Match Stats for entering class of 2013

[Gfunk6]

Repeat?

http://forums.studentdoctor.net/showpost.php?p=12287495&postcount=28

The advice was so good that I had to post it twice.

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[suttons law]

--Board Scores: 249/not submitted
--AOA and class rank: top 1/3
--Reputation of medical school: lower tier No home Rad Onc Program.
--Research: 1 Rad Onc grant funded, 1 First Auth. Rad Onc manuscript, 11 Basic Science (non-rad Onc) published manuscripts 3 first author, 20+ abstracts that were non-rad Onc. 2 Funded non-rad Onc grants, 1 book chapter.
--Honors in clerkships: Medicine, Surgery, Psych, Family Med.
--# and where you did away rotations: 2 Away rotations at places I interviewed at
--# of programs you applied to: 35
--Where invited for interviews: 15 Attended 13 - MD Anderson, Michigan, Stanford, Duke, Wash U, Mayo Rochester, William Beaumont, Cleveland Clinic, Ohio State, Kentucky, Buffalo, Case Western, Iowa, Oklahoma, Virginia.
--Where matched: Midway through our list but very very happy to be there.
--Matched at what number on rank list: Midway through list
--Anything that helped your app: M.D. Ph.D.
--Plans if not matched: Internal Medicine -> Cardiology vs. Radiology vs. ???
--Other: I was one of the few who Couples Matched this year. I think this caused me to fall a few places and certainly caused my wife to fall a few places, but ultimately I think we ended up at a great place for both of us.

My Observation: I think you are at a real disadvantage not having a home program. In a small field a call from a chair seems to be invaluable.

 

[hot sauce]

-- 256/257
-- Not AOA
-- Not Top 20 med school
-- 2 pubs, 1 first author, oral presentation at RSNA, multiple other poster presentations/oral presentations
-- honors in all but pediatrics
-- aways at Univ of Cincinnati and Cleveland Clinic
-- applied to 50+ programs, couples matched (wife applied to Pediatrics)
-- interviews at: University of Kentucky, University of Louisville, Cincinnati, Cleveland Clinic, Ohio State, Rochester, Syracuse, Roswell Park, Iowa, MUSC, Virginia, Wake Forest
Invited to interview but did not go: UTMB, Nebraska, Oklahoma
-- Matched: Did not match into radiation oncology
-- Prelim: prelim med, #1 on my list
Wife matched into peds, I matched only into a prelim med year.
Rough luck, thought I would match somewhere... Match week was not fun for me. Maybe more research would have helped? Several projects fell through unfortunately... Did what I could, just didn't work out. Best advice I can give, choose your research projects carefully and know which ones will pay off and not just get you lame poster presentations. Being at a middle tier med school plus not having piles of pubs did me in.
Well, now it's off to medicine!

Sorry about the bad luck man. Do you think couples matching played a role in it? I'm sure you are in a difficult position with your wife having a position you are probably geographically restricted for a few years.

Best of luck. Stuff does open up and while it is less common now there are plenty of people who have done rad onc after a medicine residency (sounds like a lot of residency but it is "only" 2 more years). Just something to consider. Take care.

 

[rad0nc]

--Where invited for interviews:
I went on 15 interviews, including USC, UC Irvine, CPMC, Minnesota, Cleveland Clinic, Case, Wisconsin, MCW, Rush, Northwestern, Miami, Long Island, NY Methodist, Cornell, and Buffalo. I was invited to an additional 11 interviews, but I either did not or could not attend (the good ones conflicted with other good programs, unfortunately). These included Moffit, Nebraska, Iowa, Kentucky, Louisville, Syracuse, Rochester, Henry Ford, Wayne State, UNC, and UTMB.

When I emailed the program director I was told that Northwestern didn't have any open positions and wasn't interviewing this year.

 

[rad0nc]

-- 256/257
-- Not AOA
-- Not Top 20 med school
-- 2 pubs, 1 first author, oral presentation at RSNA, multiple other poster presentations/oral presentations
-- honors in all but pediatrics
-- aways at Univ of Cincinnati and Cleveland Clinic
-- applied to 50+ programs, couples matched (wife applied to Pediatrics)
-- interviews at: University of Kentucky, University of Louisville, Cincinnati, Cleveland Clinic, Ohio State, Rochester, Syracuse, Roswell Park, Iowa, MUSC, Virginia, Wake Forest
Invited to interview but did not go: UTMB, Nebraska, Oklahoma
-- Matched: Did not match into radiation oncology
-- Prelim: prelim med, #1 on my list
Wife matched into peds, I matched only into a prelim med year.
Rough luck, thought I would match somewhere... Match week was not fun for me. Maybe more research would have helped? Several projects fell through unfortunately... Did what I could, just didn't work out. Best advice I can give, choose your research projects carefully and know which ones will pay off and not just get you lame poster presentations. Being at a middle tier med school plus not having piles of pubs did me in.
Well, now it's off to medicine!

