MD 90th percentile USML, 12 interviews, but did not match?

This forum made possible through the generous support of SDN members, donors, and sponsors. Thank you.
Members don't see this ad.
Stagg737 said:
If she openly mentioned that she has an IG account that's directly related to her medical life, then that alone could be something that would turn off PDs and make them not want her there. Look at the s*** storm people like Eugene Gu have caused for their residency programs by mixing social media and politics with their medical career. Idk what her instagram is like, but it certainly could have had an impact on how she was ranked if it was easy to look up and wasn't completely professional.
Click to expand...

I'm not sure but she's not political on her social media. Mostly selfies/pics with scrubs/stethoscopes and advice on how to succeed as a premed and in med school. It's a pretty fluffy instagram with little substance. There's a lot of med students who use their med student status to get "instagram famous" and use it as a resume builder and/or get paid per post because they have so many followers.
 
tucktuckfry said:
I'm not sure but she's not political on her social media. Mostly selfies/pics with scrubs/stethoscopes and advice on how to succeed as a premed and in med school. It's a pretty fluffy instagram with little substance. There's a lot of med students who use their med student status to get "instagram famous" and use it as a resume builder and/or get paid per post because they have so many followers.
Click to expand...
How exactly is that considered a resume builder - were not going into marketing/social media so where is the place for those “skills” as a physician
 
kb1900 said:
How exactly is that considered a resume builder - were not going into marketing/social media so where is the place for those “skills” as a physician
Click to expand...

I agree that the skills are somewhat useless but it's an easy "hobby" or "interesting thing you do" that "sets you apart"....problem is too many people do it. The way it's framed is that it's "public health education" or "mentorship for premedical students" etc. There is definitely a role for physicians teaching the lay person basic health things, it's just not done effectively at all on these blogs. Rather it comes across as "look at me in a steth, look at me drinking coffee, look at me in scrubs, look at me and my derm application, look how smart I am, look how many things I do, I'm so cool etc"...

People like NDT also post on social media so scientists can use the space effectively, I just don't think blogs like thevibrantmed and all the other self obsessed derm blogs accomplish it. Personal opinion. Others might think otherwise.
 
tucktuckfry said:
People like NDT also post on social media so scientists can use the space effectively, I just don't think blogs like thevibrantmed and all the other self obsessed derm blogs accomplish it. Personal opinion. Others might think otherwise.
Click to expand...

Even if it's not political just mentioning social media in an app/interview can be problematic, especially when a program is flooded with competitive applicants and they're looking for literally any reason to dock points from applicants. I've seen a couple old threads on here where residents and attendings talk about some people's reasons for voting for applicants to be dropped down the rank list, and some of them were completely ridiculous.
 
Having that kind of Instagram is a 100% specific sign for a narcissist. I’m not remotely surprised she didn’t match. I couldn’t get through 3 of her insta posts? How am I supposed to imagine myself being with her for 3 years if I’m a PD?
 
jw3600 said:
Having that kind of Instagram is a 100% specific sign for a narcissist. I’m not remotely surprised she didn’t match. I couldn’t get through 3 of her insta posts? How am I supposed to imagine myself being with her for 3 years if I’m a PD?
Click to expand...
I kinda agree. I think it's appropriate to have a blog/IG/etc after you are an independent practitioner, but you are a med student. Get your ego under control. You are treating people who are sick, often poor, often sad, vulnerable and uncomfortable. Last thing they want is to see how picture perfect your IG is. Personal 2 cents.
 
Batracho said:
I kinda agree. I think it's appropriate to have a blog/IG/etc after you are an independent practitioner, but you are a med student. Get your ego under control. You are treating people who are sick, often poor, often sad, vulnerable and uncomfortable. Last thing they want is to see how picture perfect your IG is. Personal 2 cents.
Click to expand...

Haters gonna hate
 
Man there are some petty posts on here acting like you can gain a ton of insight about her from some Instagram posts lol. You guys might not like her specialty or hobby, but ripping on someone who put in a ton of work to match something and didn’t make it seems like a poor reflection on yourselves.
 
