Advice on applying to psych programs

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jshong1

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I am a third year medical student in US applying to psychiatry programs. I would really appreciate your advice since I am not entirely sure about how to approach for the best match.

Making long/personal story short, I passed step 1 but barely. I have 5 strong letters of recommendation, and I do have research but not in psychiatry. I have great clinical comments, however, my academic standing is not impressive.

So my ultimately questions are:

  1. I am a bit crammed for year 4, and studying for my step 2 along with pediatrics/surg rotations is a challenge. Regarding this situation, will it be better for me to take time to excel on step 2 (and put in psychiatry research as well) in that extended time?
  2. I do want to apply to academic programs with research tracks; I am planning on continuing to do research and staying with it throughout my residency and on. With that in mind, any suggestion on how to go about making my case for the best?

This is rather hard for me to take in, and I realize that this might not be the most interesting thread. But I would really appreciate your kind suggestions/advice if you have any.

Thank you!

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I am a third year medical student in US applying to psychiatry programs. I would really appreciate your advice since I am not entirely sure about how to approach for the best match.

Making long/personal story short, I passed step 1 but barely. I have 5 strong letters of recommendation, and I do have research but not in psychiatry. I have great clinical comments, however, my academic standing is not impressive.

So my ultimately questions are:

  1. I am a bit crammed for year 4, and studying for my step 2 along with pediatrics/surg rotations is a challenge. Regarding this situation, will it be better for me to take time to excel on step 2 (and put in psychiatry research as well) in that extended time?
  2. I do want to apply to academic programs with research tracks; I am planning on continuing to do research and staying with it throughout my residency and on. With that in mind, any suggestion on how to go about making my case for the best?

This is rather hard for me to take in, and I realize that this might not be the most interesting thread. But I would really appreciate your kind suggestions/advice if you have any.

Thank you!

Re: 1--having a "Leave No Doubt" Step 2 score in hand will remove the red flag of your iffy Step 1. The fact that you report 5 strong letters in hand might make your Peds and Surg performance less important (as long as you pass and show a high level of professionalism).

2--Publish something. Even if non-psych, that will put you ahead of 75% of US applicants for psych, and make your case that you're not "just talking" about doing research.

Good luck!
 
I really appreciate your insight!

So just to clarify, would you say extending time for a better score is better than risking sub-par/yet improved score while juggling through peds/surg?

I apologize if my case wasn't clear. I am thinking about taking another year to spread out my electives, studying for step 2 CK and getting some serious psych research in. Will this be better than cramming things in one year w/o significant research? (the previous pub was in radiology in first year)
 
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I really appreciate your insight!

So just to clarify, would you say extending time for a better score is better than risking sub-par/yet improved score while juggling through peds/surg?

I apologize if my case wasn't clear. I am thinking about taking another year to spread out my electives, studying for step 2 CK and getting some serious psych research in.)


this is a terrible idea..,,,,being a 5 year graduate(without any real reason) would probably be more damning to your application than having a subpar step1 score.

Plus, who the heck wants to spend 5 years in med school? take step2, finish med school, and start your residency. Spending an extra year and spreading things out so you can improve your application is absurd. For one, as I said above it would probably hurt you more than help you. Even if it did help, however, would you really want to waste another year of your life to maybe go to a slightly better program? I mean really....I wouldn't give up 2 weeks of my life for the difference between a 'solid' program vs a 'slightly more than solid' program. It just doesn't make that much of a difference. You're not going to end up at Marmonaides(sp?) if you just do ok on step 2 and don't have a ton of research, and you're probably not going to end up at Columbia if you do get a publication or whatever.

you're an American grad with a passing step1 score and appear to be doing ok on your clinical rotations. Just pass step2(it would be nice if you could improve your score a bit I suppose) and continue to be well liked on rotations. Then apply to a bunch of programs you like in areas you like. Don't overthink this; you're not applying for surgery here. But for god sakes don't delay your graduation and start of residency a year
 
whilst it would not look good nor would it be financially wise to extend solely for doing step 2 (it cancels it out if you took a year to prepare) it is absolutely not a terrible idea to extend, there are many medical schools where it is fairly common for people to spend an extra year doing something like research or an MPH, MBA, MPP etc etc and as long as you have done something valuable with that year it doesn't hurt your application. It is worth bearing in mind doing an extra degree in no way helps your application in itself however. Though using that year to get publications and making connections etc is obviously good. Also research experience in itself is not helpful. If it is in psych it helps show an interest and commitment to psychiatry, but does not make you any more attractive for a research track etc.

