General Surgery Residency Interview Thread Class of 2009

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kjs197988

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Hey Everyone-

I guess that it is that time of year.. I submitted ERAS on September 2 (incomplete, no LOR are in the post-office yet) and received an invitation to interview from University of Louisville yesterday.

Thought it would be fun to start a thread about interview dates and experiences for this season of the match!!

kjs
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kjs197988 said:
Hey Everyone-

I guess that it is that time of year.. I submitted ERAS on September 2 (incomplete, no LOR are in the post-office yet) and received an invitation to interview from University of Louisville yesterday.

Thought it would be fun to start a thread about interview dates and experiences for this season of the match!!

kjs
Click to expand...

If past experience is prologue, most will be too scared to post interview experiences (for fear of being found out) and this thread will die a quick death.
 
I have applied to 70 categorical gen. surg. programs for the '09 match and I will post interview/rejections as they come.
good luck to everyone, hope to see some of you along the way.

my stats are: 90/99 (223/257), canadian national (need j1/H1b visa)/Carribbean IMG/US rotations/4 letters of rec from US attendings/currently waiting for deans letter to post.

Hope others contribute!

J :thumbup:
 
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I've applied to 32 categorical positions. Everything is in but my dean's letter and LOR's. 1 interview invite came 2 days after submitting my apps and no news since then. Anyone know when we can expect the bulk of interview invites to start rolling out?
 
size_tens said:
I've applied to 32 categorical positions. Everything is in but my dean's letter and LOR's. 1 interview invite came 2 days after submitting my apps and no news since then. Anyone know when we can expect the bulk of interview invites to start rolling out?
Click to expand...

I've heard that some program directors don't even look at applications until October, so maybe after then?
 
I noticed that some programs (ex. UT Houston) require a supplemental application form through their website. Any other schools off the top of your head require these. I've looked through most websites and haven't found too many.
 
size ten, where did you get your first interview? are you a us-school grad?
talking to a number of IMG residents I know they said that mid-late November is when interviews start to be given. US-students I'm sure is a different story.
 
yes, UPENN also has a supplemental application asking you to choose one of four essays and that also asks you how much you see research as part of your future
 
back when i applied (2006), UVA wanted your SAT and MCAT scores.

are you f*cking kidding. if i could remember, i'd tell you.

thought that was funny....
 
I realize this will vary widely, but roughly what percentage of interview invites can an average applicant expect overall? In other words if an average applicant applied to a broad range of 100 programs how many interview invites should he expect?
 
jonnybravotango said:
size ten, where did you get your first interview? are you a us-school grad?
talking to a number of IMG residents I know they said that mid-late November is when interviews start to be given. US-students I'm sure is a different story.
Click to expand...

I guess it depends....I am a caribbean IMG who applied 1st week of sept last year, and my first interview invite came from a university program during the 2nd week of sept.
 
size_tens said:
I realize this will vary widely, but roughly what percentage of interview invites can an average applicant expect overall? In other words if an average applicant applied to a broad range of 100 programs how many interview invites should he expect?
Click to expand...

There is no way to know.

- no one knows what an average applicant is

- depends on what the programs are looking for

- depends on the broad range and the mix of programs; ie, if you are applying to programs but don't meet their Step 1 or country or school of origin then you will likely not get interviewed. Your "broad range" may not be the same as someone else's.
 
I'm curious as to selection based on 'school of origin.' I hadn't heard of it before, but when browsing programs I noticed some filled with residents from certain schools. Now, programs do say 'need not apply' if you don't match their requirements for grades or board scores, but they are not explicit when it comes to selection based on school of origin. Can anyone from a program that does such selection shed some light on how you take into consideration school of origin?
 
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logistic said:
I'm curious as to selection based on 'school of origin.' I hadn't heard of it before, but when browsing programs I noticed some filled with residents from certain schools. Now, programs do say 'need not apply' if you don't match their requirements for grades or board scores, but they are not explicit when it comes to selection based on school of origin. Can anyone from a program that does such selection shed some light on how you take into consideration school of origin?
Click to expand...

I meant in terms of whether or not you attended a foreign school or a DO school...there are some allopathic programs that are not particularly interested in having residents from either.
 
Got my first surgery interview offer yesterday, Friday, and finished submitting my ERAS stuff Thursday night, late. I'm excited, as a DO student applying ACGME it makes me alot more confident.
 
Bill_Brasky said:
Got my first surgery interview offer yesterday, Friday, and finished submitting my ERAS stuff Thursday night, late. I'm excited, as a DO student applying ACGME it makes me alot more confident.
Click to expand...

