[2016-2017] Emergency Medicine Application Thread

[Frazier]

No step 2. Studying for it at the moment. Not sure what to say other than if you can get 3 SLOEs and take step 2 all before submission, then more power to you. Then again there was scuttlebutt this year that you only need one away rotation to interview. So maybe it's the people with 2 SLOEs that chose to take CK/CS instead of a second away who are "playing the game" successfully.

In any case, this amount of fussiness is ridiculous and does not appear to be the case in any other specialty.

Also studying for it now.

I feel you. It is exquisitely frustrating.

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[FutureEM17]

My advisor said most places have not started inviting and if they have, it's only a first wave. One of the EM residents I know also said invites didn't come in for her until November, with a lot of interviews in December. It's still tough waiting. We are all feeling anxious.

 

[doggydog]

Daily reminder:

It's 10/6.

 

[ahousedoesntmakeahome]

Congratulations on your inteviews, and congratulations on EM's 100% fill rate, which will surely continue.

 

[SeparationAnxiety]

Having zero interviews and being told to wait for cancellations when it's October is a pretty unique EM phenomenon. Having glib posts from somebody who has already received invites is not constructive.

I was at a residency fair and most the PDs made it sound like they weren't planning on sending interviews out until at least 2 weeks after they got the deans letter. I really think the non-rotator invites are the exception and not the rule right now.

 

[doggydog]

deep breaths

 

[CliveStaples]

Having zero interviews and being told to wait for cancellations when it's October is a pretty unique EM phenomenon. Having glib posts from somebody who has already received invites is not constructive.

Unfortunately I don't think there's much constructive to say except to wait a couple more weeks before deciding to up your application numbers.

It seems unlikely, based on prior years, that you will have difficulty matching. It is more likely that your selection of programs is why you have not been offered an interview as of today, and not the quality of your application relative to others.

 

[cluelesshunter]

Having zero interviews and being told to wait for cancellations when it's October is a pretty unique EM phenomenon. Having glib posts from somebody who has already received invites is not constructive.

Still nothing
HP sloe
P third year
250 step 1
Applied 70 programs

I guess all the PDs are confident they can fill with first tier applicants and don't see the need to interview more broadly? Not sure what to do at this point, other than throw another $1000 down the hole.

It is definitely not your step score. My Step 1 is 10 points lower, no CK, no CS, 1 SLOE, 1 non-rotator interview.

 

[Marie Colette]

It is definitely not your step score. My Step 1 is 10 points lower, no CK, no CS, 1 SLOE, 1 non-rotator interview.

My step score is almost 30 below- hyperventilating.. and got 1 non-rotator interview! So you will deff kick butt!! ) stop worrying!

 

[tux4]

To just reiterate what the others are saying.. after talking to a couple PD's they told me they are all on one big email listserv and have *mostly* all agreed to send them out on or around the 14th. The people getting non-rotating interviews are hearing from the few programs that aren't sticking to that..which seems is about <5% of programs. It isn't because you have 1 SLOE, a borderline step score, all P's 3rd year, or not enough volunteering at ronald mcdonald house.

 

[KinesiologyNerd]

 

[ceej]

Boy, the 14th sure is gonna be a **** show. Did they coordinate this closely last year? Hopefully we don't put the "broke" in InterviewBroker. Good luck and godspeed everybody.

 

[NYCEM2017]

I just hope that all the programs don't all offer only Monday or Tuesday etc. My calendar is already starting to look a little crazy


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[alpinism]

To just reiterate what the others are saying.. after talking to a couple PD's they told me they are all on one big email listserv and have *mostly* all agreed to send them out on or around the 14th. The people getting non-rotating interviews are hearing from the few programs that aren't sticking to that..which seems is about <5% of programs. It isn't because you have 1 SLOE, a borderline step score, all P's 3rd year, or not enough volunteering at ronald mcdonald house.

While it's still early in the season way more than 5% of programs have already given out their first wave of invites.

There's roughly 200 ACGME EM residencies currently out there and according to the interview thread at least 57 have already extended invites.

 

[alexalex]

When can I officially start freaking out about having no interviews?

I'm asking for a friend.

The friend is me.

I have no interviews.

Wait til next week , relax and enjoy 4th year (close to your phone)

 

[alexalex]

No step 2. Studying for it at the moment. Not sure what to say other than if you can get 3 SLOEs and take step 2 all before submission, then more power to you. Then again there was scuttlebutt this year that you only need one away rotation to interview. So maybe it's the people with 2 SLOEs that chose to take CK/CS instead of a second away who are "playing the game" successfully.

In any case, this amount of fussiness is ridiculous and does not appear to be the case in any other specialty.

Step 2 + 3 SLOEs are doable, especially if you knock step 2 out of the way first few weeks, but it was a rough trying to make those aways happen. Did your MS3 year ended later than others? Either way I'm sure you will be ok, doubt anyone is concerned on you not passing step2. I have two and my home program and they all just happened like in last 24 hours. So, don't panic I'm sure it's just a matter of days. I also do not have near a 250 step 1, so kuddos to you and I'm sure they are coming your way.

