Co 22’ application season thread

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Hippocrates II said:
Did you apply to certain geographical areas? I feel like the Midwest has sent out a lot of IIs but the coasts are a lot quieter. 90% of my invites are from Midwest programs right now
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I'm a midwest applicant, and my only IIs are from midwest programs.
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doccochran said:
I'm a midwest applicant, and my only IIs are from midwest programs.
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A program coordinator at one of my interviews told me they received 55% more applications this year than average, and they're going through apps much more slowly than usual because of it. If you have a good PS and letters then I'm sure your invites are coming in the near future. Just my guess as to what's happening this cycle
 
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Dumb question but if you interview at an advanced program that has an "attached" transitional year and allows your DR interview to count as your TY interview, can you still rank and separately can match to the TY? or are they in any way linked?
 
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cybermed2424 said:
Dumb question but if you interview at an advanced program that has an "attached" transitional year and allows your DR interview to count as your TY interview, can you still rank and separately can match to the TY? or are they in any way linked?
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Some are linked some are not. You have to ask.
 
How many interview invites have y'all gotten? They were rolling in consistently for a while but they have since slowed to a stop. Sitting at 11 DR and 6 TY which is OK spot to be in, but a few programs I'd still really like to hear from. Plus, I'm hoping to hit that magical 15 DR interviews.
 
Generally how hard is it to match into radiology? I'm a current PGY1 IM resident with a 230, 237 step 1/2 respectively that completed a 2 week radiology rotation as a PGY1. Just wondering..
 
What's a safe amount of prelim/TY interviews to attend? I really don't want to do too many of these interviews to avoid getting interview fatigue, but I also don't want to have to soap into a surgical prelim program. Is there a "magic number" of interviews that people typically tend to shoot for?
 
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livingthepremednightmare said:
What's a safe amount of prelim/TY interviews to attend? I really don't want to do too many of these interviews to avoid getting interview fatigue, but I also don't want to have to soap into a surgical prelim program. Is there a "magic number" of interviews that people typically tend to shoot for?
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Some say 5, but there are people that match the bottom of their prelim list after having attended 10.
 
Update - still at 5 categorical with 2 TY IIs. I’m going to contact school administration soon regarding advice.
 
My residency program has gotten through half of the applicant list just recently. It’s extremely slow because there are so many applicants, and with so many schools eliminating tiered grading due to COVID, it makes the process much more difficult.

It’ll be alright everyone.
 
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1 DR invite, 1 DR waitlist. 3 TY, 2 prelims. West Coast DO with high stats. Would love to be at 6 or 7 haha
 
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1 DR invite, 7 TY/prelims so far :/ So worried about my DR invites .. NE DO applicant.
 
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Medical Seed said:
1 DR invite, 7 TY/prelims so far :/ So worried about my DR invites .. NE DO applicant.
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I think a good amount of people are in a similar boat. It's a tough year and just gotta hang in there. Invites will trickle in over time and hopefully get us up to more reassuring numbers. I'm only at 3 DR myself.
 
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I just got a few non-local DR interviews these past few days after a month of silence. Think things are starting to move on the waitlists now?
 
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I'm an M3. Is it advisable to get a rec letter from a research mentor that you didn't work with clinically? I published 2 first-author papers with my PI. Also, on my psychiatry rotation my preceptor offered to write a letter for me unprompted. Is a psychiatry letter helpful for radiology?
 
Hippocrates II said:
I just got a few non-local DR interviews these past few days after a month of silence. Think things are starting to move on the waitlists now?
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Good to hear that! The silence continues for me ... only 1 DR invite so far :/ ... Do you guys think I have to prepare soap? I never expected that step1 236 is too low to apply for rad...
 
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I keep forgetting this thread is here. I don't have the magic 10 number yet but I'm sitting on 7 IR, 8 DR , and 7 TY, and I feel like my interviews have all gone really well. Didn't know how my previous work experience was going to fly, but I've had everyone comment on it being impressive and one PD said he was "obsessed" that I had the job I did. I know better than to completely believe anyone, but I think I'm finally feeling good enough to drop my last IM backup interview.

