MD & DO co'21 Residency Panic thread

Burrell College of Osteopathic Medicine
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CavsFan2016 said:
A few questions about letters of intent:

When are you guys sending them? Is it the earlier, the better?​
​
I've heard of some people in other specialties who are sending a letter to their top three schools. But for radiology, at least, I've heard that you should only send ONE letter of intent to your top program that explicitly states "I am ranking you #1". What is the general consensus on this?​
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Had a meeting with a program director last week (medicine, not rads) who said only send it to your top program. *shrug*
 
CavsFan2016 said:
A faculty member from my medical school suggested sending a handwritten note through the mail. Do you think an email would be fine, instead?
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I sent thank you email to all programs I interviewed at, and those who responded, even the oldest one can type something...with Covid, I think it is a risk to send and touch it to read...🤷‍♀️
 
CavsFan2016 said:
A faculty member from my medical school suggested sending a handwritten note through the mail. Do you think an email would be fine, instead?
Click to expand...
I would stick with email. Snail mail can often get lost or arrive late, especially during these COVID times. I sent a few Christmas cards to family with 2 day shipping that arrived 2 weeks later.
 
CavsFan2016 said:
A few questions about letters of intent:

When are you guys sending them? Is it the earlier, the better?​
​
I've heard of some people in other specialties who are sending a letter to their top three schools. But for radiology, at least, I've heard that you should only send ONE letter of intent to your top program that explicitly states "I am ranking you #1". What is the general consensus on this?​
Click to expand...
Already sent mine. Only send one letter.
 
For the #1 letters, are you guys waiting till the program's last day of interview?
 
Dr.Bruh said:
This is why being Type B is so clutch and worth it in med school. Post-step and basically all of 4th year has felt like a vacation. WHen you're able to not worry about things you know are out of your control 4th year is a breath of fresh air and fun.
Click to expand...
I have done literally nothing except do interviews and play video games after taking step 2 ck.
 
CavsFan2016 said:
A few questions about letters of intent:

When are you guys sending them? Is it the earlier, the better?​
​
I've heard of some people in other specialties who are sending a letter to their top three schools. But for radiology, at least, I've heard that you should only send ONE letter of intent to your top program that explicitly states "I am ranking you #1". What is the general consensus on this?​
Click to expand...

I was wondering about this a couple days ago & ran into the videos below; I'm gunna follow this dude's advice he seems to always know what's up.

Part 1:








Part 2:
 
Interesting that he keeps implying PDs might talk to each other and find out that you sent multiple LOIs. Isn't that kind of conversation between PDs strictly forbidden? Is it really happening like that?
 
efle said:
Interesting that he keeps implying PDs might talk to each other and find out that you sent multiple LOIs. Isn't that kind of conversation between PDs strictly forbidden? Is it really happening like that?
Click to expand...
PDs talk, especially in small fields. Also the rules are just rules, and they’re constantly broken. My interviews confirm that ha
 
I think another issue might be if you told a place you're ranking them #1 and then they find out you matched elsewhere....then 3-5 years down the road you apply to the place you mislead for a fellowship.
Also you might be surprised to see some of these PDs at regional or national conferences in your field. They may not remember who you are....but if they do it could be awkward at best and it could keep you out of a fellowship (or even an attending job at that site) later.
 
Oligodinero said:
I think another issue might be if you told a place you're ranking them #1 and then they find out you matched elsewhere....then 3-5 years down the road you apply to the place you mislead for a fellowship.
Also you might be surprised to see some of these PDs at regional or national conferences in your field. They may not remember who you are....but if they do it could be awkward at best and it could keep you out of a fellowship (or even an attending job at that site) later.
Click to expand...
Totally true. The smaller the field, the more you’re going to feel this kind of mistake
 
Oligodinero said:
I think another issue might be if you told a place you're ranking them #1 and then they find out you matched elsewhere....then 3-5 years down the road you apply to the place you mislead for a fellowship.
Also you might be surprised to see some of these PDs at regional or national conferences in your field. They may not remember who you are....but if they do it could be awkward at best and it could keep you out of a fellowship (or even an attending job at that site) later.
Click to expand...
As other people have mentioned, it's specialty dependent. For example, it is strictly a no-no to do any of this after interviews for plastics. In fact... it's absolutely no communication after interviews by either side...

