applying med/peds 2015?

[bays]

kinda quiet around here since the match...

---

Members don't see this ad.

 

[bays]

well, this response has been overwhelming!

for those who have already been through the interview process, any advice on questions you wish you'd asked? traits that you love about your program or wish your program had?

 

[chargersfan]

Important things to ask about or gauge are:
- The overall medpeds prescence (is there a medpeds identity in the program or are you just seperate medicine or peds residents)
- Combined or seperate medpeds clinic
- Is there a medpeds coordinator? (there is a LOT of paperwork that needs to be filled out and as medpeds you double up on everything. Having a dedicated coordinator is very helpful)
- How many inpatient months you do as an intern. In general, as medpeds we do less inpatient rotations than both our categorical counterparts. Building a good foundation is key before you get throw in as a senior with pretty much half the experience as everyone else.
- The overall balance of the medicine and pediatrics program. Unless you are really big M little P or vice versa, the more balanced a program is the better.
- Morale of the residents. At some places, the residents are really worked hard but they are enjoying it and they still find time to have fun. At other places they may not have worked as hard but they were unhappy for other reasons.

My go-to question throughout the entire process was basically "why did you choose this program". It gives them a chance to brag and it takes up some interviewing time

Theres probably more but thats what I can think off the top of my head.

Good luck!

 

[eimaise]

Good info, thanks for sharing!

When do the majority of interviews take place? Is the peak more November into December or December into January?

 

[chargersfan]

The peak is more November-December. The important thing about medpeds interview invites is that they go out right after you submit your ERAS. September 15th was a Sunday last year and I got my first interview invite the very next day. The majority of my invites came before October 1st (when Dean's letters are sent out). This is very different than IM where most of the invites come out after Oct 1st.

Therefore it is extremely important to submit your application the very first day it is open for medpeds.

 

[bays]

Thanks so much for the responses, chargersfan! I suppose it doesn't make sense to wait for a rec letter from my September rotation to submit my app then, huh?

 

[chargersfan]

Nope you should definitely submit on Sept 15th. It is almost mandatory for medpeds. You could always submit and only send 3 LORs to the programs and then add the 4th when it comes in. Though if it's too late I'm not sure it will matter too much.

 

[rmcray08]

Just wanted to say hello, I'm a fourth year student that will be applying to Med-Peds. Thanks for putting this thread together, and thank you, ChargersFan, for your input. I'm looking forward to an exciting fall. Sincerely, a Panthers fan.

 

[x1052]

I'm a med-peds intern... feel free to PM me with any questions as I'm not on here much anymore.

 

[marylandmd03]

Hi everyone. Several things here - apologize for the overload, but what hoping to find someone who has been in a similar predicament:
1. Med/Peds + ob/gyn interest (but not family med)
2. Being a competitive applicant for med/peds with low Step1 scores but significant improvement in Year 3/4.

1. Somewhat anxious as Sept 15 nears and I'm still really stuck in my decision. Short story is I'm applying Med-Peds, my application, research, and activities have been medicine oriented and I always planned on going into Infectious Diseases (focus of my research in high school/undergrad/med school). However, I unexpectedly really ob/gyn (gyn moreso than ob) which I had towards the end of M3, though hand little to no hands on experience with deliveries or cervical exams, so I felt VERY anxious about my skillset. I did AIs in Medicine, Peds, took step 2, and now am in a third AI in Maternal Fetal Medicine because I couldn't shake the ob/gyn interest, which I think is a pretty cool combo of medicine and ob/gyn. Many people have told me that the obvious solution is family medicine, but I want a more acute hospital focus and more peds training in residency and the opportunity to specialize, but obviously there isn't any ob in Med/Peds. The MFM AI has been stressful (though super interesting - just did a delivery while mom was having a seizure) because I feel that my clinical ob skills and surgical skills are lacking, whereas I have much more confidence in my medicine physical exam and clinical reasoning. I feel like if I applied to ob/gyn at this point my application would be pretty weak, so I feel that my best bet would be to find some med/peds programs with gyn experience (if they exist?). I've seen some opportunities to have more of a gyn focus through fellowship in adolescent medicine.