Stagg737 said:
Even if it's not political just mentioning social media in an app/interview can be problematic, especially when a program is flooded with competitive applicants and they're looking for literally any reason to dock points from applicants. I've seen a couple old threads on here where residents and attendings talk about some people's reasons for voting for applicants to be dropped down the rank list, and some of them were completely ridiculous.
Click to expand...

Didn't hurt me in residency or for fellowship interviews, where my social media presence was seen as a positive and commended, including my political postings. Depends on your field and your area of the country.
 
Batracho said:
I kinda agree. I think it's appropriate to have a blog/IG/etc after you are an independent practitioner, but you are a med student. Get your ego under control. You are treating people who are sick, often poor, often sad, vulnerable and uncomfortable. Last thing they want is to see how picture perfect your IG is. Personal 2 cents.
Click to expand...

And clearly, you must surrender your own life in order to do so.

Pro tip: when being a doctor defines you, that's when you annoy people, not the other way around.
 
kelminak said:
Man there are some petty posts on here acting like you can gain a ton of insight about her from some Instagram posts lol. You guys might not like her specialty or hobby, but ripping on someone who put in a ton of work to match something and didn’t make it seems like a poor reflection on yourselves.
Click to expand...

I'd argue it reflects worse on them than her. She at least keeps her negative opinions to herself.
 
kelminak said:
Man there are some petty posts on here acting like you can gain a ton of insight about her from some Instagram posts lol. You guys might not like her specialty or hobby, but ripping on someone who put in a ton of work to match something and didn’t make it seems like a poor reflection on yourselves.
Click to expand...
I think you are kind of missing the point. A lot of people who post that type of thing have a certain personality, which rubs some people the wrong way. In a super competitive environment, you will lose ground even for petty reasons if you or your activities can be perceived in a negative fashion. Might not be fair, but could very well have hurt her and could hurt others who are reading this, so everyone should be careful about what they present to programs, and how they present themselves in general.
 
Mass Effect said:
Didn't hurt me in residency or for fellowship interviews, where my social media presence was seen as a positive and commended, including my political postings. Depends on your field and your area of the country.
Click to expand...

Not saying it can't be a positive thing, but realistically I'd guess that too much of a social media presence (especially if it may rub people the wrong way) is more often a negative than a positive. I could be wrong, but that just seems to be the case more often than not in my experience.

Edit: I'd also add that with situations like what is going on with Eugene Gu, some of the more social media-aware programs may be looking at those with active social media accounts more critically. Positive social media can be great, but no PD wants to deal with that kind of liability if they can help it.
 
Last edited:
theseeker4 said:
I think you are kind of missing the point. A lot of people who post that type of thing have a certain personality, which rubs some people the wrong way. In a super competitive environment, you will lose ground even for petty reasons if you or your activities can be perceived in a negative fashion. Might not be fair, but could very well have hurt her and could hurt others who are reading this, so everyone should be careful about what they present to programs, and how they present themselves in general.
Click to expand...

I think that’s a fair warning to others interested in what she does, but other comments calling her a narcissist and not pretty enough to have a successful IG page are simply hateful and not constructive.
 
Stagg737 said:
Not saying it can't be a positive thing, but realistically I'd guess that too much of a social media presence (especially if it may rub people the wrong way) is more often a negative than a positive. I could be wrong, but that just seems to be the case more often than not in my experience.

Edit: I'd also add that with situations like what is going on with Eugene Gu, some of the more social media-aware programs may be looking at those with active social media accounts more critically. Positive social media can be great, but no PD wants to deal with that kind of liability if they can help it.
Click to expand...

EG is a bit of a different story. Like I said though, depends on your field and the area of country you're in. It also depends on the types of things you post. If you're in NYC posting about gun violence, you're likely ok. If you're in WY getting into Twitter fights with the POTUS about Hillary Clinton having been robbed of the election, you're likely going to ruffle feathers.
 