Have an interview this morning for a program that I think I may not rank after the things I heard at the social last night. Wish I'd done more research ahead of time so I could have dropped this interview and not wasted their space and time as well as mine, but I really don't know how we're supposed to be able to find out the nitty gritty details until we talk to someone at the program, either.

Medical Seed said:
Good to hear that! The silence continues for me ... only 1 DR invite so far :/ ... Do you guys think I have to prepare soap? I never expected that step1 236 is too low to apply for rad...
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I haven't been following here - have you sent out a bunch of LOIs yet? I thought my cycle was over but I've gotten 3 invites in the past week, all out of region, so I feel like maybe programs are finally deciding to look outside of their local applicants. It might be a good time to reach out.
 
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calivianya said:
I keep forgetting this thread is here. I don't have the magic 10 number yet but I'm sitting on 7 IR, 8 DR , and 7 TY, and I feel like my interviews have all gone really well. Didn't know how my previous work experience was going to fly, but I've had everyone comment on it being impressive and one PD said he was "obsessed" that I had the job I did. I know better than to completely believe anyone, but I think I'm finally feeling good enough to drop my last IM backup interview.

Have an interview this morning for a program that I think I may not rank after the things I heard at the social last night. Wish I'd done more research ahead of time so I could have dropped this interview and not wasted their space and time as well as mine, but I really don't know how we're supposed to be able to find out the nitty gritty details until we talk to someone at the program, either.


I haven't been following here - have you sent out a bunch of LOIs yet? I thought my cycle was over but I've gotten 3 invites in the past week, all out of region, so I feel like maybe programs are finally deciding to look outside of their local applicants. It might be a good time to reach out.
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I haven't sent out any single LOI yet. Is LOI helpful? I will try it out :/ ..
 
Medical Seed said:
I haven't sent out any single LOI yet. Is LOI helpful? I will try it out :/ ..
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Most of mine amounted to nothing but a couple got me results.

I sent one to an IR/DR program in a city I used to live in and got an invite the next day. Another that worked was a program that invited me but filled all their spots, and after I wrote the LOI I got told I would be the first person to be invited if someone dropped. Someone dropped, so I did get to interview there already. So at least, it can't hurt. Especially if you lived in, or have family that lives in, the cities the programs are in.
 
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Honestly feel like my interviews have been going really well also. Have gotten “I hope you come to our program because I really think you would be a great fit” from several people. I know not to believe it, but it still feels good.
 
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Dilemma - anyone else applying IR/DR, how are you planning to structure your rank lists? I know it’s early, but I am thinking about this every day at this point.

I am lucky to have several places with incredibly strong DR and IR programs where both have interviewed me. One of these places in particular is in a very desirable city that I’d love to live in. I could see myself happily staying forever if I match there for residency. All of my top places that have interviewed me for both have ESIR and an independent pathway available for the DR residents.

So, knowing in theory that I can get to IR from either IR or DR at my top choices… how are other people in this position creating their rank lists? Are your first ranks contiguous IR to put a guarantee on it, or are you taking lifestyle/location factors into the equation? I’d just love to hear why you are leaning one way or the other because I am paralyzed by indecision.
 
calivianya said:
Dilemma - anyone else applying IR/DR, how are you planning to structure your rank lists? I know it’s early, but I am thinking about this every day at this point.

I am lucky to have several places with incredibly strong DR and IR programs where both have interviewed me. One of these places in particular is in a very desirable city that I’d love to live in. I could see myself happily staying forever if I match there for residency. All of my top places that have interviewed me for both have ESIR and an independent pathway available for the DR residents.

So, knowing in theory that I can get to IR from either IR or DR at my top choices… how are other people in this position creating their rank lists? Are your first ranks contiguous IR to put a guarantee on it, or are you taking lifestyle/location factors into the equation? I’d just love to hear why you are leaning one way or the other because I am paralyzed by indecision.
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Some people last year alternated between IR and DR at programs they really liked before putting other IR programs and then DR programs.
 
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I’m alternating and going program by program instead of prioritizing IR. Have several places where I only got DR invite that I’m going to rank higher than a lot of programs with integrated spots too
 
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I'm naive to the whole IR aspect of radiology but can't pretty much anyone do IR from DR between either esir or an IR fellowship? Like you aren't taking much risk in not getting to do IR if you take a DR residency, right?
 