2. I did suboptimally on Step 1 (118) which has given me incredible application anxiety, particularly for med/peds given the limited residency spots. I feel that I improved dramatically in year 3 (5/7 honors), honored in my Medicine AI and Peds AI, and got 267 on Step 2 ck, and have my name on a handful of publications (but no first authors by time ERAS will be out).

Sorry for the ramble. It's been constant AIs and Step 2 studying so I feel I havent had much time for personal reflection and would appreciate any outside insight.

 

[mercaptovizadeh]

Hi everyone. Several things here - apologize for the overload, but what hoping to find someone who has been in a similar predicament:
1. Med/Peds + ob/gyn interest (but not family med)
2. Being a competitive applicant for med/peds with low Step1 scores but significant improvement in Year 3/4.

1. Somewhat anxious as Sept 15 nears and I'm still really stuck in my decision. Short story is I'm applying Med-Peds, my application, research, and activities have been medicine oriented and I always planned on going into Infectious Diseases (focus of my research in high school/undergrad/med school). However, I unexpectedly really ob/gyn (gyn moreso than ob) which I had towards the end of M3, though hand little to no hands on experience with deliveries or cervical exams, so I felt VERY anxious about my skillset. I did AIs in Medicine, Peds, took step 2, and now am in a third AI in Maternal Fetal Medicine because I couldn't shake the ob/gyn interest, which I think is a pretty cool combo of medicine and ob/gyn. Many people have told me that the obvious solution is family medicine, but I want a more acute hospital focus and more peds training in residency and the opportunity to specialize, but obviously there isn't any ob in Med/Peds. The MFM AI has been stressful (though super interesting - just did a delivery while mom was having a seizure) because I feel that my clinical ob skills and surgical skills are lacking, whereas I have much more confidence in my medicine physical exam and clinical reasoning. I feel like if I applied to ob/gyn at this point my application would be pretty weak, so I feel that my best bet would be to find some med/peds programs with gyn experience (if they exist?). I've seen some opportunities to have more of a gyn focus through fellowship in adolescent medicine.

2. I did suboptimally on Step 1 (118) which has given me incredible application anxiety, particularly for med/peds given the limited residency spots. I feel that I improved dramatically in year 3 (5/7 honors), honored in my Medicine AI and Peds AI, and got 267 on Step 2 ck, and have my name on a handful of publications (but no first authors by time ERAS will be out).

Sorry for the ramble. It's been constant AIs and Step 2 studying so I feel I havent had much time for personal reflection and would appreciate any outside insight.

1.) Apply to med peds with a backup. Most logically in your case either categorical IM or categorical peds. You're right, you've shown massive improvement, but we don't know how some random step 1 cutoff might affect you. Also, be aggressive during interview season, get any connections you have to make calls/emails to programs that did not invite you to interview, because they very well may have just filtered you out based on step 1 and not even taken a closer look at step 2 or your clinical performance.

2.) You can do a little outpatient gyn in med-peds residency, like it would be normal (and expected) to do pelvics to do paps, cultures for STD treatment, check the uterus for fibroids. But that's about it. No pregnant women, nothing like endometrial biopsy or colposcopy (not to mention surgery). It sounds to me like med-peds is a better fit for you. MFM will require a ton of surgical and L&D rotations through a full ob/gyn residency.

 

[webmdsaysihavecancer]

just wondering... anyone know how often it happens that someone who wasn't in the first round of interview invites for a program actually matches there? it stands to reason that if the program wasn't impressed by your application enough to invite you right away, you're unlikely to change their minds so dramatically during an interview that you jump to the top of their rank list. but maybe i'm being overly pessimistic??

 

[eimaise]

just wondering... anyone know how often it happens that someone who wasn't in the first round of interview invites for a program actually matches there? it stands to reason that if the program wasn't impressed by your application enough to invite you right away, you're unlikely to change their minds so dramatically during an interview that you jump to the top of their rank list. but maybe i'm being overly pessimistic??

I'd like to know this too. I am bummed to see (on the other thread) invites going out from programs that I thought would have asked me for an interview already.

 

[eimaise]

Also, is there a "magic number" of interviews we should plan to go on to ensure matching? I know you can't predict this entirely, but what's a safer place to be?

I've been offered 12 interviews, but I've only scheduled 9 of them. I'd like to go on 12 total, but i'm waiting for certain programs to contact me with an interview offer...