That is some horrible luck. I am certain that you will get a spot either this year or in the next match. Best of luck

 

[Gfunk6]

Here is another anonymous stat block.

-Board Scores: 252/273 (released mid-November)
--AOA and class rank: Junior AOA, Top 3%
--Reputation of medical school: Top 30 state school in the deep south with a well-respected home department.
--Research: 3 first-author abstracts (ASCO, ASTRO, Radium), 1 manuscript in submission, 1 in prep. *All clinical.
--Honors in clerkships: No honors at my school.
--# and where you did away rotations: 2 away rotations, one at a top southern program and one at a middle-tier midwest program.
--# of programs you applied to: All except programs not in my region taking just 1 person.
--Where invited for interviews: Minnesota, Kentucky, Arizona, Jefferson, Cincinnati, Ohio State, Rush, USC, UAB, UTMB, Miami, Baylor, UNC, Beaumont, Louisville, Emory, MSKCC. *Went to 15 of 17.
--Where matched: Top choice in the south.
--Matched at what number on rank list: 1
--Anything that helped your app: Used 4 Rad Onc letters, 3 from chairs of places I rotated (who I actually was lucky enough to work quite a bit with) and 1 from my research mentor. *I felt like these snagged me a couple of interviews at places I may not have been invited to otherwise. *
--Plans if not matched: Skyrim
--Prelim year: TY in my hometown.
--Matched at what number of prelim yr on list: #1
--Other: Keep in mind that programs are looking for are applicants who will be successful in their programs, and it is up to you to convince them. *If you discover radiation oncology during your 3rd year of medical school then you probably won't be able to have manuscripts published by application time unless you happen to be attached to a program with the infrastructure in place to make this possible, and I think programs take this into account. *What you do need to be able to do, however, is convince the interviewer that you can be academically productive at their program. *Don't forget to convince them that you will be a good clinician too, since you will be sharing in the care of their patients. *Also, as you go through the interview process you may begin to disregard the rankings thread on this website, so try not to limit where you apply based solely on this.

 

[johnbeck]

I agree with your last point. The 'top ten' rankings on this website are silly. I found there was little difference (if any) between many of the 'top ten' and other programs that are not as widely respected on this forum. UAB is one of many examples of a program that is not mentioned in the top ten here, but without question offers outstanding clinical training with top flight research opportunities.

 

[cuedot]

--Board Scores: 243/not submitted
--AOA and class rank: Not AOA
--Reputation of medical school: top 10
--Research: 2 cancer publications in lower journals from pre-medschool, not first author, not radonc. 3 years of research before med school. Had one abstract at a meeting. Had pending radonc research to discuss during interviews.
--Honors in clerkships: pediatrics, family (not even in radonc at home program, but luckily was too late for the Dean's letter)
--# and where you did away rotations: 2 aways at mid-tier places in fall of 4th year. I got interviews at both, but didn't match at them. Was told by one chair that aways show commitment, and very important for them to see (best way is from a LOR).
--# of programs you applied to: 68
--Where invited for interviews: 6
--Matched at what number on rank list: 4
--Anything that helped your app: I really didn't do any networking. Maybe my school reputation and interviewing.
--Plans if not matched: Duel applied to back-up residency. I strongly recommend this. Your chances are much lower the second time and you just get behind in your career. You can still reapply during and after residency. It was costly, but made match day much less stressful.
--Prelim year: TY
--Matched at what number of prelim yr on list: 2
--Other: I decided very late during 3rd year. I scrambled to get 2 aways and start a research project that was fruitless anyway. Do at least one away in time to get a letter from it.

 

[echod]

--Board Scores: 243/not submitted
--AOA and class rank: Not AOA
--Reputation of medical school: top 10
--Research: 2 cancer publications in lower journals from pre-medschool, not first author, not radonc. 3 years of research before med school. Had one abstract at a meeting. Had pending radonc research to discuss during interviews.
--Honors in clerkships: pediatrics, family (not even in radonc at home program, but luckily was too late for the Dean's letter)
--# and where you did away rotations: 2 aways at mid-tier places in fall of 4th year. I got interviews at both, but didn't match at them. Was told by one chair that aways show commitment, and very important for them to see (best way is from a LOR).
--# of programs you applied to: 68
--Where invited for interviews: 6
--Matched at what number on rank list: 4
--Anything that helped your app: I really didn't do any networking. Maybe my school reputation and interviewing.
--Plans if not matched: Duel applied to back-up residency. I strongly recommend this. Your chances are much lower the second time and you just get behind in your career. You can still reapply during and after residency. It was costly, but made match day much less stressful.
--Prelim year: TY
--Matched at what number of prelim yr on list: 2
--Other: I decided very late during 3rd year. I scrambled to get 2 aways and start a research project that was fruitless anyway. Do at least one away in time to get a letter from it.