Hippocrates II said:
I'm naive to the whole IR aspect of radiology but can't pretty much anyone do IR from DR between either esir or an IR fellowship? Like you aren't taking much risk in not getting to do IR if you take a DR residency, right?
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Someone please correct me if I'm wrong, but I do think there's a small amount of risk. A lot of the programs I'm seeing that have IR fellowships and ESIR have the same number of spots for both - as in, I'm not sure they typically take people outside of their own ESIR people every year. There are also programs that have ESIR that do not have an IR fellowship. I think if you match a DR program that has both, you're probably fine... but I'm not so sure about matching IR from a program with just ESIR, or a program with neither.

Much lower in importance, but there's also the factor of just wanting to not have to go through any sort of match or interview process until it's time to find an attending job. Sounds pretty nice to not have to compete for ESIR, should there be more applicants than spots in your year, and to not have to go through a fellowship match. As someone who is starting to feel some interview burnout, that sounds pretty appealing right now.
 
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Fellow applicants, if you had conflicts that could absolutely not be resolved because all dates and waitlists were full, how many rads interviews, or how far down your rank list, would you have to be to think about cancelling a rads interview for a desirable TY?

I’ve got an interview for a DR program that I already know I will rank low at the same time as a TY I’d probably rank as #1 for all of my advanced programs. I am aware I can SOAP into a TY but not rads, but my TY list is full of HCA programs that are going to give me 10 patients on the floors currently, and this would only be the second non-HCA TY on my list if I can interview there, and I am looking at putting this rads program >10th.
 
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calivianya said:
Fellow applicants, if you had conflicts that could absolutely not be resolved because all dates and waitlists were full, how many rads interviews, or how far down your rank list, would you have to be to think about cancelling a rads interview for a desirable TY?

I’ve got an interview for a DR program that I already know I will rank low at the same time as a TY I’d probably rank as #1 for all of my advanced programs. I am aware I can SOAP into a TY but not rads, but my TY list is full of HCA programs that are going to give me 10 patients on the floors currently, and this would only be the second non-HCA TY on my list if I can interview there, and I am looking at putting this rads program >10th.
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Was in this situation last year. Cancelled the rads interview and kept the TY. Odds of going that low on your rads list is low.
 
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calivianya said:
Fellow applicants, if you had conflicts that could absolutely not be resolved because all dates and waitlists were full, how many rads interviews, or how far down your rank list, would you have to be to think about cancelling a rads interview for a desirable TY?

I’ve got an interview for a DR program that I already know I will rank low at the same time as a TY I’d probably rank as #1 for all of my advanced programs. I am aware I can SOAP into a TY but not rads, but my TY list is full of HCA programs that are going to give me 10 patients on the floors currently, and this would only be the second non-HCA TY on my list if I can interview there, and I am looking at putting this rads program >10th.
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Are the HCA TYs malignant? I've interviewed at a few and all of the residents act like they're insanely chill. I don't even know what to believe in these interviews anymore. Every program tells you the same spiel and asks you the same questions. It's comical at this point
 
Hippocrates II said:
Are the HCA TYs malignant? I've interviewed at a few and all of the residents act like they're insanely chill. I don't even know what to believe in these interviews anymore. Every program tells you the same spiel and asks you the same questions. It's comical at this point
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HCA is fine for TY. Negative would be no PSLF for that year as you would be employed by a for-profit entity but most radiology folks don't need/want PSLF anyways so it's generally a moot point.
 
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Hippocrates II said:
Are the HCA TYs malignant? I've interviewed at a few and all of the residents act like they're insanely chill. I don't even know what to believe in these interviews anymore. Every program tells you the same spiel and asks you the same questions. It's comical at this point
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The only negative that I can really tell other than the PSLF problem is the patient load on wards. Every HCA TY I've interviewed at (3 so far) caps you at 10 patients. In contrast, my one non-HCA TY so far caps you at 4.