 

[racerwad]

I really dont think anyone needs to be worrying at this point. Match rates for this specialty aren't going to suddenly drop. PDs need to comb through the hundreds of apps that don't have Derm step scores and all honors. This. Takes. Time. Just reserve judgement for 2 weeks, then decide if you still want to worry.

This specialty, for better or for worse, tends to send out invites later and interview later into the year than other specialties. At my program, we just got an email last week to watch out for applications to review in PDWS (program side of ERAS). You've done all you can do. Give us a chance to do our part and don't worry about what is happening in the invite thread. Unless the 2016 edition of Charting Outcomes says you have a problem, you'll be fine.

 

[ahousedoesntmakeahome]

Congratulations on your inteviews, and congratulations on EM's 100% fill rate, which will surely continue.

 

[NYCEM2017]

Congratulations on your invites. Make sure you go to all 22 of your interviews so we can perpetuate this fun game.

Based on this last post and some of your others, I can tell you are clearly very frustrated about this. I know it's hard to wait around, but I've heard from other students who also have not heard much back yet. It seems like many many people are in the same boat - best to just try to wait it out, as hard as it may be. (And yes, I'm aware that you may think it's "easy for me to say that" since I have some interviews already. But still, sit tight and wait for the majority to start rolling out their interviews...)
Meanwhile, no reason to start hating on people on this forum. Let's try to all relax and keep it chill.


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[Frazier]

Many of you likely got the same email. Louisville is reporting "a new record of applications" to sift through.

Very likely people applying to more programs rather than increased number of people in the pool... I wonder when the bubble will burst in the "apply broadly" game?

EDIT: not SLU

 

[KinesiologyNerd]

Many of you likely got the same email. SLU is reporting "a new record of applications" to sift through.

Very likely people applying to more programs rather than increased number of people in the pool... I wonder when the bubble will burst in the "apply broadly" game?

Louisville too

 

[doggydog]

Many of you likely got the same email. SLU is reporting "a new record of applications" to sift through.

Very likely people applying to more programs rather than increased number of people in the pool... I wonder when the bubble will burst in the "apply broadly" game?

I did not get this email. Interesting.

 

[Frazier]

I did not get this email. Interesting.

Yeah, it was Louisville. I don't know why my fingers typed SLU.
Muhh bad for confusion!

 

[doggydog]

Yeah, it was Louisville. I don't know why my fingers typed SLU.
Muhh bad for confusion!

Haha, okay. Thanks for clarifying.

 

[fresh101889]

I did not get this email. Interesting.

It was Louisville, not SLU

 

[FutureEM17]

I didn't get this email from
Louisville. Was it through eras? Nothing in my junk mail either.

 

[Frazier]

I didn't get this email from
Louisville. Was it through eras? Nothing in my junk mail either.

Yeah ERAS, around noon.

 

[FutureEM17]

Nevermind...I just got the email

 

[bruce denton]

What is the process for cancelling interviews? Do I need to email the coordinator, or if I just scheduled through interview broker in the first place, can I just cancel there as well? Interview scheduled in January, so plenty of time to get the spot filled.

 

[tux4]

While it's still early in the season way more than 5% of programs have already given out their first wave of invites.

There's roughly 200 ACGME EM residencies currently out there and according to the interview thread at least 57 have already extended invites.

Did they send out invites or were they mostly people who received them while rotating?


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[NYCEM2017]

Did they send out invites or were they mostly people who received them while rotating?


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Many places seem to have sent to all, not just students who rotated


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[EM17ThrowAway]

Did they send out invites or were they mostly people who received them while rotating?


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2/12 interviews are from home/aways. They both were students/rotators only type invites.

 

[alpinism]

What is the process for cancelling interviews? Do I need to email the coordinator, or if I just scheduled through interview broker in the first place, can I just cancel there as well? Interview scheduled in January, so plenty of time to get the spot filled.

As a courtesy most people will email the residency coordinator in addition to canceling on interview broker.

A short email thanking them for the opportunity to interview but declining the invitation is more than enough at this point in the interview season.

 

[Goose Egg]

Anybody else sitting on a goose egg at this point? Discounting home and away institutions. Just want to know that I'm not alone.

 

[Scrikiluki]

Anybody else sitting on a goose egg at this point? Discounting home and away institutions. Just want to know that I'm not alone.

Im going to be after october 14th

 

[alexalex]

Anybody else sitting on a goose egg at this point? Discounting home and away institutions. Just want to know that I'm not alone.

In my school, all EM people last year ended up at home school or one of their away institutions. It's not like you are in a bad spot. I know people who were hardly even able to get 1 late away,.

 

[Goose Egg]

In my school, all EM people last year ended up at home school or one of their away institutions. It's not like you are in a bad spot. I know people who were hardly even able to get 1 late away,.

Thanks for the input. Looks like you have at least one interview, so congrats. Again, I'm wondering whether any other US seniors are sitting at zero like me.