(excluding if a program is missing vital information in which case they can contact the applicant for specifically that one piece of information)
 
efle said:
Interesting that he keeps implying PDs might talk to each other and find out that you sent multiple LOIs. Isn't that kind of conversation between PDs strictly forbidden? Is it really happening like that?
Click to expand...

Advisor of mine (who happens to be a PD for another field) said that if you pull this type of stunt and don't match, they will hold it against candidates applying next year or later.
 
Banco said:
Advisor of mine (who happens to be a PD for another field) said that if you pull this type of stunt and don't match, they will hold it against candidates applying next year or later.
Click to expand...
Like, they'll hold it against people from the same school the following year?
 
efle said:
Interesting that he keeps implying PDs might talk to each other and find out that you sent multiple LOIs. Isn't that kind of conversation between PDs strictly forbidden? Is it really happening like that?
Click to expand...
Lol the communication is not only happen between PD/chair, but also faculties and residents...at few of my interviews, I already was told they spoke to my home program faculties...especially in a small field
 
Oligodinero said:
I think another issue might be if you told a place you're ranking them #1 and then they find out you matched elsewhere....then 3-5 years down the road you apply to the place you mislead for a fellowship.
Also you might be surprised to see some of these PDs at regional or national conferences in your field. They may not remember who you are....but if they do it could be awkward at best and it could keep you out of a fellowship (or even an attending job at that site) later.
Click to expand...
It’s crazy that sending multiple letters of intent is even a thing, because this has happened in multiple specialties. It’s mind boggling that they have to tell med students “don’t be a ****.”

Not sure if this a personality thing where these people should’ve had no right to be in med school or does it just show how far one will take it to get ahead? That gunner attitude is straight cancer and displays complete lack of character
 
ritts said:
It’s crazy that sending multiple letters of intent is even a thing, because this has happened in multiple specialties. It’s mind boggling that they have to tell med students “don’t be a ****.”

Not sure if this a personality thing where these people should’ve had no right to be in med school or does it just show how far one will take it to get ahead? That gunner attitude is straight cancer and displays complete lack of character
Click to expand...
yeah I would never send more than one #1, but I think it does suck that we can't send a "I am really excited about you and ranking you high" message if they're not number 1. But apparently not saying they're #1 is a slap in the face, even though I am really genuinely excited about/would be happy with multiple programs. Just sucks that my #2 and my #15 will think I feel the same about them. But maybe none of it matters at all and I'm just sensitive because I'm going back through my programs thoroughly right now to try to lock in my whole order.
 
Letters of intent are for the sheeple. We all know they are meaningless.

Want to make a real impact? Send cash. Small, unmarked bills.

Send too little and you'll look cheap and uncommitted. Who wants a cheap and uncommitted resident?
Send too much and you'll look desperate. I definitely don't want desperate residents -- they might turn on me in the future.
The key is to figure out that sweet spot right in the middle. It's going to be different for each program, so you'll need to do your homework!

Don't do this
 
efle said:
Like, they'll hold it against people from the same school the following year?
Click to expand...

Yeah. She's n = 1 but has been very knowledgeable and forthcoming so I tend to believe her on these things, but it's obviously all program dependent.
 
Lawpy said:
Why can't we ban all post interview communication? No LOIs and other clutter. No fake "we're ranking you #1!" from programs.
Click to expand...
Agree...n phone call...really? Why do we need LOR...interviews then phone call from program to program (so their students will be rank higher) or program to applicants (some lie)? Obviously phone call from big names weight more...
 
NotAProgDirector said:
Letters of intent are for the sheeple. We all know they are meaningless.

Want to make a real impact? Send cash. Small, unmarked bills.

Send too little and you'll look cheap and uncommitted. Who wants a cheap and uncommitted resident?
Send too much and you'll look desperate. I definitely don't want desperate residents -- they might turn on me in the future.
The key is to figure out that sweet spot right in the middle. It's going to be different for each program, so you'll need to do your homework!