Now, one place explained to me that it's because every patient in the hospital is admitted to the IM service but managed by their admitting service, so if you have 2 ICU and 3 surgery patients in your 10, you're really only managing the other five. Still sound like it sucks to keep up with 10, though, if you can keep up with 4 instead.
 
calivianya said:
The only negative that I can really tell other than the PSLF problem is the patient load on wards. Every HCA TY I've interviewed at (3 so far) caps you at 10 patients. In contrast, my one non-HCA TY so far caps you at 4.

Now, one place explained to me that it's because every patient in the hospital is admitted to the IM service but managed by their admitting service, so if you have 2 ICU and 3 surgery patients in your 10, you're really only managing the other five. Still sound like it sucks to keep up with 10, though, if you can keep up with 4 instead.
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4 would be incredible. I think every place I've interviewed at has been 7-8 on the floor, maybe 5 in the ICU
 
How many invites are people in the 230-240 step 1 range getting?
 
Anyone have thoughts on what surgical prelim interviews are like? I got one at a program I really want and it will be my first surgical prelim. Any advice would be appreciated.
 
Matched people - how far down your prelim/TY supplemental list did you have to go, if applicable?

I ended up turning down a couple, one because I heard bad things and another because they were requiring in-person interviews and I wasn't willing to fly. Unfortunately that only leaves me with 7 options... one of which I'm pretty sure I have nearly zero chance at because I don't feel like the interview went well. Can't recommend an 11 AM interview after working a 7p-7a 12 hour shift in the ED; I felt like I was drunk the whole time and I'm pretty sure I came across that way, too.

I get that it's not the end of the world if I have to SOAP a first year, but I'd prefer not to.
 
I think night float is really good for surgery prelim.
 
Steve_Zissou said:
How my SDN homies doing?
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Alternating between being grateful for the # of interviews I got vs. mildly disappointed over the silence of basically all upper-tier programs. Definitely thought in spite of the DO aspect that my overall very strong app would garner some interest from upper/top programs, but most of my invites are from average state universities near my school. How's it going for you?
 
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Steve_Zissou said:
How my SDN homies doing?
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Still agonizing over the #2 position on my rank list because I'm trying to decide what my ultimate priorities are (perfect location DR vs. good location(s) IR). I feel like I have many great options, and I'm really glad I applied as broadly as I did. I've gotten interviews from programs I ended up really liking that I never even would have applied to if I'd put in fewer apps.

...I'm having regrets that I did not pick BS rotations for the rest of the year. I've got to pass a test at the end of this rotation to pass the rotation, so I really need to get my butt in gear and start studying. I'll probably be happy I didn't completely slack off later, but right now I feel like I made a mistake lol
 
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Hippocrates II said:
Alternating between being grateful for the # of interviews I got vs. mildly disappointed over the silence of basically all upper-tier programs. Definitely thought in spite of the DO aspect that my overall very strong app would garner some interest from upper/top programs, but most of my invites are from average state universities near my school. How's it going for you?
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I didn’t get anywhere near as many as I had hoped, but enough to be comfortable matching (still <15), and have a wide range from top 20 to bottom ranked. Also a DO and I think I had some unique aspects that got me the higher ranked invites. Really just feeling dread every day at what will happen if I don’t match. Glad I have chill rotations and I’m taking a vacation somewhere tropical in a few weeks, but I’m completely over this season and ready for match day to be here.

Seems like it was rough for us DOs this year with many of us not even reaching double digits. Hope we all get what we want
 
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calivianya said:
Still agonizing over the #2 position on my rank list because I'm trying to decide what my ultimate priorities are (perfect location DR vs. good location(s) IR). I feel like I have many great options, and I'm really glad I applied as broadly as I did. I've gotten interviews from programs I ended up really liking that I never even would have applied to if I'd put in fewer apps.

...I'm having regrets that I did not pick BS rotations for the rest of the year. I've got to pass a test at the end of this rotation to pass the rotation, so I really need to get my butt in gear and start studying. I'll probably be happy I didn't completely slack off later, but right now I feel like I made a mistake lol
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I will say, one of the most hard working IR residents I’ve ever met told me she wished she slacked off more during 4th year. Said she spent a couple months on wards/surfer to prepare for surgical prelim then IR at a top institution, but it really didn’t help as much as she’d hoped. Either way, we’ll all be done soon, so no point in regretting it.
 
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