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Ya, it was awkward answering that question...with a "no"...I suck I guess cuz no invite...then "sure" is that a test? hahahah
MD & DO co'21 Residency Panic thread
Started by kraskadva
I think the fact that there was no social event and you only met 1 resident is in and of itself a redflag. Why aren't residents more involved in the process? Why are none of them available or interested in talking to applicants? Are they at least having an open house, "second look" or some other resident meet and greet?
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deleted709825
It sounds like the interviewer was impressed with you and trying to help you get an interview within the same hospital system. (I'm assuming this is like Kaiser or Mayo Clinic, where they have multiple programs.) Don't overthink it!
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As a applicant this year the zoom meet and greets are entirely useless and awkward and a few programs have just had all the residents sit in a conference room while the group of applicants is up on the big screen. This just leads to talking over everyone and a mess.
Trying to treat this year as the same, just virtual, just isn’t ideal. We have to sit there for hours on zoom it’s a lot. I’m happy for the opportunity of course, but one program put all the presentations and questions to residents on the website and is just having the interviews, which personally I feel is a better system. This year we all have to rely on word of mouth from the Reddit sheet, personal connections, and mentors to tell us what the culture is.
for me, I’ve still been able to tell if people actually want to work there through regular interviews as well
We've had a different experience, but interview so few people it works. Our "lunch" have actually been used a lot for interviewees to ask basically anything they wanted, and so far we've had very candid pro and con discussions, we've walked through where people live on Google maps, talked about food in the area, etc.
Don't get me wrong, most of our stuff is online or sent to interviewees electronically, but this has actually gone better than I expected at least in terms of sharing info about the program. One thing that is clearly not replicated is actually getting to know applicants as well.
One big problem programs are having is that they don't have a good setup for breakout rooms. >8 people (residents and applicants) on zoom or >5 in a social breakout room just doesn't give anyone a great opportunity to ask questions in a productive way.
Again though, it is a red flag to not have more residents involved in your experience. When I would have a social and only a couple upper years could attend it was often because the interns were super busy or didn't care. What's worse is when they basically would have a conversation to themselves, ignoring applicants. It really shows the culture there. If you only meet one resident, how are you supposed to get any idea about the place? At least if they try, it shows they are at least interested even if it's awkward virtually.
The caveat is that with the surge, we are pulling people to the inpatient service and this may continue to a point where they literally will be busy, and I honestly hope to be transparent about that to applicants. Handling COVID has been a major question from applicants this year, and I would encourage you guys to ask it. Chances are, you will still be dealing with it when you guys start in July.
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Hoping for big interview energy for all of us this week homies.
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deleted697308
Agreed. Not a fan oof the virtual meet and greets before. Usually just go around in a circle and ask one question. No one really knows anyone's name lol
Raising my hands up high for that big universe energy like Goku making a spirit bomb
is it poor form/disrespectful/unprofessional to decline an interview after being invited and prior to scheduling??? i just got invited to a program I added in a panic right before eras was sent to programs. i have been blessed to get enough invites that I prefer at this time...just not sure how to handle this.
no lol you're good just decline it
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do you (or others) think I should email the program and let them know I'm withdrawing my app? i have been doing so for interviews I had previously scheduled and then canceled but this seems different, and like maybe that's not necessary.
Up to you. I don't if I'm > 2 weeks from the interview I just decline the interview through their scheduling system and withdraw the application on ERAS.
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deleted697308
I just declined it and then emailed the PC lol for both situations you have listed
Alright, I declined on ERAS and withdrew from the program. Also sent a nice heads up to the PC. Hopefully no bad blood - I'm sure its just my anxiety and neuroticism that is telling me they even care at all lol
This is totally normal procedure, don't sweat it.
Haha I love how most programs are mass ghosting applicants or making them fight over too few interview slots for the number they invite, and then you stress about how to be polite with a coordinator! Good for you dude
They're doing it wrong if you're not in smaller breakout rooms with a couple residents and a few applicants. We're asking for feedback and that was something we learned from our first open house
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deleted697308
none of mine have had that. usually one person asks too many questions for an hour
while the rest of us each ask one
That 10 pm Saturday night Yale rejection though..I mean seriously?
