Anesthesia Interviews, should I be worried?

[TheLoneWolf]

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Hi,
I am a carib student (non US citizen) - applied to >70 programs in anesthesia so far and have recieved 1 invite to interview and 7 rejections. Step one and two > 250, CS passed on first attempt, plenty of extracurriculars and no red flags.I know that interviews season has begun and the lack of responses seems odd. Should I expect the majority of invites to arrive in November? Any thoughts?

 

[gasthrowaway]

I would say that you could be in trouble. There are still a few more weeks of invites to come out, and Ive heard some of the lower tier programs tend to wait till a little later in the process, but time is starting to run out.

Your app looks phenomenal, but it looks like the non-us citizen status is killing you. Ive already seen some ross and sgu students on the interview trail, but they were all americans.

Hope isnt completely lost yet, but I would start doing considering plan B.

 

[foodle]

If you only have one interview invitation right now and sent out 70 applications, it is time to start figuring out a back-up plan.

Most programs have sent out invitations by now (you can look a the interview invitations thread). While there are a few places that still have not, and some do multiple rounds of invitations, the majority of invitations have gone out by now. For the next two or three weeks there'll still be some activity, but in general you should be sitting on more than just one invitation. Again, look at the invites thread and do some counts for individual users. Most have 10+ interviews already scheduled.

Looking at the 2013 applicant survey for anesthesia, the median number of interviews received/attended by independent applicants that matched was 8. For those that did not match, it was 2. It's a bi-modal distribution, and you're definitely in the wrong "hump".

Based on your numbers, I would have expected more interviews than just one.

Did you apply to a range of programs (high, mid, low-tier)?
Are there any red flags in your applications package?
Did one of your LOR writers scuttle your application?
Did you apply to programs that are FMG friendly (i.e., have current residents that are FMGs)?

 

[TheLoneWolf]

If you only have one interview invitation right now and sent out 70 applications, it is time to start figuring out a back-up plan.

Most programs have sent out invitations by now (you can look a the interview invitations thread). While there are a few places that still have not, and some do multiple rounds of invitations, the majority of invitations have gone out by now. For the next two or three weeks there'll still be some activity, but in general you should be sitting on more than just one invitation. Again, look at the invites thread and do some counts for individual users. Most have 10+ interviews already scheduled.

Looking at the 2013 applicant survey for anesthesia, the median number of interviews received/attended by independent applicants that matched was 8. For those that did not match, it was 2. It's a bi-modal distribution, and you're definitely in the wrong "hump".

Based on your numbers, I would have expected more interviews than just one.

Did you apply to a range of programs (high, mid, low-tier)?
Are there any red flags in your applications package?
Did one of your LOR writers scuttle your application?
Did you apply to programs that are FMG friendly (i.e., have current residents that are FMGs)?

Hi foodle, All range of programs; no red flags with no breaks and will graduate a 4 yr program in 4 yrs. Anesthesia LOR from well known anesthesiologist. Was not picky about location so applied to FMG friendly programs.

 

[foodle]

Hi foodle, All range of programs; no red flags with no breaks and will graduate a 4 yr program in 4 yrs. Anesthesia LOR from well known anesthesiologist. Was not picky about location so applied to FMG friendly programs.

Yeah he/she is famous, but was the letter any good? What about your other letters? It only takes one "damned with faint praise" or outright negative letter to scuttle your application. Did you get to see your Dean's letter? Anything in there that could be a problem?

Years ago, I knew a person who kept applying to PT school, but she kept getting rejected. Finally, one of the programs informed her through a back-channel that one of her letters was negative and killing her chances. She dropped that letter and got in the next year.

Based on the info you've given us, you should have more interviews than just one. Either there is some weird logistical problem with your ERAS or there is something in your application package that is causing programs to not consider you. Or you're just very very unlucky and keep barely missing the cut for interviews (possible, but with 70 applications out there, unlikely to keep happening).

Also, did you do any away rotations at programs in the US? This is the typical way that FMGs or US IMGs can (nearly) guarantee an interview from those programs.

Based on the interview invites thread, how many programs that you applied to have not issued invitations? By now, almost all programs have sent out at least their first round of invitations. I only count 8 programs that have not issued interview invitations, and some of those might have done so, but no one on SDN applied to them. So the invitation period is definitely coming to an end in the next couple of weeks. Sure, there are the odd late interview requests that go out, but most are already done.

No matter what the issue is, you need to start working on some back-up plans very very soon. If you don't match in a gas program, can you at least secure a prelim/TY/prelim-surg spot? Could you stay at your home school and do research for a year?