Can you comment on your experiences applying to two specialties? If you feel comfortable, what was the other specialty? Besides money, what are some hurdles and potential problems to look out for when applying to two specialties? Did Rad Onc programs ask or know that you had a backup specialty? Did the back up specialty know about your Rad Onc interests? Thanks a lot!

 

[cuedot]

To me, patient population is so important to a career choice. I found cancer patients and kids to be some of the most rewarding patients to work with. Before deciding on radonc I was considering medonc and pedsonc. I was planning on peds until I did my radonc rotation and fell in love with it (I still may do pediatric rad onc). My back-up (peds) ended-up being an easy decision for me. It totally depends on your interests. Some people come to radonc from an interest in imaging and so radiology is a good backup (although more competitive than peds). Probably the most common I've heard is medonc. The biggest issues, in order: money, time/energy, and secrecy. The cost of my ERAS was over $2k with 20 peds applications, 50 prelims (WAY too many) and 68 radonc. I only ended-up interviewing at 18 places (6 RO, 8 peds, 4 prelim), so this cost wasn't out of control compared to others. A number of prelims let me rank them without interviewing (its good to ask this while you gracefully cancel an interview). Also, I could probably have interviewed at half the peds spots. In terms of time, writing 2 personal statements and getting double the LORs was a pain, but definitely doable. Lastly, it was made clear to me that I should conceal my back-up plan if it involved duel applying. This actually wasn't that stressful, except I couldn't get advice on this from anyone (which is why I'm posting this). The only time it freaked me out was getting lunch in the cafeteria while on my peds tour at a place I did an away and interviewed for radonc. But that's nothing a little stick-on mustache can't solve. At the end of the day it was all worth it to be able to go into the match with a back up I knew would lead to a rewarding career.

 

[radiadouken]

The biggest issues, in order: money, time/energy, and secrecy.

secrecy?

 

[echod]

To me, patient population is so important to a career choice. I found cancer patients and kids to be some of the most rewarding patients to work with. Before deciding on radonc I was considering medonc and pedsonc. I was planning on peds until I did my radonc rotation and fell in love with it (I still may do pediatric rad onc). My back-up (peds) ended-up being an easy decision for me. It totally depends on your interests. Some people come to radonc from an interest in imaging and so radiology is a good backup (although more competitive than peds). Probably the most common I've heard is medonc. The biggest issues, in order: money, time/energy, and secrecy. The cost of my ERAS was over $2k with 20 peds applications, 50 prelims (WAY too many) and 68 radonc. I only ended-up interviewing at 18 places (6 RO, 8 peds, 4 prelim), so this cost wasn't out of control compared to others. A number of prelims let me rank them without interviewing (its good to ask this while you gracefully cancel an interview). Also, I could probably have interviewed at half the peds spots. In terms of time, writing 2 personal statements and getting double the LORs was a pain, but definitely doable. Lastly, it was made clear to me that I should conceal my back-up plan if it involved duel applying. This actually wasn't that stressful, except I couldn't get advice on this from anyone (which is why I'm posting this). The only time it freaked me out was getting lunch in the cafeteria while on my peds tour at a place I did an away and interviewed for radonc. But that's nothing a little stick-on mustache can't solve. At the end of the day it was all worth it to be able to go into the match with a back up I knew would lead to a rewarding career.

Thanks.

 

[Scatter]

-- 256/257
-- Not AOA
-- Not Top 20 med school
-- 2 pubs, 1 first author, oral presentation at RSNA, multiple other poster presentations/oral presentations
-- honors in all but pediatrics
-- aways at Univ of Cincinnati and Cleveland Clinic
-- applied to 50+ programs, couples matched (wife applied to Pediatrics)
-- interviews at: University of Kentucky, University of Louisville, Cincinnati, Cleveland Clinic, Ohio State, Rochester, Syracuse, Roswell Park, Iowa, MUSC, Virginia, Wake Forest
Invited to interview but did not go: UTMB, Nebraska, Oklahoma
-- Matched: Did not match into radiation oncology
-- Prelim: prelim med, #1 on my list
Wife matched into peds, I matched only into a prelim med year.
Rough luck, thought I would match somewhere... Match week was not fun for me. Maybe more research would have helped? Several projects fell through unfortunately... Did what I could, just didn't work out. Best advice I can give, choose your research projects carefully and know which ones will pay off and not just get you lame poster presentations. Being at a middle tier med school plus not having piles of pubs did me in.
Well, now it's off to medicine!

