A Gap Year In Order to Couples Match?

[Beast]

Hello All,

My girlfriend is a year behind me in medical school, and we are contemplating the couples match. For me, it would mean taking a gap year between medical school and EM residency. I thought I would post to get any thoughts or experiences on this situation, and how it would ultimately affect a successful EM residency application. The only other vital piece of information is that I have already taken a year away from medical school to get a MPH degree. Thanks in advance for your thoughts.

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[Dr. Dukes]

In my mind, it really depends on where you want to end up geographically and how competitive you are.
For instance, if you want to end up on the East Coast (say DC - NYC) and are both 1st in your class/AOA/260+ on Step 1, I would say just go ahead and she'll do fine.
If you want to end up at the same program in the Midwest and both got <210 on Step 1, might be better to couples match.
Not that helpful advice, I realize, but my point is right now "we" don't know enough to really help.

 

[EM_Rebuilder]

Hello All,

My girlfriend is a year behind me in medical school, and we are contemplating the couples match. For me, it would mean taking a gap year between medical school and EM residency. I thought I would post to get any thoughts or experiences on this situation, and how it would ultimately affect a successful EM residency application. The only other vital piece of information is that I have already taken a year away from medical school to get a MPH degree. Thanks in advance for your thoughts.

I'd suggest doing a prelim / prelim medicine or surgery year local to your g/f, then seek 2,3,4 programs next year.... You can still look at 1,2,3 as well, but it seems folish to me to not get the benefits of a 4 year residency when you had to do a prelim anyways... granted if your g/f is a bit more picky and wants to go to a place with a 1,2,3.... pick where you will ultimately be happy in the end.

I think 'a year off' could be a shot in the foot unless your application is just well polished and amazing...

 

[YOOOUK09]

I know of someone who did this. They ended up couples matching at their home institution. They stayed involved in the dept prior to matching. They had a super application. Now they're an attending at my school!

I assume you're a third year? One option would be to take a year between 3rd and 4th year. You could get a job/do research and then you wouldn't have to apply as an independent applicant, which I hear can be a disadvantage at more competitive programs.

 

[Chief58]

I agree with YOOOUK, a year off between years of medical school is the way to go. My wife was one year behind me in medical school and I did just that. I completed a one-year research fellowship in the Doris Duke program between 3rd and 4th year. It was a huge bonus for my CV and I was able to publish multiple manuscripts. The fellowship came up in nearly every interview and everyone was fairly impressed by it. Ultimately, something like that has much more value for applying to an EM residency than doing a prelim year. Unlike when you do medicine or surgery, a prelim year doesn't teach you as many skills that are as useful in the ED. Sure, there are some, but it doesn't stand out on the application as much as doing research.

Good luck in your endeavors!

 

[had2piknowEM]

The research idea is the best, however you mentioned that you already took a year off to get an MPH. Will you school allow you to take another year off? If not, then a prelim year may be the way to go or getting involved in some public health stuff near your current school.

 

[NeuroSync]

The research idea is the best, however you mentioned that you already took a year off to get an MPH. Will you school allow you to take another year off? If not, then a prelim year may be the way to go or getting involved in some public health stuff near your current school.

Our school requires graduation in six years, so at least here, it would be possible.

 

[college!!]

My GF was a year ahead of me at med school. She didn't want to take a year off, so we just looked at the places where she wanted to go that had a bunch of EM program, too. Our list was NYC, Philly, Boston, and Chicago.

She ended up in NYC, and it was much easier for me to apply. I didn't have to travel all over the place, and I did aways at a couple of the NY programs and basically lived there for 5 months.

It also gave me a strong talking point in interviews when I was asked why I would like to be in New York.

I was a decent, but not amazing applicant. I talked about NY in my personal statement and got interviews at 15/17 schools to which I applied.

Also you should consider the long term, what does she want to do? If your residencies are different lengths, it may make sense to get a head start or not...

So to sum up, glad that she went straight through and that we didn't couples match.

 

[Beast]

Thank you all for your input, your posts have been very helpful.

To help fill in the blanks: I am currently doing a one year MPH at the Harvard School of Public Health, and will be starting fourth year this July. If I were to take a gap year after medical school, it would hopefully be to work on a EM/Public Health related research project, potentially at a University that has an EM residency I would be interested in. I would consider myself an average applicant, and probably will not be applying to the upper echelon of competitive programs.

My biggest concern in pursuing this course of action is how residency program directors would view a gap year.

Cheers for the prelim year suggestion, that is something I hadn't thought of before.

 

[gman33]

I agree with the post above, about focusing on cities that have a lot of EM programs. (or if your gf is going into something else, just cities that have a lot of residency programs).
I'm in Philly and it doesn't seem like it would be hard to stay here as long as you are flexible about what program you end up in. A lot of big cities would be the same situation. I just wouldn't want to "waste" a year.

 

[BKN]

Thank you all for your input, your posts have been very helpful.

To help fill in the blanks: I am currently doing a one year MPH at the Harvard School of Public Health, and will be starting fourth year this July. If I were to take a gap year after medical school, it would hopefully be to work on a EM/Public Health related research project, potentially at a University that has an EM residency I would be interested in. I would consider myself an average applicant, and probably will not be applying to the upper echelon of competitive programs.

My biggest concern in pursuing this course of action is how residency program directors would view a gap year.

Cheers for the prelim year suggestion, that is something I hadn't thought of before.

As a long time PD, I suggest this:

1. If you do a gap year, you will have to explain why. The desire to stay in the same city with your S.O. during training is a good reason.
2. In your gap year, do something significant.
3. Be sure there aren't any oopsies* in your application or references to personal problems that might lead a PD to wonder if your stated reasons are not the real ones.

