Psychiatry Residency Supplemental Application Question

[ChipmunkLane]

Hello SDN!

I recently received a supplemental application from a psychiatry residency program in California. The application had two questions: 1) Explain why this particular program appeals to you and why you would be a good fit. 2) Explain your connections to this particular area in (Bay Area, Central Valley Area, etc.) California.

I was able to answer the first question without a problem.

The second question: I don't have any personal connections to California. I've just heard good things about this program from one of my mentors. What should I put for this question? Should I be honest and just say "I do not have any personal connection to California."

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[OldPsychDoc]

May I ask, what was your reaction to receiving this supplemental? (Any of you may chime in--especially current applicants.)

I'm facing a list of applicants with approximately 20 hopeful souls for each available interview slot, and approaching 200 per actual G1 position.
I'd sure love a way to assess whether they are really serious about this.

Oh, and OP--write what ever you want--just don't make stuff up! I'd rather have someone say "I've never been there but I saw it on a TV show once and the craft beer scene sure looks cool there" than "My mother's 3rd cousin's medical school classmate is a resident in the medicine program at your hospital, so I'm sure I'll fit in". (Yes, I've heard the latter or similar multiple times. Still waiting to hear the former...)

 

[ChipmunkLane]

Hello!

I was very surprised to receive the supplemental. I honestly did not know that residency programs sent out supplemental applications until I received this one. It is understandable given the volume of applications. I'm glad that it gave me a chance to specifically tell this program why I was interested. For the second part, I wonder if they were really getting at the question, "Would you actually move here?" Maybe that is more of an in-person interview question rather than a written supplemental question?

Anyway, thank you so much for the response! I appreciate it!

 

[Shikima]

May I ask, what was your reaction to receiving this supplemental? (Any of you may chime in--especially current applicants.)

I'm facing a list of applicants with approximately 20 hopeful souls for each available interview slot, and approaching 200 per actual G1 position.
I'd sure love a way to assess whether they are really serious about this.

Oh, and OP--write what ever you want--just don't make stuff up! I'd rather have someone say "I've never been there but I saw it on a TV show once and the craft beer scene sure looks cool there" than "My mother's 3rd cousin's medical school classmate is a resident in the medicine program at your hospital, so I'm sure I'll fit in". (Yes, I've heard the latter or similar multiple times. Still waiting to hear the former...)

There needs to be a measure of honesty and acceptance that people will be applying broadly/widely in hopes to get ANY position. Prior to 2007, this wasn't an issue and I believe that was the time UK closed off training to many foreign nationals which lead to increased pressure in the US.

 

[thoffen]

Honestly, programs have an abundance of people who seem qualified on paper and don't want to interview someone who isn't really interested if they can interview someone who is interested but scored 4 points lower on Step 1. The hard part is knowing who is really interested since everyone tries to sound like they are.

 

[sazerac]

Honestly, programs have an abundance of people who seem qualified on paper and don't want to interview someone who isn't really interested if they can interview someone who is interested but scored 4 points lower on Step 1. The hard part is knowing who is really interested since everyone tries to sound like they are.

Seriously, I am very interested in the program!









If I don't match somewhere higher on my list first.

 

[PsychApp777]

Does receiving supplemental applications imply that you’ve made it past the first cut at those programs?

 

[SmallBird]

May I ask, what was your reaction to receiving this supplemental? (Any of you may chime in--especially current applicants.)

I'm facing a list of applicants with approximately 20 hopeful souls for each available interview slot, and approaching 200 per actual G1 position.
I'd sure love a way to assess whether they are really serious about this.

Oh, and OP--write what ever you want--just don't make stuff up! I'd rather have someone say "I've never been there but I saw it on a TV show once and the craft beer scene sure looks cool there" than "My mother's 3rd cousin's medical school classmate is a resident in the medicine program at your hospital, so I'm sure I'll fit in". (Yes, I've heard the latter or similar multiple times. Still waiting to hear the former...)

Residency application is one of many beaurocratic nightmares that are cited to be one of the most significant sources of burnout for physicians across specialities. We should set as high a bar for adding an additional step as we would for any other intervention that has the potential to cause additional stress - it doesn’t seem obvious that supplemental applications will actually solve any problem.