Hi, thanks for sharing. I'm sorry you didn't Match, but don't give up. Keep an eye out for spots that open up during the intern year. How were your Away rotations? Did you have a lot of competition, making it was hard to stand out, or did you do them too late to matter, or?

 

[FIREitUP]

How do you guys get so many pubs? I'm planning on starting research now as a first year, but I can't imagine getting that many pubs in such a short amount of time. Any suggestions?

 

[Gfunk6]

Better late than never, thank you!

--Board Scores: 249/247 (Only person I know to score lower on Step 2)
--AOA and class rank: AOA, top 1/3
--GPA: n/a
--Reputation of medical school: (top 10, top 25, etc): Top 10
--Research: 5 first-author papers, 2 second author, 1 mid-author, 1 book chapter, none of which were in rad onc. Two "in preparation" first author manuscripts, 1 in rad onc and 1 not
--Honors in clerkships: Honors in all required clerkships except Neuro, High Pass in Neuro
--# and where you did away rotations: No aways
--# of programs you applied to: 38
--Where invited for interviews: Went to 14 - MSKCC, Jefferson, Pittsburgh, Hopkins, Georgetown, Duke, Vanderbilt, U Chicago, Michigan, Wash U, MD Anderson, UTSW, Stanford, and UCSF. Declined 2 or 3 others.
--Where matched: In the "yay!" tier of my list
--Matched at what number on rank list: #5
--Anything that helped your app: Year-off research training for which I'm getting a Master's degree, 2 years full-time research pre-med-school; both experiences were far afield from rad onc, more on that below. Multiple interviewers mentioned I had one LOR that particularly impressed them, but I'm not 100% sure it was the one from my "big name" letter-writer (who has a reputation for pretty restrained LORs)
--Plans if not matched: Have a panic attack, go from there
--Prelim year: Prelim at my home institution
--Matched at what number of prelim yr on list: #1
--Other: I discovered rad onc late in med school, and have some well-developed interests in areas that many rad oncs don't think of as within the scope of the field. (The mentors and PIs with the biggest parts in my career/training so far include an epidemiologist, a social worker, and an analytic philosopher.) I happen to think the things I'm interested in are plenty relevant to rad onc, but it was daunting to go into the application process knowing I was an oddball (who wasn't trying to just change direction completely). So I wanted to let anyone who might be in a similar position know that it is in fact possible. At least with some conditions:

1.) It's possible with good grades and scores - they don't have to be stratospheric (I missed the 250 mark), but definitely competitive. I'm not sure I would have been taken seriously as an applicant at all if I had below-average-for-rad-onc numbers. 2.) Being able to clearly articulate how what you've been doing actually does matter to rad onc is critical. That's probably obvious, but I say it anyway because you'll be doing it over and over and over again - pre-ERAS (requesting LORs, etc.), in your personal statement, on interviews, and possibly the rest of your life. 3.) The point made upthread about having and articulating a vision of your future career path is applicable a hundred-fold here. I was pre-med in undergrad, but now I know exactly how my English major friends felt being asked, "But what are you going to do with that degree?" Help people envision what a rad onc/economist, rad onc/public policy wonk, rad onc/anthropologist, etc. would actually do. 4.) Be prepared for a range of responses, including some overtly negative ones. There were a couple of places that I left feeling genuinely perplexed as to why they'd bothered to interview me, they were so openly, determinedly skeptical of my commitment and value to the field/their program. But that's certainly not everywhere. Many programs gave me the sense that they would be perfectly tolerant of a resident getting involved in something they hadn't had a resident do before, so long as said resident met their baseline expectations including, e.g., submitting something to ASTRO and other meetings they'd heard of. And five programs seemed genuinely excited about me and the things I was excited about.

Bottom line is that having "a kind of unusual background" (as I was told I did, word for word, by multiple interviewers) undoubtedly hurts your chances of matching at certain places, so if you have geographic constraints or your heart is set on adding Institution X to your CV, it might be tough going. But if you can prove you're smart and capable and can win the support of a few rad oncs in a position to write you LORs, matching in the field is entirely do-able.