Mass Effect said:
And clearly, you must surrender your own life in order to do so.

Pro tip: when being a doctor defines you, that's when you annoy people, not the other way around.
Click to expand...

I never said you must surrender your own life. There is a difference between surrendering your life and being vain. There is a difference between surrendering your life and showing everyone around how perfect and well-off it is. Really, it's only my opinion, not necessarily of the person in question, but in general.
And really, this has very little to do with being a doctor, so I don't know what is the purpose of your pro tip here. I wasn't offending anyone (as, unfortunately, many here were), I just expressed my opinion.
 
Stagg737 said:
I've seen a couple old threads on here where residents and attendings talk about some people's reasons for voting for applicants to be dropped down the rank list, and some of them were completely ridiculous.
Click to expand...

Link? I can only imagine...
 
you guys are saying her having an IG made her not match but it didnt stop this rockstar from matching derm 👍
so i dont think IG was the problem. plus its pretty vanilla and just filled with motivational medical stuff
 

Attachments

  • upload_2018-3-24_2-9-21.png
    upload_2018-3-24_2-9-21.png
    533.1 KB · Views: 402
Last edited:
NVO said:
you guys are saying her having an IG made her not match but it didnt stop this rockstar from matching derm 👍
so i dont think IG was the problem. plus its pretty vanilla and just filled with motivational medical stuff
Click to expand...

Residency is not the only thing coming right now
 
Batracho said:
I never said you must surrender your own life. There is a difference between surrendering your life and being vain. There is a difference between surrendering your life and showing everyone around how perfect and well-off it is. Really, it's only my opinion, not necessarily of the person in question, but in general.
And really, this has very little to do with being a doctor, so I don't know what is the purpose of your pro tip here. I wasn't offending anyone (as, unfortunately, many here were), I just expressed my opinion.
Click to expand...

The fact that you're treating people who are "sick, often poor, often sad, vulnerable and uncomfortable" should have nothing to do with what you do in your personal life. Usually, when people say that, they're implying that because you're a doctor and caring for such people, you shouldn't have a right to value and talk about your own life. Don't get me wrong, I hate IG accounts that are full of superficial chatter, selfies, and nothing more, but I also don't agree that because she's a doctor who is treating people who are "sick, often poor, often sad, vulnerable, and uncomfortable" means that she doesn't have a right to post about whatever she wants to when she's not at work. If her IG was full of nothing but being a med student, I'd be more annoyed. Being a doctor should not define her or everything she does.
 
kelminak said:
I think that’s a fair warning to others interested in what she does, but other comments calling her a narcissist and not pretty enough to have a successful IG page are simply hateful and not constructive.
Click to expand...
Having that Instagram is by definition a narcissist. I didn’t call her not pretty enough. Frankly I would smash.
 
NVO said:
you guys are saying her having an IG made her not match but it didnt stop this rockstar from matching derm 👍
so i dont think IG was the problem. plus its pretty vanilla and just filled with motivational medical stuff
Click to expand...

That's different. He has to actually put in work with the iron for that body. The other person just avoids food and wears skimpy clothes. And before anyone argues with me, please refer to my previous post. There is a clear lack of squats in her life. That's probably the reason for her lack of derm success.
 
Don’t call me paranoid, but I wonder if having her med school journey displayed on many social platforms played a part? Just a thought....I wanted to document the different steps toward med school and then make them public after getting accepted( if I ever get accepted!), but if its going to bite me in the rear for matching, I will just keep those videos in my private collection🙂
 
DOMD2be said:
Don’t call me paranoid, but I wonder if having her med school journey displayed on many social platforms played a part? Just a thought....I wanted to document the different steps toward med school and then make them public after getting accepted( if I ever get accepted!), but if its going to bite me in the rear for matching, I will just keep those videos in my private collection🙂
Click to expand...

I’m inclined to agree.