Don't do this
Click to expand...
How about BTC
 
Ho0v-man said:
Anyone else think it’s wild that they could match into a program they interviewed at on a whim in November and haven’t even thought about since reading this post?
Click to expand...
Unfortunately I’m an over-analyzer so I have continued to think about all of them. Trying to “lock in” my list by going back through their websites, all of my notes on excel, any program stuff they sent me as part of the virtual interview, and even emailing a couple residents if I still have a question (usually from my earlier interviews before I was skillful in both being interviewed and collecting information).
 
sunshinefl said:
Unfortunately I’m an over-analyzer so I have continued to think about all of them. Trying to “lock in” my list by going back through their websites, all of my notes on excel, any program stuff they sent me as part of the virtual interview, and even emailing a couple residents if I still have a question (usually from my earlier interviews before I was skillful in both being interviewed and collecting information).
Click to expand...

My notes for the first 10 interviews were hand written and are completely lost, so now I'm just ranking based on location, lol...
 
Just realized I never scheduled one of my interviews. Coordinator gave me a list of days, I sent my preference, they sent back that my preferred days were already full and then never sent me any more dates. What a bummer, it's one of the bigger programs for my field, too
 
efle said:
Just realized I never scheduled one of my interviews. Coordinator gave me a list of days, I sent my preference, they sent back that my preferred days were already full and then never sent me any more dates. What a bummer, it's one of the bigger programs for my field, too
Click to expand...

Noooo 🙁

Did you try reaching out to them?
 
Scrubs101 said:
Took chicken scratch notes that I can’t even read because my hand writings terrible as it is and i wrote them while maintaining eye/camera contact lmaooo

big time regretting it now as im getting call schedules and food stipends mixed up
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haha I did the same, except the second it ended I transcribed the info immediately onto the proper columns of my excel sheet.
 
Banco said:
My notes for the first 10 interviews were hand written and are completely lost, so now I'm just ranking based on location, lol...
Click to expand...
Same. Although I think my pre interview rank list is only slightly different from my post interview rank list.

I don’t even remember what’s happening with the prelims and TYs and those websites have no information on them lol.
 
Ho0v-man said:
Same. Although I think my pre interview rank list is only slightly different from my post interview rank list.

I don’t even remember what’s happening with the prelims and TYs and those websites have no information on them lol.
Click to expand...
The only note I have for one of my TY interviews is "derm resident said: 'I didnt know PGY1 was allowed to be this chill'"

It will be my #1 rank
 
efle said:
The only note I have for one of my TY interviews is "derm resident said: 'I didnt know PGY1 was allowed to be this chill'"

It will be my #1 rank
Click to expand...
Idk why people want these TY years where you do nothing. Not criticizing you and I like chill, but there are good programs that develop you clinically without treating you like a medical student for another year. Might as well develop some skills and learn some stuff if I’m gonna be there. I don’t think chill and learning are mutually exclusive terms
 
underthesun said:
Idk why people want these TY years where you do nothing. Not criticizing you and I like chill, but there are good programs that develop you clinically without treating you like a medical student for another year. Might as well develop some skills and learn some stuff if I’m gonna be there
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I really don't care about being a notehoe and dancing like a monkey presenting patients on endless rounds in the name of "learning." This is particularly true for me since I was met with audible laughter after asking my rad mentors if intern year was helpful at all.

I say to each their own. I would rather be treated like a useless med student than accidentally end up on the other end of the spectrum.
 
mandu_cheeks said:
some stuff I wrote down when interviewing for prelims: patient caps (if any), what type of EMR, night float schedule, relationship between residents & midlevel staff, free food & quality, free vs discounted parking

I didn't write any notes for my DR interviews lol
Click to expand...
Same. DR interviews are essentially all the same.
 
underthesun said:
Idk why people want these TY years where you do nothing. Not criticizing you and I like chill, but there are good programs that develop you clinically without treating you like a medical student for another year. Might as well develop some skills and learn some stuff if I’m gonna be there. I don’t think chill and learning are mutually exclusive terms
Click to expand...
Well I want it because I asked a bunch of rads residents about it and they unanimously said nothing in PGY1 can prep you for R1 at all, so avoid a hardcore prelim.

If anything, a super cush TY where I can take a rads elective and research blocks will be better for me AND chill.
 
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