Chances of matching into psych?

[TheWolfOfMainStreet]

Hi guys,

Essentially, medical school has been hell. I ended up failing anatomy in my first semester. The school had me (and others in the same boat) take spring semester off and restart with next year's class and repeat all courses. I went ahead and scored mostly B/C's in the major preclinical courses, with A's in just our classes on patient care and OPP.

At the end of my 2nd year, I took and failed COMLEX level 1 by a couple of points. I then went ahead and retook it and passed on the second attempt but my score was marginally sub-450. In retaking, I experienced a lot of anxiety issues which were new for me and I ended up retaking the exam a little late which means I'm graduating with the next year's class.

Since then, though, I've really gotten my act together. I have scored an A in every clerkship with glowing comments on my MSPE. I'm currently studying for COMLEX level 2 and am months out from my exam but am scoring far better on UWorld than I ever did for level 1. I really think well over 500 is realistic at this time. With this history though, I obviously did not end up taking USMLE.

I know the red flags seriously curtail my chances but I've fallen in love with psychiatry during rotations. I have a prior history of commitment to the field too with mental health work experience in undergrad, leading mental health related clubs in preclinical years, and multiple psych rotations with LORs being offered to me from each.

I plan to audition as widely as I can in the fall and dual apply with FM just in case. Psych is my true love but I have really enjoyed my family med rotations as well and know I'd be okay with that life too. While I'd love to match in Michigan, I have no geographic limitations and will apply as widely as can be in psych. I am thinking 100+ programs, perhaps even all of them if that's what it takes.

All of that intro to lead you into my few questions:

1. Do we think I can receive a reasonable number of interviews and match psych still?
2. Do we think I can match FM atleast?
3. Any thoughts on number of programs in each field and how to select them?
4. Any thoughts on audition rotation application/selection strategy?
5. Any other tips/thoughts?

I know I can't be picky and being picky isn't my nature anyways. I don't need much, just a program that'll enable me to be employed in the field I love.

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[Mad Jack]

1. Do we think I can receive a reasonable number of interviews and match psych still? Yes, but I would focus on community and university-affiliated community programs and apply broadly. Even then I would strongly recommend a backup plan that is also broad.
2. Do we think I can match FM atleast? A good backup plan, but again, apply geographically broadly, as you may end up in the sticks but it's better than not matching at all.
3. Any thoughts on number of programs in each field and how to select them? 80-100 psych, 30-40 FM. Look at current residents and make sure they have a heavy IMG/DO presence.
4. Any thoughts on audition rotation application/selection strategy? Pick auditions in places you might realistically end up, as it is unlikely you'll get a reach program from an audition alone.
5. Any other tips/thoughts? Broad, broad, broad, that's all I've got to say. I would ask someone from FM how many programs you should apply to with your current app as they would know better than me, but apply hard to both specialties because a match failure will make a second go extremely challenging

 

[BobbyKoch]

Look at your school’s match list and see which psych programs have taken alums from your school in the past 3-5 years. Make contact with programs now and start showing interest. Plan your auditions accordingly. A strong audition can get you a look at programs that may otherwise be outside of your reach. Converse is also a true, where a poor or middling performance can hobble you at that specific program, but you can still use the experience to demonstrate interest and use as interview answer fodder. This has been valuable for me in this cycle so far—feel free to reach out after match day (March 17) and I’ll be happy to share what did or didn’t work for me.

Agree with the advice in the post from @Mad Jack

 

[TragicalDrFaust]

Look at your school’s match list and see which psych programs have taken alums from your school in the past 3-5 years. Make contact with programs now and start showing interest. Plan your auditions accordingly. A strong audition can get you a look at programs that may otherwise be outside of your reach. Converse is also a true, where a poor or middling performance can hobble you at that specific program, but you can still use the experience to demonstrate interest and use as interview answer fodder. This has been valuable for me in this cycle so far—feel free to reach out after match day (March 17) and I’ll be happy to share what did or didn’t work for me.

Agree with the advice in the post from @Mad Jack

Not OP but had a question about this. What do you mean by making contact with programs? I'm OMS-3 and have reached out to a few to ask if they take COMLEX if it's unclear on the website. Should I be asking "deeper" questions or something else entirely? Should I be targeting PDs, program coordinators or residents?

 

[BobbyKoch]

Not OP but had a question about this. What do you mean by making contact with programs? I'm OMS-3 and have reached out to a few to ask if they take COMLEX if it's unclear on the website. Should I be asking "deeper" questions or something else entirely? Should I be targeting PDs, program coordinators or residents?

I don’t think you need to go too deep. But you can always ask about away rotations, any scheduled open houses or meet and greets, or ask about some aspect of the training that they don’t have on their website (psychotherapy, state hospital experience, interventional psych exposure, etc).