Sent from my iPhone using SDN mobile
 
MSTPlease said:
Is this a negative in derm? I thought it was a prerequisite
Click to expand...

When she first started the Instagram I thought she might have a cool take on it but she succumbed to mediocrity like every other wannabe derm blogger. There's one dermatologist on YouTube that reviews skincare products. That I think actually has a perspective because I've always wondered if products I see are any good from a derm's perspective. But this omg look at me I'm so cool and read my long rants about literally nothing significant bs is so shallow and weird. But that being said she's allowed to be shallow and all the wanna be premeds are allowed to suck it all up.

She tends to be anxious and nervous though so maybe this was a way for her to deal with the stress of med school/apps in a healthy way. In which case I would rather her continue to post than to burn out or whatever.
 
TheIllusionist said:
That's different. He has to actually put in work with the iron for that body. The other person just avoids food and wears skimpy clothes. And before anyone argues with me, please refer to my previous post. There is a clear lack of squats in her life. That's probably the reason for her lack of derm success.
Click to expand...

While I don’t feel any fondness for her instagram persona, your critique of her looks is out of place. As an anonymous SDN poster, you’re free to have your opinions and preferences, but it’s a poor form to bring those up into a conversation that’s is not at all about it.
 
Many things may be at play here:

Over 8000 med school graduates didn't match this year. There are many people that matched into the programs way down on their list. Have at least 2 or 3 specialties applied to and interviewed with and make the most sense if derm doesn't work out.

As you know, the minute you enter this career, no matter what, you'll always be wrong. It gets much better after residency, though. Anything you have that can be perceived as a negative can be extrapolated into making the admission director's life easier by them being able to throw your app in the trash quickly.

This means that they may wonder how much time a person is on social media, if they would actually be able to put up with somebody like that for up to half a decade, and that you won't be able to be human/humane to a patient if you're freaked out by an interview setting where you know that you are being watched every second you're there. Get in a small group of friends/mentors and practice speaking about things, then make it a bigger and bigger group until you're able to deal with all kinds of people without issue. This may best prepare you for the PD looking up from your app and saying "WFT are you doing in my office?"

It's funny how often I've seen attendings finish an interview and FBI the heck out of the applicant when they get back to their office. The sites that usually allow people to find anyone else are usually the easiest to look into. Facebook, IG, Twitter, etc. At least hide all of your social media presence during MS4 and don't reactivate anything until after the contract is signed and sent back. One should have plenty of reasons to actually delete those types of accounts with all of the breaches going on, IMHO.

Best of luck for all of you, hang in there and remember that your personality and team attitude is one of the main things they're trying to tease out from the interview day.
 
Last edited:
JGimpel said:
Many things may be at play here:

Over 8000 med school graduates didn't match this year. There are many people that matched into the programs way down on their list. Have at least 2 or 3 specialties applied to and interviewed with and make the most sense if derm doesn't work out.

As you know, the minute you enter this career, no matter what, you'll always be wrong. It gets much better after residency, though. Anything you have that can be perceived as a negative can be extrapolated into making the admission director's life easier by them being able to throw your app in the trash quickly.

This means that they may wonder how much time a person is on social media, if they would actually be able to put up with somebody like that for up to half a decade, and that you won't be able to be human/humane to a patient if you're freaked out by an interview setting where you know that you are being watched every second you're there. Get in a small group of friends/mentors and practice speaking about things, then make it a bigger and bigger group until you're able to deal with all kinds of people without issue. This may best prepare you for the PD looking up from your app and saying "WFT are you doing in my office?"

It's funny how often I've seen attendings finish an interview and FBI the heck out of the applicant when they get back to their office. The sites that usually allow people to find anyone else are usually the easiest to look into. Facebook, IG, Twitter, etc. At least hide all of your social media presence during MS4 and don't reactivate anything until after the contract is signed and sent back. One should have plenty of reasons to actually delete those types of accounts with all of the breaches going on, IMHO.