At many programs it is perfectly easy to do at least 1 year of research (basically your elective time) which is not necessarily (in fact mostly not) applying to a research track. you are not an applicant for a research track from the get go and it does not matter at all. most academic programs have enough elective time to allow you to do research and usually the funding for that as well, 'research track' or not. and there are a number of programs that don't have a 'research track' where residents do research anyway. also bear in mind that formalized research tracks have tended to be for basic scientists, rather than for clinical research and there is often another route for those wishing to do clinical research.
 
So bottom line, taking the best from the above--it really is probably not necessary to extend your time just to seek a killer Step 2 score, but if your Step 1 is iffy, you need to get a decent score soon. There are a lot of solid and better-than-solid programs that might not bother to interview you (or even read your app!) if you are below their minimum Step 1.
That said, it will not hurt your chances to extend if you really want to do a 5th year with purpose, as splik said. But don't do research just out of a desire to pad your CV, or because someone said it would look good. You don't need it for that to get into psych--really. Only do research if you really want to do research.
 
whilst it would not look good nor would it be financially wise to extend solely for doing step 2 (it cancels it out if you took a year to prepare) it is absolutely not a terrible idea to extend, QUOTE]

when I said it would be a terrible idea, I was thinking beyond just what it will do to his application. It also wouldn't be a terrible idea to lock himself in his room and play Nintendo all day as he would still likely match(as long as he wasn't so honest about it) and become a psychiatrist, but it likely wouldn't be very good for his overall life goals.

Most normal people don't want to spend 5 years in medical school when it's not needed and without a convincing reason/need to. People generally want to get on with their lives and move forward with them. Spending an extra year in medical school for no reason at all doesn't go well with that.

There are occasional legitimate reasons to spend an extra year in med school even when you don't have to. Someone who wants to focus on an administrative/business role in management getting an mba for example. Or a derm applicant who is likely not going to match going all in with a year of research in a certain lab that may help him match. But that's not the case for the OP.
 
Thanks all for your replies!

I am just worried because I have all these "bruises and bumps" on my records - as my counselor has called them - and I just want to look for what's best now that I have found something I really want to do.

I am not particularly looking for "strong" programs per se, but thanks for the insight on that.

Last question, what is the last month to report step 2 ck? (to show the improvement)
I know most programs interview in Nov/Dec, and in-state programs maybe earlier.
 
Thanks all for your replies!

I am just worried because I have all these "bruises and bumps" on my records - QUOTE]

what the heck are you talking about? you have a low(but passing) step 1 score. That's the only thing you disclosed in your post. Now maybe there is more that you didn't disclose, but we can't read your mind
 
Thanks all for your replies!

I am just worried because I have all these "bruises and bumps" on my records - QUOTE]

what the heck are you talking about? you have a low(but passing) step 1 score. That's the only thing you disclosed in your post. Now maybe there is more that you didn't disclose, but we can't read your mind

Here vistaril this is for you "[". May it help you quote away properly in your crusade of passive aggressive awkwardness.

The vibe was nice for awhile like it was in the past. But not like this. Every discussion boggy with weirdness. Even with whopper back...

Thanks for everything. See you all after match for my interview reports.
 
I'm not really answering any of your specific questions but I wanted to comment on this because it'll help applicants in general.

When doing your personal statement, do so bearing in mind that the reader will have to sift through dozens if not hundreds of personal statements in one or a few sittings.

All of them blend in after awhile. Imagine having to read 30 essays all in one day? After the 3rd or fourth your brain isn't going to give a damn, especially when most of them are saying the same exact thing in different words.

I know this because I've been involved in the admissions process a few times as a chief but occasionally as an attending.

"My name is Joe Blow (thanks Joe for this irrelevant sentence, I know your name because it's on the application.). I'm applying into psychiatry residencies (Again-irrelevant). I want to heal people (Yeah you and everyone else here but I know the reality is a lot of you really don't give a damn)."

Some statements that really caught my eye....
Female applicant told me about how as an Eastern European she risked her life several times during the political shifts and worked her tail off to get to the states and support her family. Darned impressive.
Person had a relative that got extremely poor care and they could tell because they were a medstudent. The person was infuriated and this only strengthened their drive to give good care to patients.

Some things that pretty much got me almost crushing the statements into a ball to toss in the trash (but I only didn't because I knew others needed to read it) were applications where it was transparent that they were applying into psychiatry as a safety and that's not what they really wanted, or statements where there was no passion expressed to go into psychiatry.
 
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