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this makes me want to dienone of mine have had that. usually one person asks too many questions for an hour
Once beyond the end time too hahanone of mine have had that. usually one person asks too many questions for an hour
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deleted697308
ugh yes. attended one where it was 2.5 hours just because one person couldn't stop asking questions for the last 1.5 hours lol
FYI - it seems the IMGs are getting more interviews now (hooray). If what I understand about how these usually go in waves. If you are an MD/DO student and haven't heard from your primary care program - you should send out a LOI now!
Nothing like a good impression to push you up the rank list.
There is always one person in the group that is way too excited and is obviously trying to make an impression. In my most recent one the applicant was name dropping and giggling....was cringy
II just now. Let’s goo
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deleted697308
They asked if it snows...in an area of the country it very obviously snows
This meme was an awfully accurate description of the typical day for the past two weeks..Today it was not! 4th II 
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II for a waitlist spot at a place I really like and did an away at. Steps in the right direction at least?
accurate except no rejection email just perpetual ghosting
When people say waitlist, do they mean the program is inviting you but no dates are open to schedule? Or do they/you mean that the program sent you a message saying you are waitlisted for an invite?
I got an interview invite with all dates currently filled. They discuss possibly adding another date or two. From speaking to residents, almost all programs received a crazy amount of applications this year. Like several I've talked to have over 750 apps when they usually get around 500 based on NRMP data
This means the chance to match after an interview is lower. My home program told me they definitely got more app and are doing more interviews.
Unfortunately this might be true for some places. A couple anesthesiology residencies sent out like 500+ invites. No way all these people will be ranked to match
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deleted697308
Maybe your home program but every single program I've interviewed at says they're interviewing the exact same number of applicants. Thalamus spots confirm it.
Man we seriously need application caps seeing programs are getting a lot more flooded this year. That's what happens when virtual interviews without caps are a thing.
Or it means that they set up interview dates for a normal year and this isn’t a normal year? So they are opening more dates? You have zero actual evidence to back this up at the program I’m talking to and the way you definitively try to answer these things is absurd.
I may have a lower shot but I mean I doubt neuro in the Midwest is gonna be a hot commodity so I’m willing to bet a lot of people with some of the slots are people who will match somewhere on the coasts who applied to bigger name places out of paranoia. You can only match one place and 250 more apps than usual speaks more to my point than yours
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deleted697308
most programs aren't interviewing more candidates. even did the math by thalamus calculations. and it was actually slightly less than they typically interviewed (albeit cause of dropping/open spots)
I did not say all programs lol...I know more programs than just my home programs. I think the prediction is more programs will go unfilled this cycle...probably less competitive ones...hence why over invite and another round of soap.
Idk I’m going off specific conversations that stated they were looking to add more dates. Current thalamus calculations (whatever that means) don’t necessarily equate to them being done. They have to realize risk of not filling too if they interview top people who wouldn’t apply there normally. You can only match one place
I was not answering your programs. Why would I? I doubt I even applied to the same specialty as yours. You don't have to get to defensive lol...We had misunderstanding...I apologized..Be an adult and move on...I was talking in general lol...
Exactly. So they will likely add more interview slots to cover for that. Nobody wants to soap on applicant or program side
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deleted697308
Maybe it's different since we're applying different specialties. Most programs I applied to had 4-6 set dates and some only gave 2 dates and haven't invited more people since.
It seems to be a common theme to talk about your pets and their favorite foods for 30 minutes on these virtual meet and greets.They asked if it snows...in an area of the country it very obviously snows
You and me seem to have a communication difference. It really does not help me much at all to continue this nonsense. I’m not defensive you’re just talking very definitively about “lower chance of matching” while directly replying to my message about a waitlist, when you have exactly zero evidence at all
My home program faculties said they got more app and are interviewing more...More interviewee per spots obviously equals lower chance to match. I am not sure what evidence you need lol...Again I am not saying all programs will interview more. I even said previously one program will interview less, but it is top program. I think the less competitive programs will be the ones who interview more because if any, they will be more likely to go unfilled than top. Again, it depends on specialty/programs etc. I am just saying what I was told from attending conferences/virtual meet and greet/faculties...
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