Personally, I would consider either a prelim year or a relevant research year a plus. If the latter, and given that you would have had some of the courses in your MPH, you might consider a Master's of Clinical Investigation or additional course work towards a DrPH.

BKN


* def: more than one failed course, MLE bombed, held back a year, personal crises, felonies . . .

 

[Chief58]

Another thought on the gap year. If you were to do a prelim year, find out what your schedule will be like and what kind of allowances they'll give you to travel for interviews. If you plan on interviewing at 10+ EM programs, imagine trying ask for possibly 15-20 days off in the November, December, January period. It will also be very difficult to coordinate interviews with your SO.

A guy from my class took the surgical prelim approach for his couples match and its been a pretty tiring experience. Imagine working 6 days straight, including calls, using your only day off to travel to and from an interview, then going back to work another 6 days with call.

If you prefer a prelim year, go for it, but make sure you know how difficult scheduling interviews will be.

 

[SoCuteMD]

As a long time PD, I suggest this:

1. If you do a gap year, you will have to explain why. The desire to stay in the same city with your S.O. during training is a good reason.
2. In your gap year, do something significant.
3. Be sure there aren't any oopsies* in your application or references to personal problems that might lead a PD to wonder if your stated reasons are not the real ones.

Personally, I would consider either a prelim year or a relevant research year a plus. If the latter, and given that you would have had some of the courses in your MPH, you might consider a Master's of Clinical Investigation or additional course work towards a DrPH.

BKN


* def: more than one failed course, MLE bombed, held back a year, personal crises, felonies . . .

With the disclaimer that my advice (a graduating MS4) is worth what you pay for it, I'd say BKNs suggetions regarding either a research year or continuing your coursework sound like the best idea. They are in line with what you have already taken time off for, and could really help set the stage for an easy interview season.

A prelim year is a good idea, but could cause whatever program you match at to lose some of your medicare funding (the last year, I think).

 

[BobA]

With the disclaimer that my advice (a graduating MS4) is worth what you pay for it, I'd say BKNs suggetions regarding either a research year or continuing your coursework sound like the best idea. They are in line with what you have already taken time off for, and could really help set the stage for an easy interview season.

A prelim year is a good idea, but could cause whatever program you match at to lose some of your medicare funding (the last year, I think).

I could be wrong but I don't think prelim years count towards medicare funding.

 

[energy_girl]

I may be in the minority here, but I think it would be a mistake to take a gap year after M4, even for something like an MPH or research. I took two years after M4 before applying to residency (this year), and it came up in a negative way during most of my interviews--even though what I was doing is very much related to medicine and EM. One reason is that you are automatically not in the same category as allopathic US M4s, and are instead in the same category as IMGs and other graduates. Also not everyone understands or appreciates the rationale that the year contributes to your overall education, and having a gap after M4 is harder to justify than a gap that occurred before. Taking time between M3 and M4, or M2 and M4, is a much safer bet if you have the option; also, if you have the choice to apply to a big city and you guys are both strong applicants (as other people have said), you should consider just applying first. My two cents, as someone who just went through LOTS of explaining during my interviews.

 

[Chief58]

I may be in the minority here, but I think it would be a mistake to take a gap year after M4, even for something like an MPH or research. I took two years after M4 before applying to residency (this year), and it came up in a negative way during most of my interviews--even though what I was doing is very much related to medicine and EM. One reason is that you are automatically not in the same category as allopathic US M4s, and are instead in the same category as IMGs and other graduates. Also not everyone understands or appreciates the rationale that the year contributes to your overall education, and having a gap after M4 is harder to justify than a gap that occurred before. Taking time between M3 and M4, or M2 and M4, is a much safer bet if you have the option; also, if you have the choice to apply to a big city and you guys are both strong applicants (as other people have said), you should consider just applying first. My two cents, as someone who just went through LOTS of explaining during my interviews.

As you referred to, I think the major problem you had was taking two years AFTER medical school. Taking one year between 3rd and 4th year was difficult enough in terms of catching back up to the clinical environment. I can't imagine doing two years and going into a clinical situation where I CAN'T just be stupid for the first month of the year. It was never a problem on any of the programs I interviewed at and I did a few pretty competitive ones. Most/possibly all programs saw my year off for research as a bonus and that it helped my application significantly. It gave me a skill few applicants possessed.

 

[Beast]

Just came back to this thread now that the year has progressed, thought I would give it a bump. The previous posts have been incredibly helpful.

 

[nymbarra]

If you do enter the match without delay, like a previous post mentioned, look for big cities that have multiple residencies. Another thing to consider is the advantage of being on separate levels of training with your S.O. Even if you're not in the same specialty you could give her some helpful advice with her match process as well as with getting through intern year. If you're thinking about getting hitched and starting a family in the next few years, it would help to have someone who is working a less demanding attending schedule and the support of an attending salary.

 

[deleted109597]

Unlike when you do medicine or surgery, a prelim year doesn't teach you as many skills that are as useful in the ED.

Umm, prelim years are medicine or surgery. Except for the very few that are in peds and OB. Perhaps you meant transitional year. Which still involves being a doctor. The biggest thing you learn the first year of residency is how to be a doctor. Not the field you're working towards. Trust me on this.

A guy from my class took the surgical prelim approach for his couples match and its been a pretty tiring experience. Imagine working 6 days straight, including calls, using your only day off to travel to and from an interview, then going back to work another 6 days with call.

So that is similar to what my story was. I would get on an airplane post call and fly somewhere. Then I would interview the next day and usually fly back. Typically I was on call the day after I got back too. It's tough, but not impossible. I was still intern of the year. Not sure I would do it again if I had the option to avoid it though.