 

[CdnCaribIMG]

As a fellow IMG I felt the need to chime in. I too am in a similar position; applied to 90+ programs, mid 240's on both Steps, CS passed, will grad from a reputable Carib school, solid clinical grades all in the US and no red flags. Letters are good as I've been informed by my attendings, and I even snuck a peek at a couple they showed me. I've got plenty of volunteer work abroad and I've had enough jobs before med school to know what a solid app looks like. The truth is the market is getting more hostile towards pure IMG's who are in need of a visa. To date I have one IV and a few rejections but it seems that we are either being put on the back burner or it's getting tougher this year. The US MD's can't appreciate the difficulty that IMG's face breaking into the US and so naturally chalk it up to "something being wrong with the CV." It could very well be the case but just had to post to let you guys know that it isn't always so and that there are a lot of solid candidates out there taking the back road in and being willing to take whatever interviews US MD's don't want or otherwise cancel.
Anyway man I wish you the best in this Match and hopefully things pan out for you in the coming weeks. Keep your head up as there's still time!

 

[foodle]

As a fellow IMG I felt the need to chime in. I too am in a similar position; applied to 90+ programs, mid 240's on both Steps, CS passed, will grad from a reputable Carib school, solid clinical grades all in the US and no red flags. Letters are good as I've been informed by my attendings, and I even snuck a peek at a couple they showed me. I've got plenty of volunteer work abroad and I've had enough jobs before med school to know what a solid app looks like. The truth is the market is getting more hostile towards pure IMG's who are in need of a visa. To date I have one IV and a few rejections but it seems that we are either being put on the back burner or it's getting tougher this year. The US MD's can't appreciate the difficulty that IMG's face breaking into the US and so naturally chalk it up to "something being wrong with the CV." It could very well be the case but just had to post to let you guys know that it isn't always so and that there are a lot of solid candidates out there taking the back road in and being willing to take whatever interviews US MD's don't want or otherwise cancel.
Anyway man I wish you the best in this Match and hopefully things pan out for you in the coming weeks. Keep your head up as there's still time!

Thanks for the perspective. Did not realize how tough it was for FMGs. I guess that why many FMGs will do lots of away rotations in the US to secure interview spots.

 

[TheLoneWolf]

Hi foodle,

all of my clinical rotations were in the USA and have a solid deans letter and clinical grades. I will have to wait for the next round of invites with a possible need to backup.

CdnCaribIMG, thank you very much for sharing your situation. It is helpful to know Im not the only person experiencing this. I wish you the best in your match hope that you go to the program of your choice.

 

[foodle]

all of my clinical rotations were in the USA and have a solid deans letter and clinical grades. I will have to wait for the next round of invites with a possible need to backup.

Did you not get invitations from the places you rotated at?

 

[Thepassageofgas]

x

 

[TheLoneWolf]

Hi ThePassageofgas,

thank you for sharing your story. I guess in not the only IMG to find himself in this predicament. It is stressful to wait for interviews but maybe some invites will come when US students begin to cancel IV's.

 

[cognitus]

Hi,
I am a carib student (non US citizen) - applied to >70 programs in anesthesia so far and have recieved 1 invite to interview and 7 rejections. Step one and two > 250, CS passed on first attempt, plenty of extracurriculars and no red flags.I know that interviews season has begun and the lack of responses seems odd. Should I expect the majority of invites to arrive in November? Any thoughts?

When did you submit your application?

 

[TheLoneWolf]

Sept 15

When did you submit your application?

Sept 15

 

[DO Anes]

Even in a mid-tier residency, we received over 200 applications per available space. With the large number of US MD's and DO's, plus non-Caribbean IMG's, we did not interview any Caribbean students, regardless of board scores. Of the IMG's we interviewed, they tended to already be practicing academic anesthesiologists in their home countries (frequently India), with publications and research experience. Of course, stellar board scores were expected. Anesthesiology is not a realistic option for Caribbean IMG's and I suspect that is true of most competitive residencies and will only get worse as numbers of US applicants grow over the next several years, while number of residecy spaces remains stagnant. By 2017-2018, I will be surprised if a Caribbean student can match into any residency at all.

 

[deleted387928]

Even in a mid-tier residency, we received over 200 applications per available space. With the large number of US MD's and DO's, plus non-Caribbean IMG's, we did not interview any Caribbean students, regardless of board scores. Of the IMG's we interviewed, they tended to already be practicing academic anesthesiologists in their home countries (frequently India), with publications and research experience. Of course, stellar board scores were expected. Anesthesiology is not a realistic option for Caribbean IMG's and I suspect that is true of most competitive residencies and will only get worse as numbers of US applicants grow over the next several years, while number of residecy spaces remains stagnant. By 2017-2018, I will be surprised if a Caribbean student can match into any residency at all.

Wow that's pretty grim. Has your program increased the # of interviews it needs to fill? I ask because it seems like people are applying more broadly and going on more interviews now.

 

[DO Anes]

No. No problems filling. Because of the large number of applicants, we have fairly stringent interview cutoff criteria.