MD co ‘20 Residency Panic Thread

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MerYangBey said:
I kinda asked if the residents tend to be more from that general geographic area or if it was a diverse selection. I mean it seemed like a lot of people with connections to the area so I was just wondering... but it’s a stupid question.
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I don’t think that’s stupid. Perhaps you’re overthinking it 🙂
 
MerYangBey said:
I kinda asked if the residents tend to be more from that general geographic area or if it was a diverse selection. I mean it seemed like a lot of people with connections to the area so I was just wondering... but it’s a stupid question.
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In the universe of stupid questions, this isn't even in the same galaxy. I'm sure you were fine.
 
Done a few Neurology interviews already. All of mine are very conversational and relaxing. Unlike some of the other people feedbacks for the same interviewers, it seems that some of these people do ask the challenging questions to some interviewees. So, I’m either acing all of my interviews or strictly bombing them hard without knowing.

Never talk about complex things in Neurology. The only Neurology related quest was for me to talk about an interesting case. I wasn’t challenged at all on my ddx or clinical judgment at all for any of these cases.


As for my application, I am just average.
 
Epilepsy365 said:
Done a few Neurology interviews already. All of mine are very conversational and relaxing. Unlike some of the other people feedbacks for the same interviewers, it seems that some of these people do ask the challenging questions to some interviewees. So, I’m either acing all of my interviews or strictly bombing them hard without knowing.

Never talk about complex things in Neurology. The only Neurology related quest was for me to talk about an interesting case. I wasn’t challenged at all on my ddx or clinical judgment at all for any of these cases.


As for my application, I am just average.
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Sometimes I feel like the interviewers reaction to what you say is what makes or breaks the interview. I’ve basically said the exact same thing to two different people with completely different reactions. One actually commented and made it more conversational and the other nodded and moved to the next question.
so it’s not so much that the questions are challenging... idk This process is weird.
 
MerYangBey said:
Sometimes I feel like the interviewers reaction to what you say is what makes or breaks the interview. I’ve basically said the exact same thing to two different people with completely different reactions. One actually commented and made it more conversational and the other nodded and moved to the next question.
so it’s not so much that the questions are challenging... idk This process is weird.
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It's their game faces. Everyone has different personalities. You just have to throw your best punches, and take no offense to those stone cold killers out there. If they don't like your real best self, f them I say.

Just be yourself. But be mindful and courteous of your social surrounding. Just be that nice person that everyone wants to work with. And if that isn't enough, f them I say.

Peace.
 
Sitting at 10 still for psych. I had hoped for a few more, but since I only applied to 32 programs I'm not sure more will come. Still hoping for 1 or 2 more but hey, if 10 is all I get then I'm okay with that.
 
I was expecting another dead week with just 4 interviews, but I got an added bonus yesterday: my wife and mother of 2 kids has been sport cheating with acquaintances of our "friends" during the entirety of med school. Between the early awakening, loss of appetite, and psychomotor agitation, I'm just glad that 2 of the 3 top choices I have already interviewed me before this happened.

It's hard to seek help because talking about it will likely cause a mandated-report, which will not help at all. I'll do my best to not do something extra stupid until Match Day, but seeing the panic here definitely helps me feel less alone.
 
darknecrosforte said:
I was expecting another dead week with just 4 interviews, but I got an added bonus yesterday: my wife and mother of 2 kids has been sport cheating with acquaintances of our "friends" during the entirety of med school. Between the early awakening, loss of appetite, and psychomotor agitation, I'm just glad that 2 of the 3 top choices I have already interviewed me before this happened.

It's hard to seek help because talking about it will likely cause a mandated-report, which will not help at all. I'll do my best to not do something extra stupid until Match Day, but seeing the panic here definitely helps me feel less alone.
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I'm very sorry that this is happening to you. You shouldn't keep it inside. You need to talk to someone just to vent stuff out. Please don't do anything stupid. I don't want to hear about an ex-Marine with chainsaw incident in the next couple of months.