 

[mercaptovizadeh]

Schedule everything, pushing the less interesting programs back into January. Do 1-2 "practice run" interviews prior to the programs you're really interested in. If more invites start rolling in, schedule them quickly in November or December and then cancel the ones you're not keen on in January.

 

[chargersfan]

Yea I agree. Schedule them all and cancel them later. I wouldn't wait to schedule because spots may fill up fast. Plus it is pretty poor form to get an interview invite and not respond to it. Its probably borderline unprofessional. The target number of programs to interview at for medpeds is probably 10-11.

For the previous question, all programs only interview people they have an idea that they're going to rank. Therefore, for the most part if you interview at a program you have a good shot at matching there. I've heard of people matching at a place where they got an interview invite from in late October/early November.

 

[webmdsaysihavecancer]

Thanks, chargersfan! It makes me feel better about stretching my schedule & paying for airfare to fit in interviews that I'm offered later in the season

 

[eimaise]

Yea I agree. Schedule them all and cancel them later. I wouldn't wait to schedule because spots may fill up fast. Plus it is pretty poor form to get an interview invite and not respond to it. Its probably borderline unprofessional. The target number of programs to interview at for medpeds is probably 10-11.

For the previous question, all programs only interview people they have an idea that they're going to rank. Therefore, for the most part if you interview at a program you have a good shot at matching there. I've heard of people matching at a place where they got an interview invite from in late October/early November.

Seriously? It seems way worse to me (as in, more insulting to a program) to schedule and interview and then back out later. Maybe that's just me though. I'm avoiding scheduling interviews in places I wasn't terribly keen on going since got such an influx of offers in the first week. I hate making them go through all the work of getting my slot ready, etc. etc. and then me pulling the rug out later when I found someone "better."

 

[chargersfan]

Seriously? It seems way worse to me (as in, more insulting to a program) to schedule and interview and then back out later. Maybe that's just me though. I'm avoiding scheduling interviews in places I wasn't terribly keen on going since got such an influx of offers in the first week. I hate making them go through all the work of getting my slot ready, etc. etc. and then me pulling the rug out later when I found someone "better."

Imagine you're a program director and you spend a couple hours reading an applicant's file. You then send them an interview invite knowing you have a limited number of spots (most medpeds programs only have 4-5 interviewees a day). And then not hearing a reply. You don't know if you should wait for that applicant or offer that spot to someone else. If you do not want to interview there (why did you apply there in the first place?) or it doesn't fit into your schedule, then decline the interview. Don't just leave them hanging or it will seem like you're ignoring them.

As for cancelling interviews, all programs have a waitlist of people they're considering interviewing. If you cancel (make sure you cancel at least 1-2 weeks before your interview date) then they just pull someone else to fill your spot. Everyone completely understands that things change during the interview season and will be able to accomodate. Communication is key. So don't just ignore an invite thinking you can reply a few weeks down the line.

 

[eimaise]

Imagine you're a program director and you spend a couple hours reading an applicant's file. You then send them an interview invite knowing you have a limited number of spots (most medpeds programs only have 4-5 interviewees a day). And then not hearing a reply. You don't know if you should wait for that applicant or offer that spot to someone else. If you do not want to interview there (why did you apply there in the first place?) or it doesn't fit into your schedule, then decline the interview. Don't just leave them hanging or it will seem like you're ignoring them.

As for cancelling interviews, all programs have a waitlist of people they're considering interviewing. If you cancel (make sure you cancel at least 1-2 weeks before your interview date) then they just pull someone else to fill your spot. Everyone completely understands that things change during the interview season and will be able to accomodate. Communication is key. So don't just ignore an invite thinking you can reply a few weeks down the line.

Thanks for the explanation. When you put it like that it helped me see it from their perspective. I will do what you suggested.

 

[GirlyDoc36]

I agree with what's been said above. Also it seems that these med/peds interview dates fill up really quickly. So you'd be putting yourself at a disadvantage too to wait to schedule an interview while waiting to hear from others. If you end up needing that interview, you may be out of luck.

Also, med peds is a relatively small community. PDs talk to each other. It may come up that you never responded to several programs which may come off as disrespectful.

That's just my two cents though!