 

[Scrikiluki]

Thanks for the input. Looks like you have at least one interview, so congrats. Again, I'm wondering whether any other US seniors are sitting at zero like me.

Wow that sounded as an unneccesary low blow, hope im wrong. Anyways i hope u get 100 interviews.

 

[Frazier]

Wow that sounded as an unneccesary low blow, hope im wrong. Anyways i hope u get 100 interviews.

I think you might have misunderstood that person.

S/he simply said their situations are different (i.e. having an interview invite vs having zero invites)

I am missing the "low blow".

 

[doggydog]

These new posters are fantastic.

 

[Goose Egg]

These new posters are fantastic.

Sorry for not knowing my place, senior poster. I'll go back to lurking instead of using this forum for information/commiserating.

 

[Goose Egg]

So in my boredom/desperation at having 0 interviews I found this interesting paper on pubmed

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3555575/

> Higher scores on EM rotations, medical school class ranks, and SLOR global assessments correlated with higher placements on a rank order list, whereas candidates with higher USMLE scores had lower placements on a rank order list.

Seems kinda interesting? I've been looking at last year's thread and it seems like there were a few people with great step 1 scores but not the greatest SLOEs who ended up with <10 interviews and having to scramble into something else. I myself have one strong SLOR from an active rotation and two not so great SLORs from passive rotations, so I'm wondering if this is a warning sign for applicants that should apply to something more traditional in addition to EM. Kinda regret not planning for that as its too late now.

 

[LilKangaroo]

So in my boredom/desperation at having 0 interviews I found this interesting paper on pubmed

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3555575/

> Higher scores on EM rotations, medical school class ranks, and SLOR global assessments correlated with higher placements on a rank order list, whereas candidates with higher USMLE scores had lower placements on a rank order list.

Seems kinda interesting? I've been looking at last year's thread and it seems like there were a few people with great step 1 scores but not the greatest SLOEs who ended up with <10 interviews and having to scramble into something else. I myself have one strong SLOR from an active rotation and two not so great SLORs from passive rotations, so I'm wondering if this is a warning sign for applicants that should apply to something more traditional in addition to EM. Kinda regret not planning for that as its too late now.

I'm actually kind of surprised that they found positive correlation with class rank since only 13% of matched allopathic seniors in EM are AOA. Overall the correlations are pretty weak, but it is an interesting article! Thanks for sharing!

I'm sure you'll be fine! You are certainly not the only one without interviews right now. Besides, the big wave of interviews should be coming out next week! Keep a positive attitude and things are sure to work out. =]

 

[Tberg]

Do you not have a Step 2 score tied to your app?

That's basically the only thing I can think of that is leading to current dismal results for my app at this point.

Maybe not having that score suddenly became a dealbreaker this cycle.

Long time stalker, first time poster under this ID (lost password from undergrad acct). As far as how much Step 2 scores matter, here’s a nice anecdote. During an away I met with the PD who said the Step 2 score is a variable in their screening algorithm and having no score means you automatically forfeit whatever benefit you could have received. Step 1 and SLOEs were more heavily weighed but step 2 was still substantial. Not sure if any other programs function in a similar manner but I thought that was interesting.

 

[Goose Egg]

Haha, starting to think clerkship directors arent the best source of info...

 

[CliveStaples]

Haha, starting to think clerkship directors arent the best source of info...

Where have clerkship directors led you astray? Why do you think you don't have interviews?

 

[Goose Egg]

Where have clerkship directors led you astray? Why do you think you don't have interviews?

beats me. the only thing i don't have in my app is a step 2 score. it's funny because i've lurked sdn since i was a premed and have seen every interview season people post about how they were at or above average for their chosen specialty w/o red flags yet had no luck during interview season and went unmatched. always thought they were statistical outliers, never thought i would be one of them! ironically thought going into em would be more chill than my original preclinical aspirations (rad onc) haha

 

[NYCEM2017]

beats me. the only thing i don't have in my app is a step 2 score. it's funny because i've lurked sdn since i was a premed and have seen every interview season people post about how they were at or above average for their chosen specialty w/o red flags yet had no luck during interview season and went unmatched. always thought they were statistical outliers, never thought i would be one of them! ironically thought going into em would be more chill than my original preclinical aspirations (rad onc) haha

.


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[Goose Egg]

The lack of Step 2 shouldn't be an issue. My step 2 score isn't up yet, and haven't had issue getting interviews this far. (Not saying that to make you feel bad or show off, just to say that in this cycle, the lack of Step 2 doesn't seem to be much of a major issue)


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well then i'm just scratching my head. maybe its my school or that i didnt honor all my sloes. good luck and godspeed on your interviews

 

[JBOB]

well then i'm just scratching my head. maybe its my school or that i didnt honor all my sloes. good luck and godspeed on your interviews

Didn't honor as in HP? I think HP should be fine. Seems like certain regions of the country have not been offering a of interviews yet, so it might be due to the places you applied to.