get published
* Rotate through the emergency department and get a current rec letter from one of the attendings there

Thanks! Did some rotating through again earlier this month, pretty sure I'm getting an updated SLOE.

Did you find that when you reapplied as a resident you received fewer invites than as a med student? Someone told me PD's view reapplying residents as somewhat "damaged goods". Did you find this to be the case?

 

[Angry Birds]

I was off-cycle and therefore slid into a TY program, and then matched the next year into EM. The hospital I was doing the TY in did not have an EM program, so I pushed hard to get two away rotations at an affiliated hospital with an EM program. That made the difference. (I matched at that program.)

Good luck!

By the way, the TY year was great, and I do not regret the extra experience.

 

[deuist]

Did you find that when you reapplied as a resident you received fewer invites than as a med student? Someone told me PD's view reapplying residents as somewhat "damaged goods". Did you find this to be the case?

Yes

 

[EDParallax]

Thanks! Did some rotating through again earlier this month, pretty sure I'm getting an updated SLOE.

Did you find that when you reapplied as a resident you received fewer invites than as a med student? Someone told me PD's view reapplying residents as somewhat "damaged goods". Did you find this to be the case?

I found that some programs didn't consider me because i was more "expensive " in cms dollars since I had one year down while applying em. That meant they had to fund an extra year of my salary. At least that's what I was told through some inquiries.

Best advice.... apply everywhere you could stand to work. I applied 90ish places, and to my surprise got 31 interviews. Went on 19 (23 including double emim ranks). Yes it cost more. But not matching costs the most. Very glad matched my top em program.