couples match with another competitive specialty

[Elle726]

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[TexasPhysician]

I didn't, but graduates I know successfully did psych/derm and psych/ortho. It's very possible. Not sure what you are looking for.

 

[atsai3]

I know of a couple that did derm/psych, and it worked out fine. Psych is generally just not that competitive compared to other fields.

 

[Elle726]

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[atsai3]

So I suppose Psych/Radiology is possible then? Specially when the other person has a 240+ score

Do you think doing that affects your chances of matching?

Couples matching is always a constraint, mathematically speaking. The constraint is that you want to be in the same city. So that will always close off options in terms of program prestige/competitiveness for one or both partners.

If your partner is trying to match to radiology with a 240+, then s/he may be in pretty good shape, and then by extension the two of you are in pretty good shape as a couple. This is because if you have problems matching into psych, then your partner can always drop down. e.g., suppose you both aspire to the MGH's, the UCSF's, and the Columbia's, and suppose also that only your partner would be considered generally competitive for their radiology programs while you are not considered generally competitive for their psych programs. Then you would "drag" your partner down in the match. If you are competitive for UMich or WashU, say, then if your partner would have been competitive for MGH/UCSF/Columbia (had s/he had the untethered freedom to match there) then s/he most likely would be competitive for UMich or WashU.

 

[Bartelby]

So I suppose Psych/Radiology is possible then? Specially when the other person has a 240+ score

Do you think doing that affects your chances of matching?

I did not couples match but know people that did. If your significant other is competitive (it sounds like you are saying he or she is) and you are competitive then the two of you should match somewhere if you apply widely enough. Unfortunately the radiology applicant will probably need to apply to many more than you (the psychiatry applicant) would normally, and since you don't know which radiology programs will grant an interview you will need to apply to all of those. Then you may go lower on your list than you otherwise would have because you must be lucky enough for any given spot on your list to choose both you and your partner.

That said, the one case I know of went great, the couple matched to a program that is excellent in both fields.

 

[TexasPhysician]

Just apply much more broadly than you otherwise would. UVA took a psych/rads couple this year (their #1 choice).

 

[Daftrage]

Just apply much more broadly than you otherwise would. UVA took a psych/rads couple this year (their #1 choice).

MUSC also took a Pysch/Rads or Psych/Rads-onc (not sure which exactly). Its doable, just do more interviews than normal.

 

[Elle726]

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[notdeadyet]

Congratulations, Elle. The journey can be a little stressful, but it's well worth it.

What's your boyfriend going into?

 

[Elle726]

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[Chimed]

Hi, This is a little dated, but I did a couples match in 2007. My wife applied to a competitive specialty. As psych is relatively non-competitive, it definitively affected my choices and where we matched. I had interviews at programs that she just didn't get looked at. In the end, I still ended up matching in a "top 20 program" and a place that ended up being an excellent match for both of us. One thing that helped was that we both decided the quality of the program was more important then the location. You can do it the other way, but having you both on the same page will be helpful and will help you define where to apply. With our approach, we applied very broadly and went on a lot of interviews--I think around 13 or 14 each. Another thing is that some programs will communicate between them. This can sometimes be helpful if one program really likes one of you.

Good luck!

 

[twright]

Radiology. It is not written in stone we just talked that we are both open to it. It is one less stress because it being a new relationship, I was a freaking out in my mind since before things were official that we would have to have the "couple match or get separated" talk and I am glad it was so casual and breezy.

I know everyone's advice is to apply broadly. Anything else?

Nice that you have that piece settled.
Plain vanilla radiology is competitive but at least it is not as competitive as rad-onc. As others have stated, you should apply broadly. If your partner is not a superstar, then you will need to apply very broadly, as most likely his application will be the limiting reagent given that radiology is more competitive than psychiatry.

In my observation sitting on psych admit committees and listening to the stories of my friends who couples matched, at competitive institutions you should not count on (a) programs talking to each other, or (b) one partner pulling the other "up". At competitive radiology and psychiatry programs, they have so many applicants to choose from that it would be exceedingly rare for either one to say "okay, if you really like him then we'll take her even though she's not really up to our standards". This sort of thing may be more commonplace at smaller, less competitive community programs, but I don't know what things are like there.