Again, I'm so sorry that this is happening to you, especially with kids involved.
 
darknecrosforte said:
I was expecting another dead week with just 4 interviews, but I got an added bonus yesterday: my wife and mother of 2 kids has been sport cheating with acquaintances of our "friends" during the entirety of med school. Between the early awakening, loss of appetite, and psychomotor agitation, I'm just glad that 2 of the 3 top choices I have already interviewed me before this happened.

It's hard to seek help because talking about it will likely cause a mandated-report, which will not help at all. I'll do my best to not do something extra stupid until Match Day, but seeing the panic here definitely helps me feel less alone.
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That absolutely sucks beyond all words and I'm so sorry that you have to go through this, especially during such an important time of your career/life 🙁. I'm going to echo Epilepsy365 and say that you most definitely should not deal with this alone and keep it all bottled up to yourself. If you're not comfortable with talking to a professional or close family member/friend, at least find a way to vent and let it all out somehow--be it on an anonymous forum, private twitter, journaling, venting it out on a letter then burning it, etc. Match Day is still a ways away and the emotional and mental toll of this situation being dragged out on your own until then would be even more devastating than finding some form of help.

I'm hoping that the fact that two strangers on the internet have already reached out to you to express concern is enough to help you realize how important it is that you take care of yourself during this whole process and seek the help that you need in order to do that.
 
Was able to get in contact with the person who strongly influenced my peaceful parenting style and had a very insightful/helpful Skype call where he mediated between the wife and I. I'm glad he sensed the urgency and made time to thoroughly address each challenge and guided us to figure out what we want to do for now. I was able to keep food down and actually sleep for a while afterward. We're going to focus on the kiddos and burying the old marriage and see what comes out of mourning over it.

I can reassure you that we can resume the regular ERAS panic. Thanks for the concern, random internet strangers.

Epilepsy365 said:
I'm very sorry that this is happening to you. You shouldn't keep it inside. You need to talk to someone just to vent stuff out. Please don't do anything stupid. I don't want to hear about an ex-Marine with chainsaw incident in the next couple of months.
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rukia013 said:
That absolutely sucks beyond all words and I'm so sorry that you have to go through this, especially during such an important time of your career/life 🙁. I'm going to echo Epilepsy365 and say that you most definitely should not deal with this alone and keep it all bottled up to yourself. If you're not comfortable with talking to a professional or close family member/friend, at least find a way to vent and let it all out somehow--be it on an anonymous forum, private twitter, journaling, venting it out on a letter then burning it, etc. Match Day is still a ways away and the emotional and mental toll of this situation being dragged out on your own until then would be even more devastating than finding some form of help.

I'm hoping that the fact that two strangers on the internet have already reached out to you to express concern is enough to help you realize how important it is that you take care of yourself during this whole process and seek the help that you need in order to do that.
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I need some quick advice friends.

I want to cancel an interview I have on Monday. It's 6.5 hours away. And its really not a program I'm going to rank anywhere near my top 10 after the interviews I've recently gotten. I have two more this week which I also have to drive a lot for.

Is it okay to cancel this interview Monday? Do PDs talk at all?

I do feel terrible to cancel.
 
pbrocks15 said:
I need some quick advice friends.

I want to cancel an interview I have on Monday. It's 6.5 hours away. And its really not a program I'm going to rank anywhere near my top 10 after the interviews I've recently gotten. I have two more this week which I also have to drive a lot for.

Is it okay to cancel this interview Monday? Do PDs talk at all?

I do feel terrible to cancel.
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You should feel terrible to cancel. It's completely normal
You worked hard for that interview, and it feels bad to turn down a potential job. You should also feel terrible that you procrastinated cancelling it to the last second and now they couldn't fill that spot with an applicant who would desperately love to go there. There won't be any repercussions to your cancelling.
 
pbrocks15 said:
I need some quick advice friends.

I want to cancel an interview I have on Monday. It's 6.5 hours away. And its really not a program I'm going to rank anywhere near my top 10 after the interviews I've recently gotten. I have two more this week which I also have to drive a lot for.

