Chances at FM in NY/NJ programs?

[Karen4317]

Hi everyone!
I am a DO student at an NY school and just had a recent COMLEX Level 1 failure, along with a few other red flags: two failed preclinical courses (passed with remediation), will have delayed graduation because I have to retake level 1. I will also be planning on taking my USMLE exams as well (I am currently taking a course to prepare for these exams, so feeling hopeful that they will go well second time around!) and still have to take level 2/ step 2.
I was considering psychiatry for a while, but have to explore other options, given my situation, and I did enjoy my family medicine rotation a lot! I was wondering, given that I pass my level 1 and remaining board exams, if I will be okay to applying to FM programs in NY? I will target the ones where most of my schools grads have matched into as well as all DO friendly programs. I will also be applying geographically broadly regardless, but just wanted to hear everyone's thoughts as to how hard it would be for me to match in NJ/downstate NY? If it helps, I feel like I am a people person, get along well with others, so my personality for this specialty should not be an issue!
If you guys have any other advice on what to do to help strengthen my application to increase my chances, please let me know! Thank you!

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[Laito]

I had same red flags, but passed everything else. I didn’t apply to NY/NJ but pretty much got an invite from most of the states that I applied to. Currently at a university based community hospital in east coast. Do well on your other classes and board and you will be fine! Good luck!

 

[ciestar]

There are so many programs in both states and so many more if you add in eastern PA ones.

You’ll be fine. Just do well on your retake and even better, destroy step 1

 

[AMEHigh]

I had same red flags, but passed everything else. I didn’t apply to NY/NJ but pretty much got an invite from most of the states that I applied to. Currently at a university based community hospital in east coast. Do well on your other classes and board and you will be fine! Good luck!

Yeah, ditto this. I am out of residency now though, but yeah had no problems getting interviews and matching with similar difficulties due to personal things going on.

Also if you’re definitely going to do FM it’s also likely you don’t have to take usmle since FM is pretty DO friendly they’re used to seeing comlex at most (not all places). I just know for me I decided not to take it because I thought it’d be a huge red flag if I failed usmle after already failed comlex, so I just focused my time and energy on passing comlex and no regrets.

Good luck!

 

[Fatalis]

Hi everyone!
I am a DO student at an NY school and just had a recent COMLEX Level 1 failure, along with a few other red flags: two failed preclinical courses (passed with remediation), will have delayed graduation because I have to retake level 1. I will also be planning on taking my USMLE exams as well (I am currently taking a course to prepare for these exams, so feeling hopeful that they will go well second time around!) and still have to take level 2/ step 2.
I was considering psychiatry for a while, but have to explore other options, given my situation, and I did enjoy my family medicine rotation a lot! I was wondering, given that I pass my level 1 and remaining board exams, if I will be okay to applying to FM programs in NY? I will target the ones where most of my schools grads have matched into as well as all DO friendly programs. I will also be applying geographically broadly regardless, but just wanted to hear everyone's thoughts as to how hard it would be for me to match in NJ/downstate NY? If it helps, I feel like I am a people person, get along well with others, so my personality for this specialty should not be an issue!
If you guys have any other advice on what to do to help strengthen my application to increase my chances, please let me know! Thank you!

Why are you limiting yourself to such a small region?

 

[Karen4317]

Why are you limiting yourself to such a small region?

Mostly because of family! I will apply everywhere but just trying to see if my chances would be okay here. I feel like I have limited myself to less desirable regions but really hoping not

 

[SXMMD]

Does the step 1 pass/fail thing go into effect this match cycle?

If so I might suggest having step 2 ck done by application time at the latest. It's not clear how different (or similar) the match will be with the new step 1 pass/fail scoring method, so having more data points on your application for evaluation may be to your benefit.

A strong sub I perfomance with good letters at a program in your geographic target area may also be helpful too. If that's not possible, an observer-ship perhaps? This can be a double edged sword, but if you're confident in your clinical performance and get along well with people, showcasing yourself at potential programs can help

 

[Dr Tapatio]

Hi everyone!
I am a DO student at an NY school and just had a recent COMLEX Level 1 failure, along with a few other red flags: two failed preclinical courses (passed with remediation), will have delayed graduation because I have to retake level 1. I will also be planning on taking my USMLE exams as well (I am currently taking a course to prepare for these exams, so feeling hopeful that they will go well second time around!) and still have to take level 2/ step 2.
I was considering psychiatry for a while, but have to explore other options, given my situation, and I did enjoy my family medicine rotation a lot! I was wondering, given that I pass my level 1 and remaining board exams, if I will be okay to applying to FM programs in NY? I will target the ones where most of my schools grads have matched into as well as all DO friendly programs. I will also be applying geographically broadly regardless, but just wanted to hear everyone's thoughts as to how hard it would be for me to match in NJ/downstate NY? If it helps, I feel like I am a people person, get along well with others, so my personality for this specialty should not be an issue!
If you guys have any other advice on what to do to help strengthen my application to increase my chances, please let me know! Thank you!

I can't speak to the competitiveness of programs in the area, but I wanted to encourage you to look into Addiction Medicine and the UCI Primary Care Psychiatry fellowship. If you do one of these or both (UCI one is just didactics online), you can add that psych spice into your FM practice

 

[ciestar]

Why are you limiting yourself to such a small region?

I did. It worked out well.