Are you me? haha. I literally had the same exact thing happen to me - submitted thursday, interview invite friday. I'm sure it's probably the same program. Good luck! I'm sure we'll cross paths at some point during in this process.
 
I applied to 30 schools, and was probably a slightly above average applicant.

I got 9 invites in September and 12 in October and a couple in early November. Still waiting to here back from a couple of them.

Just thought I'd share that for those of you out there wondering when the invites will start coming in.
 
Thanks for the reply jubb. I found a nice source of info http://residencyadvisor.info/ For every GS residency program it has info about board scores, clinical grades, etc of applicants. Also contains info about how programs were ranked relative to each other on applicants' ROL's.
 
Does anyone have any input about calling a program you've applied to. I've heard from two sources that they got interviews by calling the program and asking if their application was in order etc.

Ideas on what to ask the residency program coordinator when I call would be nice too.

Merci, :)

ps - still no interviews, or responses. I applied to 73 my stats are above...
 
One rejection: Albington Memorial, PA

No other feedback yet.

:oops:
 
Hang in there, jonny. As far as I can tell, there haven't been very many interview invites extended for GS programs yet. good luck
 
I submitted my ERAS to 20 programs a couple days ago and so far I've gotten 3 invites, all in the southeast. Does anyone know if most programs will wait until your LORs and transcript have been uploaded?
 
A lot of the more popular programs get slammed with applications and it takes them a while to go through them all to decide who to invite. Many programs frequently get 100 applicants per position they offer and usually interview somewhere in the 10-20 per spot. So they have a lot of processing to do. Usually it's just the program coordinator going through it at first, throwing out the obvious. Then they may have the chiefs go through and throw some out. Then the program director may take a look and throw some out. Then they have a committee meeting to narrow it down further. It's a lengthy process.
 
20 programs, all over the country, submitted day 1 but my school has been slow to upload. no interviews yet :-/
 
Alright my turn....

Applied to 50 programs.....US citizen/Carib soon-to-be grad.

2 responses so far.
-One from Huron Hospital/Cleveland Clinic saying they received my app.
-The second was an invitation to interview at St. Joseph Mercy Oakland in Pontiac, MI for a Categorical General Surgery spot.

I submitted my application on Sept 2nd and the only thing I did not have in at the time were my transcripts, but those arrived on Monday, so now my application is complete....LOR, MSPE, CAF, Step 1/2, transcripts. The funny thing is once the transcripts were availabe and uploaded, I heard back the next day. I think a lot of these programs want a complete application before they do anything....but who knows.

Good Luck to everyone!

Rafe
 
Thanks Rafe! Glad to have you on this forum! :thumbup:
I got the same response from Huron.
 
Stony Brook SUNY - Rejection

apparantly I'm a good candidate, but they have too many applications...:cool:
 
I applied to 40 programs and turned my application in September 14. So far 2 interview invitations. Here are their interview dates for anyone else who would like to know.

University of Louisville: Oct. 31, Nov. 21, Jan. 9
Conemaugh Valley Memorial Hospital (Johnstown, PA): Nov. 5, Nov. 12, Dec. 3, Dec. 10, Jan. 7, Jan. 14
 
Applied 9/2 to 30 programs. I currently have 6 invites, which are basically a perfect cross-section of every region and type of program that I applied to.
 
Applied 9/5, first interview offer today: Baylor (Houston). Their interview dates this year are 11/5 and 12/10. The invite came outside of ERAS (directly from their program coordinator) and did not show up in my ERAS messages.
 
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I've checked the prelim box for all the surgery programs I applied to. I think my 90/99 scores aren't categorical material...IE no interviews yet...perhaps its also the visa/IMG issue. I imagine its a little bit of both.

Let me know what you think about adding Preliminary spots as well as categorical this early in the game.
 
Also offered interview at Baylor today. Maybe the hurricane threw things off?
 
jonnybravotango said:
I've checked the prelim box for all the surgery programs I applied to. I think my 90/99 scores aren't categorical material...IE no interviews yet...perhaps its also the visa/IMG issue. I imagine its a little bit of both.

Let me know what you think about adding Preliminary spots as well as categorical this early in the game.
Click to expand...

90 and 99 on Step 1/2 CK are solid scores - did you apply widely?

The IMG part may be the obstacle.
 