Is it okay to cancel this interview Monday? Do PDs talk at all?

I do feel terrible to cancel.
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I feel like I would go unless it really meant I couldn’t make it to a different interview. Did you double book or will you just be driving around a lot ?
 
So I was able to move one interview over so now I’ve got just 2 during a rotation (not audition just rotation) at the same institution I’m interviewing at. BUT I have to be gone the day that rotation starts. How bad is that? I will contact the rotation site and offer to work extra days of course.
 
pbrocks15 said:
I need some quick advice friends.

I want to cancel an interview I have on Monday. It's 6.5 hours away. And its really not a program I'm going to rank anywhere near my top 10 after the interviews I've recently gotten. I have two more this week which I also have to drive a lot for.

Is it okay to cancel this interview Monday? Do PDs talk at all?

I do feel terrible to cancel.
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Are you sure any of the programs who interviewed you are going to rank-to-match you? It seems like the risk of not matching greatly outweighs the 1-2 days of inconvenience.
 
pbrocks15 said:
I need some quick advice friends.

I want to cancel an interview I have on Monday. It's 6.5 hours away. And its really not a program I'm going to rank anywhere near my top 10 after the interviews I've recently gotten. I have two more this week which I also have to drive a lot for.

Is it okay to cancel this interview Monday? Do PDs talk at all?

I do feel terrible to cancel.
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That's way too close to interview day to cancel imo, so if it were me I would go. Unless something incredibly unexpected came up that shows very poor planning on your part.
 
CoomassieBlue57 said:
Sorry, I applied to too many programs. There’s always two sides to a story. I never said anything derogatory torwards this person and as I said, I hope this week is a good week for them.
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It’s cool I’m not upset by your comment. But the thread is the eras panic thread lol. It would be like going on a thread for people trying to lose weight and telling them how skinny you are. It’s a bit unusual for you to comment in the first place. But anyways let’s be done commenting about this and go back to panicking y’all.
 
MerYangBey said:
It’s cool I’m not upset by your comment. But the thread is the eras panic thread lol. It would be like going on a thread for people trying to lose weight and telling them how skinny you are. It’s a bit unusual for you to comment in the first place. But anyways let’s be done commenting about this and go back to panicking y’all.
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Never said I’m not panicking.
 
I have my first resident pre-interview dinner tomorrow COMMENCE PANICKING

Also would it be weird to have a written list of questions that I want to ask the residents and faculty/PD? I don't have a top choice/fave program so I'm trying to ask the same questions to every program to help with my ROL (and to make it even more complicated I'm applying MP so I'm essentially assessing 3 residency programs at every interview...)
 
rukia013 said:
I have my first resident pre-interview dinner tomorrow COMMENCE PANICKING

Also would it be weird to have a written list of questions that I want to ask the residents and faculty/PD? I don't have a top choice/fave program so I'm trying to ask the same questions to every program to help with my ROL (and to make it even more complicated I'm applying MP so I'm essentially assessing 3 residency programs at every interview...)
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I have a written list but i dont bring it into any interview itself
 
ciestar said:
I have a written list but i dont bring it into any interview itself
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I'm planning to bring a portfolio binder with me on interview day that has a notepad for jotting down notes/questions, would that seem weird/excessive as well? (It'll also double as my purse/wallet for the day and carry stuff for show and tell if they ask about hobbies)
 
rukia013 said:
I'm planning to bring a portfolio binder with me on interview day that has a notepad for jotting down notes/questions, would that seem weird/excessive as well? (It'll also double as my purse/wallet for the day and carry stuff for show and tell if they ask about hobbies)
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Gone on 4 interviews so far. I’d say most people don’t take one however more than a few did. I feel that the better the program, the more likely people are to have them (completely anecdotal). Certainly within the realm of normal to have a pad/portfolio/folder to keep some notes, store paper they give you etc. Makes it easier on the back end as well when trying to differentiate programs for rank order list when you keep decent notes on what you find important.
 
