Becoming a competitive candidate for psychiatry - Class of 2024

[ChasingMavericks]

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Hey everyone, I'm an upcoming MS1 who is interested in the field of psychiatry. I come from a low-tier medical school (I'm from Puerto Rico) and Step 1 will transition over to becoming pass/fail in the upcoming years. So, I was wondering how I could work on my self to become a very competitive candidate for psychiatry. Thanks for all your feedback in advance. 🙂

 

[box8psych]

Network (get to know your psych facility early, go to conferences), do *publishable* research, set up 4th away rotations specifically at programs you are particularly interested in, and seek out unique/meaningful psych experience (if available).

 

[Chimed]

Agree with above. Doing research will make you stand out. It shows a high level of interest and that it's not a "back up." The other stuff is typical: do well on your rotation, get great letter of Rec....You also need to interview well. I've interviewed medical students and residents for positions with great credentials that came across very poorly in the interview. I'll take someone with good social skills and willingness to work hard over someone with research any day.

 

[ChasingMavericks]

Agree with above. Doing research will make you stand out. It shows a high level of interest and that it's not a "back up." The other stuff is typical: do well on your rotation, get great letter of Rec....You also need to interview well. I've interviewed medical students and residents for positions with great credentials that came across very poorly in the interview. I'll take someone with good social skills and willingness to work hard over someone with research any day.

Network (get to know your psych facility early, go to conferences), do *publishable* research, set up 4th away rotations specifically at programs you are particularly interested in, and seek out unique/meaningful psych experience (if available).

I'm worried that I might not perform well during my pre-clinical years - that is, I will probably expect to do average in terms of GPA. How do you think this will impact my competitiveness?

Also, I've heard that the STEP 2 will continue to be scored, I should also prioritize that?

 

[Chimed]

I'm worried that I might not perform well during my pre-clinical years - that is, I will probably expect to do average in terms of GPA. How do you think this will impact my competitiveness?

Also, I've heard that the STEP 2 will continue to be scored, I should also prioritize that?

First, don't worry! That won't help. I was average in most of my rotations but got Honors in psychiatry. I did some research and had a leadership role in our psych club. I also had very good letters of rec. I passed my steps on first try but my scores were not great. I got interviews at most the "top tier" programs and got my first choice in the match. So there are a lot of factors. Also, there are a lot of great residency programs that go under the radar because their name isn't in the top 20 on News Week. Don't worry! Enjoy medical school!

 

[ChasingMavericks]

First, don't worry! That won't help. I was average in most of my rotations but got Honors in psychiatry. I did some research and had a leadership role in our psych club. I also had very good letters of rec. I passed my steps on first try but my scores were not great. I got interviews at most the "top tier" programs and got my first choice in the match. So there are a lot of factors. Also, there are a lot of great residency programs that go under the radar because their name isn't in the top 20 on News Week. Don't worry! Enjoy medical school!

Agree with above. Doing research will make you stand out. It shows a high level of interest and that it's not a "back up." The other stuff is typical: do well on your rotation, get great letter of Rec....You also need to interview well. I've interviewed medical students and residents for positions with great credentials that came across very poorly in the interview. I'll take someone with good social skills and willingness to work hard over someone with research any day.

Network (get to know your psych facility early, go to conferences), do *publishable* research, set up 4th away rotations specifically at programs you are particularly interested in, and seek out unique/meaningful psych experience (if available).

Thank you all so much for taking the time to respond to my questions with such insightful responses. I'm very motivated for these upcoming years ^^

 

[baylafan]

Could someone please expand more on why research is so important? On the NRMP Program Director Survey, research is ranked pretty low, losing to things like volunteer/extracurricular and leadership qualities. I don't enjoy research that much, so I want to see how much I should be doing to match in California. I attend a middle-tier MD in CA.

 

[Mad Jack]

Could someone please expand more on why research is so important? On the NRMP Program Director Survey, research is ranked pretty low, losing to things like volunteer/extracurricular and leadership qualities. I don't enjoy research that much, so I want to see how much I should be doing to match in California. I attend a middle-tier MD in CA.

Research isn't super important, but one of the hardest things about evaluating candidates is figuring out who actually wants to be a psychiatrist versus who wants to be in the field for any number of other reasons but has no love of psychiatry itself. Research makes this a bit more clear, as it shows strong interest. It isn't necessary at most programs to be published, however.

 

[Matthew9Thirtyfive]

Research isn't super important, but one of the hardest things about evaluating candidates is figuring out who actually wants to be a psychiatrist versus who wants to be in the field for any number of other reasons but has no love of psychiatry itself. Research makes this a bit more clear, as it shows strong interest. It isn't necessary at most programs to be published, however.

So it won’t hurt if I have research in another field? I have a couple projects that I’m doing from the ground up that I’m in love with but they have basically nothing to do with psychiatry. I do have some other stuff related to psych.

 

[Mad Jack]

So it won’t hurt if I have research in another field? I have a couple projects that I’m doing from the ground up that I’m in love with but they have basically nothing to do with psychiatry. I do have some other stuff related to psych.

Should be fine. It's not like it's illegal to have interests outside the field, and being a more dynamic individual can benefit you overall.

 

[Dalemane]

So it won’t hurt if I have research in another field? I have a couple projects that I’m doing from the ground up that I’m in love with but they have basically nothing to do with psychiatry. I do have some other stuff related to psych.

we did have a case where an applicant had extensive derm research in the first two years but did not pass S1 which led our faculty wonder applicant changed to psych "because it's easy." the applicant did add more psych research and ended up interviewing well and matching to a good program.

 

[Matthew9Thirtyfive]

we did have a case where an applicant had extensive derm research in the first two years but did not pass S1 which led our faculty wonder applicant changed to psych "because it's easy." the applicant did add more psych research and ended up interviewing well and matching to a good program.

Yeah that makes sense. Fortunately I’m in the military match so I can rotate with every program I would be applying to, so I think it would be easier for me to show I’m not doing it as a backup.

 

[djiboutiman]

How big is the DO handicap for psych? From what I know it varies from specialty to specialty e.g tremendous handicap for ophtho/plastics to almost zero handicap for neuro or PM&R.

If looking at this year's matching outcomes (by preferred specialty) 89.6% of senior MDs matched psych and 83.4% of senior DOs matched psych. Compare those rates to Neuro 97.2% MD vs. 92.9% DO, Plastic Surgery 72.1% MD vs 0% DO. PM&R was 89.9% MD vs. 82.5% DO. I would say that psychiatry seems to value interest over prestige, so you aren't SOL as a DO.