I thought there was some sort of comparison in the MSPE, so they wouldn’t necessarily have to look at grading scales to figure out how the student did. If out of a class of 100, 5 failed, 85 passed, and 10 got honors, they’d know the grading‘s a little different from somewhere that out of 100, 5 failed, 45 passed, 25 high passed, and 25 got honors.
MSPE is losing it's usefulness because they are so varied. Let's say your letter has all that stuff on it (many do), that still doesn't mean anyone is gonna actually read that document. Mine was quite informative but some of the useful information was not near other pertinent data. No one is going to hunt around the letter for something when they have 1000s of apps to sort.
So basically, the one thing that should have relatively objective data on it is being ignored a lot of the time. That sucks.
You're applying IM not for fellowship. IMO I think there are more important things to address in your PS.
Yeah, mine looks distorted on ERAS, but when I open it, it's fine. Other people have reported it being distorted as well.
I agree with @DrStephenStrange unless you have strong ties to the specialty.
Whatever is reported on your transcript and dean's letter at the time your school uploads.
Hm, ok. I'll have to pay attention to my Dean's letter then. I'm starting a sub-I this month that I want to make sure shows up on there because I wasn't able to get an earlier one.
Ask a previous graduate what happened last year for them. I would be shocked if an August rotation wasn't on there.
We absolutely read every MSPE and extract all information. We also split the students by school, so it's easier (read all of the students from one school together).
I applaud your program's diligence! I wish others followed suit.
I did this to some effect. If I got an advanced interview then I immediately contacted the prelim at that hospital. That said, I also applied to a number of TYs and prelims right off the bat at places I knew I wanted to apply to and at places I thought I had a realistic shot of getting an advanced interview. I recommend applying to a chunk of them initially even though it might be a waste.Would appreciate the opinion of anyone on the PD/interview committee side, or any fourth year who’s tried this if you’re generous enough to be following along.
For prelims, I’m thinking about applying to a bunch of TYs on day 1, and then trickling in some med prelims in the cities where I get my advanced interviews as I get them. Wondering if most med/surg prelims actually care whether we apply super late or not, as long as it’s before the formal program deadline.
Perfect! Thank you so much.
Yeah, super easy to schedule. I recommend having a note on your phone with a running list of your interview dates and times so you can check it real quick. Otherwise, the logistics are simple. you open an email and click a link to go schedule a date on pretty much all the platforms.
Awesome thanks bro
I used the following 2-paragraph format largely based on the AMSER Guide for radiology applicants (it may be applicable to other fields):
I emailed whoever was on eras as the contact. Sometimes PD, sometimes PC.
I was told by my school admins to enter them as separate research experiences.
So you aren't going to like the answer: it depends.
Thanks, that was helpful.
I sent out about 5 to my top places that my SO had gotten interviews at that I hadn’t yet. From those I got 4 interviews, and one of them was the place I ended up matching. If you can say something that genuinely appeals to you about the program I think they actually really do make a difference. I followed pretty much the same format everyone has posted so far, made sure to mention what aspect I liked about the program and what I thought I could bring to the program.
I included steps just because I felt like these people get so many love letters and it saves them the hassle of going into your app to see why they didn’t invite you just to find out you missed the screen for steps.
The game of finding the 5 givers continues! Med school is a disaster to the very core
Who did you send your letter of interest email to? PD directly or PC? Also, when did you send yours?
In my case I did several projects with the same P.I. that were all on very different subjects and I had varying roles/duties in, so that played into my consideration to list it all separately. I'm willing to trust my residency advisor on this one given they've edited a lot more ERAS applications than I have lol.
Do I still list a research experience that didn't lead to any abstract, presentation, or publication?
This is why it depends on the person. If they're substantially different subjects then I think it makes sense to split them. But it's quite common to have multiple posters/papers all tying to one major topic with the same mentor, and I think it makes the most sense to lump those under the same Experience. Think about it thematically - if it feels like they tell a better story about your involvement by showing how productive you were from one research relationship, I think it makes sense to lump them. but if you were starting over each time with a new team and topic that just happened to share one mentor, then split them.
Nope, no need to duplicate.
Yes, I just made sure to highlight what I learned from the experience
Definitely not gonna be in person with covid going back up again. I think virtual interviews hurt and helped people at the same time, but overall it was Ok.
At the Family Med residency fair this week most programs said they were planning to offer a hybrid model where the applicant chooses if they want to do in person vs virtual..