Best of luck for all of you, hang in there and remember that your personality and team attitude is one of the main things they're trying to tease out from the interview day.
Click to expand...
what does FBI stand for?
 
tucktuckfry said:
When she first started the Instagram I thought she might have a cool take on it but she succumbed to mediocrity like every other wannabe derm blogger. There's one dermatologist on YouTube that reviews skincare products. That I think actually has a perspective because I've always wondered if products I see are any good from a derm's perspective. But this omg look at me I'm so cool and read my long rants about literally nothing significant bs is so shallow and weird. But that being said she's allowed to be shallow and all the wanna be premeds are allowed to suck it all up.

She tends to be anxious and nervous though so maybe this was a way for her to deal with the stress of med school/apps in a healthy way. In which case I would rather her continue to post than to burn out or whatever.
Click to expand...
do they get kick backs?
 
MSTPlease said:
Is this a negative in derm? I thought it was a prerequisite
Click to expand...

The amount of time it takes to showcase on IG how cool of a med student you are, with pictures of stethoscopes and textbooks... is exactly the amount of time you DON’T spend studying/researching/etc.


Sent from my iPhone using SDN mobile
 
OrthoTraumaMD said:
The amount of time it takes to showcase on IG how cool of a med student you are, with pictures of stethoscopes and textbooks... is exactly the amount of time you DON’T spend studying/researching/etc.


Sent from my iPhone using SDN mobile
Click to expand...
But no one studies 24/7... Not that I am ok with these superfluous IG photos.
 
OrthoTraumaMD said:
The amount of time it takes to showcase on IG how cool of a med student you are, with pictures of stethoscopes and textbooks... is exactly the amount of time you DON’T spend studying/researching/etc.


Sent from my iPhone using SDN mobile
Click to expand...

This. Residency selection committees are wary of any significant hobbies that can take away from their time as a resident. If someone seems too focused on an outside pursuit it is seen as a negative. Residency directors want people to "stick to the medicine." Even future fellow residents will be annoyed if someone seems less than committed to their job. This includes social media personas, start ups, etc. It does not matter what argument medical students have in regard to this because they are not in any position of power. Someone will always work harder than you or at least promise to work harder than you and get the job. Her IG was most certainly not seen as a positive pursuit.
 
NVO said:
you guys are saying her having an IG made her not match but it didnt stop this rockstar from matching derm 👍
so i dont think IG was the problem. plus its pretty vanilla and just filled with motivational medical stuff
Click to expand...

Having an IG isn't the issue, it's the fact that she apparently made people who were interviewing aware of it and stated that it was meant as a medical advice/perspective blog that could cause the issue. It may not even be that they felt it was inappropriate, but if she was highlighting her blog as something important/something she felt was impressive and PDs felt like it didn't meet their standards they may question her perspective. As previously stated, in the highly competitive fields any little thing can be used to drop people down rank lists.
 
W19 said:
But no one studies 24/7... Not that I am ok with these superfluous IG photos.
Click to expand...

True, but there are much less narcissistic appearing hobbies than 1) posting pictures of stethoscopes when you’re not a doctor; 2) posting pictures of yourself in booty shorts.


Sent from my iPhone using SDN mobile
 
Not my type of woman, not my type of resident either. Hard pass on both dating and ranking.

Personally I think it would be annoying to work with an “influencer”.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

0
Impact of not honoring IM on IM match
Replies
13
Views
4K
Redpancreas
Redpancreas
C
Accepted defeat, did not file FAFSA. Got off waitlist two days ago. Am I cooked?
Replies
8
Views
1K
Mr.Smile12
Mr.Smile12
M
Orthopedic Match Spreadsheet 2025
Replies
0
Views
4K
m22499
M
S
Those with red flags, how did the match go?
Replies
11
Views
4K
GoSpursGo
GoSpursGo
Kracin
OFFICIAL - 2025 Match Lists
2 3 4
Replies
174
Views
255K
MDMechEngr
MDMechEngr
Top