Does anyone have any opinions on skirts or pants suits for women for surgery residency interviews? I've seen this discussed on other forums with mixed opinions. Just trying to get some input on this specifically for surgery.
 
Jessaami said:
Does anyone have any opinions on skirts or pants suits for women for surgery residency interviews? I've seen this discussed on other forums with mixed opinions. Just trying to get some input on this specifically for surgery.
Click to expand...

Pant suits have become much more common for female applicants these days (as compared to when I interviewed eons ago). Wear whatever you are comfortable in and meets standard business formal requirements.
 
rmarchigiani said:
...The funny thing is once the transcripts were availabe and uploaded, I heard back the next day. I think a lot of these programs want a complete application before they do anything...
Click to expand...
I know the programs I was affiliated with put all incomplete apps in a re-review box to the side. They usually get flooded with applications. It is easier to space out what they look at by reviewing those applications that are complete first. It really doesn't matter if it's your fault or someone elses fault.
 
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Jessaami said:
Does anyone have any opinions on skirts or pants suits for women for surgery residency interviews?
pants suits are lame- will make you look like hillary clinton (has she EVER wore a dress?) ....sorry, couldnt help it

just wear a conservative skirt.

we had one applicant who honestly wore VERY high heels, and a VERY short skirt. everyone noticed her, but they tended to be laughing AT her, not with her.

dont try to stand out.
Click to expand...
Click to expand...
 
Has anyone heard from prelim interviews yet?
 
Ya I did apply widely Blade. 74 programs. and now I doubled them all up with prelim spots.

I haven't heard from any prelims yet, but I got two rejections from Albington Memorial in PA, so perhaps one was for categorical and the other Prelim.

I imagine the IMG thing is a major road block, and I fully understand why, all those spots available should go to qualified US schools first, this is the USA after all. Imagine if you went to a US school and didn't get a spot because some 38 year old 99/99 with 5 years of research and countless publications took it. I would feel pretty upset.

I just think if I go to a Caribbean school I should expect the road to be tough. I'm Canadian BTW and I think it's harder to get into Canadian med schools than US (in general, I'm sure Harvard is harder to gain entrance)

JO
 
JO,

its not so much the IMG thing, but the FMG thing. As a non-US citizen, trained in a non-US medical school you also need a visa (IMG = US citizen trained abroad; FMG = non citizen, trained outside of US) which some programs do not offer.
 
Just got an interview offer from a Texas Academic Program!!!!

"George : Hey, I just found twenty dollars! I tell you this, something is happening in my life. I did this opposite thing last night. Up was down, black was white, good was -

Jerry: Bad.

George : Day was -

Elaine : Night.

George : Yes!

Jerry : So you just did the opposite of everything?

George : Yes. And listen to this, listen to this; her uncle works for the Yankees and he's gonna get me a job interview. A front office kind of thing. Assistant to the traveling secretary. A job with the New York Yankees! This has been the dream of my life ever since I was a child, and it's all happening because I'm completely ignoring every urge towards common sense and good judgment I've ever had. This is no longer just some crazy notion. Jerry, this is my religion."
 
Hey guys,

Heard from Univ. of Connecticut today
 
I have gotten interviews from Louisville (previously mentioned above), Arkansas, and MUSC (South Carolina) thus far. A friend of mine has also heard from MUSC.
 
applied to 19 programs,
submitted CAF 9/16, LORs and school transcript uploaded on 9/17, Temple
offers interview 9/18
applied to 11 more programs over the weekend (to add a broader range of competitiveness and also applied to top programs outside the region I originally applied)
Blade, did you end up touring the whole US?
 
I recall applying to ~25 programs, pretty wide mix, invites to 23, interviewed at 13, ranked 10. Received a few invites right away, then they trickled in over the next 2 months.
 
I applied to 33 programs on Sept 3rd. No invites and 1 rejection.. Oregon Health Sciences University. everything is complete in my application besides my recommendations, which I may have to hunt down and submit myself. Thats a whole other thread. Should I be worried. I am a US graduate, 87/90 applicant. Thank you in advance for any input and Great Post it has been extremely helpful and encouraging.
 
I applied broadly 53 programs (all ACGME) and I've been offered 5 interviews (three academic-esque, two community). I submitted my application on 9/11 and I am still waiting on two LORs. I'm curious what the consensus is on when to stop accepting every interview, ie what's a safe number of interviews to go on before you start picking and choosing?
 
Interview invite from Mayo Clinic Rochester, MN came in this afternoon. Dates are Nov 1, 24 and December 1, 8 for those interested.

kjs
 
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