Applying to Radiology

[AnonymousMedStudent94]

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[HotGlueGun1]

I'm in a similar situation except I applied for DR this cycle and failed to match (had 8 DR interviews). Should I try to secure a prelim position at a shady program through the "scramble" this Thursday evening or should I delay graduation and then apply again this fall? My stats are similar to OP except I am 3rd quintile, have rads research and rads LOR's in my app and still failed to match.

My radiology advisor says my app is well-rounded but I don't have any standout features/accomplishments to distinguish me from other applicants. He feels if I apply broadly to more community programs next year I should match.

Any advice for me or OP? I am completely terrified of failing to match again as I am not sure what went wrong this cycle other than applying to too many top-tier programs. Feeling ashamed and dejected...

 

[redalert]

I'm in a similar situation except I applied for DR this cycle and failed to match (had 8 DR interviews). Should I try to secure a prelim position at a shady program through the "scramble" this Thursday evening or should I delay graduation and then apply again this fall? My stats are similar to OP except I am 3rd quintile, have rads research and rads LOR's in my app and still failed to match.

My radiology advisor says my app is well-rounded but I don't have any standout features/accomplishments to distinguish me from other applicants. He feels if I apply broadly to more community programs next year I should match.

Any advice for me or OP? I am completely terrified of failing to match again as I am not sure what went wrong this cycle other than applying to too many top-tier programs. Feeling ashamed and dejected...

Is radiology that much more competitive this year? This is the second post I saw with 250+ steps failing to match. IMO it's much better to delay graduation and re-apply as a med student because that way you have more time to build up your app with more research, electives, etc. Once you're an intern it'd be hard to take time off for interviews, depending on the program of course

 

[RadsRocks!]

Hello,

Having a bit of a dilemma and would appreciate advice. I applied for a surgical subspecialty this year and failed to match. I am now thinking about pursuing radiology instead as I took an elective in it and really enjoyed it. I have not yet matched into a prelim in the SOAP. If I am not able to get a prelim at a university program, and only have options of TY in community hospitals, would it look better to be applying for radiology as a TY in a small program or to delay graduation and re-apply as a senior?

Stats:
Step 1 and 2CK 250s
Grades: All A's on rotations, 2nd quintile rank
Research: Mostly in surgical specialty, several posters and manuscripts. Probably can get on some radiology projects before fall though.
ECs: Some volunteering and leadership, nothing out of this world.

Any input on which is better between taking a TY and delaying graduation is appreciated.

Hi I was in a similar situation. I decided to delay graduation and did research this year in radiology. You have ~5 months from ERAS opening so that’s enough time to get 2-3 projects off the ground/published. Doing this was really helpful to establish connections in the field and getting great LOR for me. I would start looking for positions now and if you can’t find one you can volunteer and hopefully work from your parents home and save money.

I decided not to pursue a prelim only as I would have no time to establish interest/connections in radiology as I would be working so much. Also you would have a year of gap between ending the prelim and starting radiology as most programs match advanced positions. I am not sure what people do with that year break.

if you can’t delay graduation without paying tuition again I would just graduate and do research. I don’t think being a graduate would be that detrimental tbh. But it would be preferable to be seen as a 4th year student albeit not at the cost of 50k+.

 

[AnonymousMedStudent94]

Ended up getting a pretty good TY and took it since I was under the gun time wise. Gonna be tough but I think I can make it work.

 

[RadsRocks!]

Ended up getting a pretty good TY and took it since I was under the gun time wise. Gonna be tough but I think I can make it work.

Ah ok. There were a handful of people applying this year who were currently in internship. If I was in that situation I would try to keep in contact with my home department to get good LOR and maybe try to do an easy project if you have time to establish interest. There may be a few Rads physician spots that open up during your internship but you will probably need to reapply for the main match in September.

 

[stcl]

Ended up getting a pretty good TY and took it since I was under the gun time wise. Gonna be tough but I think I can make it work.

I haven't been on the forum in a bit and just saw your post. I think you made a wise decision taking a TY spot. No matter what, after your intern year and passing Step 3 you can get your medical license, which opens up more doors. Plus you'll be making some money finally instead of paying it out to your med school. The main thing is to have a job as a physician, and the intern year puts you one step closer to that point.

You have a few months before intern year starts - use it to plan out your next steps. IMO Radiology or Anesthesia can be great options for someone who was thinking about surgery. You might even find you're happier with your life - having been through surgery rotations as an intern, I can attest that most of the surgical residents (and some attendings) looked miserable all the time.

Try to talk with the radiology advisor(s) at your med school about applying this summer/fall. Make a plan with your TY program director for the interview process. Remember you're there to work, and as long as you respect your job and work hard, they should be reasonable with interviews. It's in their interest too for you to match to a PGY-2 program.

If you decide to apply to radiology, apply very broadly, as in 100+ programs. You have strong stats for radiology, but go all in to guarantee you match. It's worth paying more in application fees to make make sure of a match. Check out the White Coat Investor website & book if you want info on saving and making a budget to pay for application fees. Best of luck!