rukia013 said:
I'm planning to bring a portfolio binder with me on interview day that has a notepad for jotting down notes/questions, would that seem weird/excessive as well? (It'll also double as my purse/wallet for the day and carry stuff for show and tell if they ask about hobbies)
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Plenty of people bring them ive noticed. It wouldnt be weird
 
curbsideconsult said:
Are you sure any of the programs who interviewed you are going to rank-to-match you? It seems like the risk of not matching greatly outweighs the 1-2 days of inconvenience.
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Dude he’s talking about top 10, unlikely he’ll match past those 10. but he’s a butthole for canceling so close.
CoomassieBlue57 said:
Nope, currently sitting at 19 interviews.
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Cool flex bro
 
rukia013 said:
I have my first resident pre-interview dinner tomorrow COMMENCE PANICKING

Also would it be weird to have a written list of questions that I want to ask the residents and faculty/PD? I don't have a top choice/fave program so I'm trying to ask the same questions to every program to help with my ROL (and to make it even more complicated I'm applying MP so I'm essentially assessing 3 residency programs at every interview...)
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I have a 10 questions pertaining to me that's saved an entry on my email, so that I can skim and look at before the interview with the faculty members.

Honestly, my thoughts are very simple for my stratification:

1) Do I mesh well with the residents? Is any of them weird?
2) Academically, do they meet my baseline of what I want in my training?
3) Most important of all, do I want to live in that city for the next 4 years? Criteria could be food choices, schools, neighborhood safety, cost of living, etc... If you're single, maybe access to the opposite sex for a power couple match might be in there as well.
 
MerYangBey said:
Anyone else really wishing they had applied to 10 more programs. #panic
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Hang in there! If I recall correctly, I think you have really good stats, so you should be fine. How many programs did you apply to? How many interview invites do you have so far? Specialty?
 
PhoenixAZ said:
Hang in there! If I recall correctly, I think you have really good stats, so you should be fine. How many programs did you apply to? How many interview invites do you have so far? Specialty?
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Haha thank you! Im applying IM.
I’m sitting at an okay number just based on the match data. I would like a couple more to feel more comfortable. What I’m realizing now is my list was a little too top heavy. So if I could go back I would have added a few more “target programs”.
 
Is there a point in LOI’s? I just sent one out and im finding it really hard to write without sounding mega fake
 
Only sent 2, one within my range and one I dont expect to get anything out of. I was actually just about to send one when I got an invite from the program (like literally about to hit the send button after spending an hour crafting the email cause it was my #1 program lol).

Havent heard back from either so idk. Ill let ya know if I get anything back from either lol. Tbh writing mine actually came fairly easily (talked about pt. Population, location, specific aspects of the program which interest me) And felt somewhat natural/conversational. Like 2 chunks of text, probs 6-7 sentences total.
 
ciestar said:
Is there a point in LOI’s? I just sent one out and im finding it really hard to write without sounding mega fake
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I sent 5. Got an invite to one within the hour (they sent invites to other people that day per the spreadsheet though so maybe I would have gotten that anyway). Got an invite to another about a week after I sent it. Ghosted by two. Received a very nice but very vague response immediately from one that was neither invite nor rejection. Feeling fake wasn't my problem, but I did feel scared that I would be viewed as sad and desperate. One of the ones I received an invite to was a reach, so don't let that stop you.
 
ciestar said:
Is there a point in LOI’s? I just sent one out and im finding it really hard to write without sounding mega fake
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I think it'll help your case more if you have strong ties to a school (undergrad, hometown, family in area, SO from area or currently in area, worked with institution or someone from institution in the past) and/or you have tangible aspects of the program that you resonate with and you have certain activities or experiences that can back that up. The problem becomes when people just kind of shotgun send LOIs to like 10+ programs including places where they have no ties just out of a hope to get an invite at a place that sounds nice (I don't even blame these people honestly, it's kind of how the system is set up)
 
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