Anxiety about SLOEs

[stemi8]

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[Stephanopolous]

I’ve been told by advisors to consider a back up plan if you are not receiving a good amount of interviews from oct-dec

That being said, I would do everything you possibly can to maximize your chances of getting a great sloe. check podcasts for good resources and tips as well as the CORD website and others like it.

Best of luck!

 

[GonnaBeADoc2222]

Hi all, long time lurker. About me, I am a 4th year DO student about to start my first EM subi on Monday. Thus far, my scores are slightly above average (230s), but so far my clinical grades haven't been all that impressive. Only passes on clinical grades, with minimal generic and vague, but positive comments on evals. I have 3 subi rotations at well established ACGME EM residencies coming up.

My question is, if my SLOEs turn out poor as well, at what point should I start considering applying to a backup specialty in addition to EM? Or how negative do SLOEs have to be that I should start considering applying to a backup specialty?

Thanks.

I'm telling you. Derm residency. Mohs fellowship. Not too late. You'll thank me in 5 yrs.

 

[Rekt]

Hi all, long time lurker. About me, I am a 4th year DO student about to start my first EM subi on Monday. Thus far, my scores are slightly above average (230s), but so far my clinical grades haven't been all that impressive. Only passes on clinical grades, with minimal generic and vague, but positive comments on evals. I have 3 subi rotations at well established ACGME EM residencies coming up.

My question is, if my SLOEs turn out poor as well, at what point should I start considering applying to a backup specialty in addition to EM? Or how negative do SLOEs have to be that I should start considering applying to a backup specialty?

Thanks.

First make sure your school doesn't only do Pass/Fail for clinical years. Some do. You didn't really expand upon why you're getting only passes. If you're bombing shelf exams, that's fixable, but if your evals suck that's a different story. Not that I agree with clinical grading, it's somewhat of a poor prognostic indicator of how your SLOEs will go. I would apply a backup specialty out the gate. There's no harm in doing it besides maybe losing money. A few hundred to a thousand dollars now is much better than being several hundred thousand in debt with no job.

I’ve been told by advisors to consider a back up plan if you are not receiving a good amount of interviews from oct-dec

That being said, I would do everything you possibly can to maximize your chances of getting a great sloe. check podcasts for good resources and tips as well as the CORD website and others like it.

Best of luck!

After Oct is far too late in my opinion. A majority of interviews (for most specialties) will have gone out by then.

I'm telling you. Derm residency. Mohs fellowship. Not too late. You'll thank me in 5 yrs.

That will be tough as a DO student with 230s and only Ps.

 

[gamerEMdoc]

Hi all, long time lurker. About me, I am a 4th year DO student about to start my first EM subi on Monday. Thus far, my scores are slightly above average (230s), but so far my clinical grades haven't been all that impressive. Only passes on clinical grades, with minimal generic and vague, but positive comments on evals. I have 3 subi rotations at well established ACGME EM residencies coming up.

My question is, if my SLOEs turn out poor as well, at what point should I start considering applying to a backup specialty in addition to EM? Or how negative do SLOEs have to be that I should start considering applying to a backup specialty?

Thanks.

Reposting my response to the same question from the AMA thread

Average SLOEs will net you a residency almost all the time. Some of your invites may come a little later than the first wave of invites, but all in all, you should easily match with middle 1/3 (average) sloes. The match rate for EM for US MD grads is quite high, in the 2018 data it was 92%. It was even higher for those who were only ranking one specialty. For DOs, the match rate is lower (82%) but still not bad. So as long as you aren't in the bottom 10-15% of candidates, you should theoretically match. Will you match at the program of your choice? A "prestigious" place? Maybe not. But you should match.

When do your SLOEs mean you won't match? Generally more than one low 1/3 SLOEs really really hurt many candidates chances, or a single DO NOT RANK sloe, or a SLOE with really damning comments. Can you still match with any of these? You can, but it makes it very very difficult to do so.

 

[Stephanopolous]

@Rekt thanks that's good to know in terms of when to evaluate the number of interview invites we're receiving.

 

[BoardEligibleEventually]

Pick a back-up specialty up front and apply from the first day of the cycle - apply to your backup at the same time that you apply to EM. Write out a separate personal statement. Ask for letters from clinicians you had good rotations with. Ask your deans to help you identify someone to write you a letter in the backup specialty. I applied to a backup specialty, exactly by this process. I had more options in my backup specialty, both from the standpoint of hospital setting and geography. If you leave it to October-December, you'll be dead in the water for that specialty unless you are a 260/260 AOA type applicant, which it does not sound like you are.

I found out my SLOEs weren't good. I still matched to EM (in the NYC Metro area, a desirable location.) Keep that head up, do good work.

Absolutely feel free to DM me if you need specific advice about anything in this process and EM in generally.

-BEE

 

[stemi8]

Pick a back-up specialty up front and apply from the first day of the cycle - apply to your backup at the same time that you apply to EM. Write out a separate personal statement. Ask for letters from clinicians you had good rotations with. Ask your deans to help you identify someone to write you a letter in the backup specialty. I applied to a backup specialty, exactly by this process. I had more options in my backup specialty, both from the standpoint of hospital setting and geography. If you leave it to October-December, you'll be dead in the water for that specialty unless you are a 260/260 AOA type applicant, which it does not sound like you are.

I found out my SLOEs weren't good. I still matched to EM (in the NYC Metro area, a desirable location.) Keep that head up, do good work.

Absolutely feel free to DM me if you need specific advice about anything in this process and EM in generally.

-BEE

Can I ask what your backup specialty was?

 

[BoardEligibleEventually]

Can I ask what your backup specialty was?

Anesthesiology.