Afraid I Made a Mistake...Advice Needed

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yanks26dmb

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4th year student here. Have been gung ho on psychiatry for a very long time. Still like it and would be happy doing it. However, finally experienced EM during an elective rotation and I'm more than second guessing psych...I outright want to do EM. EM was never on my radar for a variety of reasons, but now that I've actually seen it and done it...it's what I want to do.

I understand as late as it is, my shot at EM in this years match is essentially nil. I have no other EM rotations lined up at a site that could provide a SLOE. Nor do I know any that I could squeeze into in September (if someone has a clue, please let me know).

So, from my point of view, the best I can hope for is do my year of psychiatry and if I'm still feeling the same way, try to switch after intern year. FWIW, my grades are good; top third of class, low 240s/high 240s step1/2, both comlex >600, passed PE first attempt, honors surgery and IM.

Any advice? How difficult is it to switch after first year? How in the hell am I supposed to get a SLOE during intern year? Should I just give up on this idea?

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Wow, this sounds very similar to me. I was also set on psych until a couple months into fourth year when I did half an EM rotation. I fortunately managed to land an away spot. I sent a BUNCH of emails out and it just so happened a spot had opened up and I snatched it. Call and email a bunch of places. Ya might just luck out. You have a home SLOE and if you can land another by October, you're set.
 
Wow, this sounds very similar to me. I was also set on psych until a couple months into fourth year when I did half an EM rotation. I fortunately managed to land an away spot. I sent a BUNCH of emails out and it just so happened a spot had opened up and I snatched it. Call and email a bunch of places. Ya might just luck out. You have a home SLOE and if you can land another by October, you're set.

Thanks for your advice. I don't have a home SLOE, I'm at a DO school and we don't have a residency program. I'm doing an EM elective at a community hospital. So best case scenario, I could land an away in September and have one SLOE by Oct. Still seems like a tough road with just 1 SLOe.
 
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My home school doesn't have an EM residency program either. We can still get a SLOE from them--from the person you rotated with/ the clerkship director. People say it doesn't carry as much weight, but whatever. Gotta do whatcha gotta do.
 
not sure, but isnt it possible to take a year and do more rotations and apply next year? I've seen a lot of IMG's do rotations long after graduation, either by remaining a part of their medical school after graduation, or extending their graduation date.
 
not sure, but isnt it possible to take a year and do more rotations and apply next year? I've seen a lot of IMG's do rotations long after graduation, either by remaining a part of their medical school after graduation, or extending their graduation date.

Taking a year off isn't an option for me unfortunately.
 
I was in the same situation last year (just looked back at my emails, it was Aug 17, 2017), and I sent out about 30 emails to clerkship directors explaining the situation, was there any way they could host me on short notice, etc, etc. One program had had a student back out with 5 days to go, so they had an open spot. 2 days later, I traveled 6 states away and rotated there for the month. I only had one SLOE by mid-October, but it worked out and I still matched. I would send a message to every clerkship director whose email I could find and cross your fingers.
 
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