Transfer with red flag...

[Asynsis]

edited

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[wolfvgang22]

I would just make what you just wrote here about what you learned more concise, and emphasizing what you have learned and how you matured. I like your honesty and the fact you take responsibility. Programs main worry will be whether you will be hard to work with or not, so reference letters addressing that will help.
Why do you want to transfer? Why did you resign after repeating PGY1? If you did well in repeating PGY1 where you are, you would surely continue that, as PGY1 is generally the most challenging year of residency.

 

[splik]

Presumably you are looking for a PGY-2 spot. Luckily these are much, much less competitive than PGY-1 spots. Some programs are specifically looking for psych residents (where as many applicants are from other specialties). You do have several massive, massive red flags. Personally, I would not recommend discussing this stuff in your personal statement. It will be obvious from your application your deficiencies, and your personal statement is where you get to describe your commitment to a career in child psychiatry and what your future holds. You want to show your strengths and sound like someone they would want to meet. Bear in mind that programs will call your PD and on the phone s/he may not be as nice as in the letter (people rarely write bad things in letters). If programs are interested in you then they will ask you about this stuff during the interview and as mentioned, call your PD to get the dirt. Anyway, it's a crapshoot whether you'll get lucky but apply to all PGY-2 spots as they come up and send your CV and cover letter to any programs you might be interested in stating you would like to know of any PGY-2 openings. It would be much worse if you were looking for a PGY-1 position.

 

[smalltownpsych]

Social and emotional intelligence can be developed. I have treated (and been friends with in high school and even currently TBH) a number of people with high IQ and relatively lower social and emotional intelligence. I personally think that the autism label is somewhat ludicrous when applied to people with normal communication and cognition. When we pathologize relatively normal cognitive variations and give it the same label as someone who is non-verbal and intellectually disabled, I think we show our own deficiencies as a young science and do a great disservice. Oh, and when i say treated, mainly it was to deal with the emotional effects of being labelled, bullied, ostracized, etc and also to help them understand that they can learn this stuff just like anyone else does. It just didn't come naturally for them. Kind of like me and music or art. Not a natural, but I can do it.

 

[SeniorWrangler]

Yeah, don't say any of that, especially in writing. Speaking from experience: nobody cares about how someone else got mistreated at a previous job. Other PDs will be thinking, "If OP bears this much of a grudge against their former program, what will they be like to work with?" My advice is to acknowledge it, practice a positive spin on it (something about a clash of styles and learning a lot from the experience, maybe), and focus on the upside. People switch programs every year for a lot of reasons.
Also: I recommend not disclosing anything about your mental health that is not legally required; why give them a reason to disqualify you?

 

[carlosc1dbz]

There are lots of good programs that need PGY2 people filling the spot. Many have to resort to taking people that switch out of other specialties to fill their spots. I would recommend applying to different programs and see what happens. Heck, I have seen people get their spot outside the match just with a cold call. My 2 cents.

 

[Asynsis]

Thanks, everyone. Maybe last question: If I'm eligible to apply for PGY-2 spots, is it a useless idea to also apply for PGY-1 spots, to broaden my pool of opportunities? Has anyone ever heard of this happening before? I called ACGME and ABPN about this, and the best insight I got was more or less: "You can try to apply for PGY-1 spots if you want to. It's up to program directors to seriously consider such an application."

 

[splik]

I'm
not sure it would broaden you're pool you're not competitive for PGY-1 spots and you wouldn't want to end up at any program that would take you as a PGY-1