MD & DO Co’22 ERAS Panic Thread

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iforget2 said:
Has anyone ever gotten an LOR from a physician they didn't do a rotation with? There's a mentor I've been with all 4 years who knows me well personally and I was supposed to do an elective with him but it fell through bc of COVID. I still would like him to write me a letter, but not sure how much he'd be able to talk about my clinical abilities.
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Don't do this. Unless they supervised a research project and that's what the letter will be about.
DrStephenStrange said:
I got one from the IM chair at my school who I didn't rotate with, but he is also a neurologist, and I'm applying neurology. So I thought I'd knock out two birds with one stone (IM chair and Neuro LOR in one).
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A "chair" letter is a different beast than the above (or perhaps the only exception). Chair letters are supposed to be a summary letter of your experiences in the department. Not all fields have/want them. It's unlikely you will have worked with the chair -- they usually use all of your evaluations. Usually, it's not the chair that actually writes them.
fldoctorgirl said:
If someone is "director of xyz", is that the same as being chair of that department? Like, director of the ICU is the ICU chair? Or is that not how it works? Trying to decide how to designate a letter on ERAS. My school gave us a really lazy attempt from our "department chair" that basically says read the MSPE since our letter would be the same as the MSPE. Not sure if I can designate this other letter as a department chair letter or if that exclusively applies to someone from your school.
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No. The Director of the ICU is just that. If you don't have a dept letter it's fine. Some schools do, some don't -- especially DO schools.
 
@NotAProgDirector I wanted to ask you one question. How many times do PDs usually re-download apps during the first few weeks? My Level 2/Step 2 will come 2 weeks after apps are released, and I was wondering whether that would significantly hurt me or not. Will I have to email all programs to let them know that my Level 2 and Step 2 are now available once I get my scores back?
 
Deecee2DO said:
Yeah its a little over one page on ERAS is that bad? Also, are people actually personalizing their PS for each program? Ive heard of this and it sounds nauseating. No way in heck am I spending that kind of time personalizing my PS for every program
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Mixed comments. Some people say to absolutely keep in below a page, some say it doesn't matter to go a bit onto the second. I originally had like 3-4 lines on a second page and trimmed things down to keep it one page. Also, I personalized for my top programs, but it's definitely not necessary.
 
fldoctorgirl said:
Mixed comments. Some people say to absolutely keep in below a page, some say it doesn't matter to go a bit onto the second. I originally had like 3-4 lines on a second page and trimmed things down to keep it one page. Also, I personalized for my top programs, but it's definitely not necessary.
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How many did you personalize?
 
DrStephenStrange said:
@NotAProgDirector I wanted to ask you one question. How many times do PDs usually re-download apps during the first few weeks? My Level 2/Step 2 will come 2 weeks after apps are released, and I was wondering whether that would significantly hurt me or not. Will I have to email all programs to let them know that my Level 2 and Step 2 are now available once I get my scores back?
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There is no downloading. There hasn't been for years. The ERAS app is now fully web based. When you get your new scores, you need to re-release them in ERAS. Once that happens, they will be immediately available to programs. If they have created filters saying "show me all applications of DO's that have Step 2", your app will immediately appear.

If they are still in the process of reviewing apps, they are likely to see yours. If they have already finished review and made decisions, unclear if communicating with them will make any difference. If they reviewed your app and rejected it for an interview, ? if your S2 score will change that outcome.

Hence, emailing programs is probably not necessary. Many people do it anyway, "because it can't hurt".
 
Captain_Falcon said:
How many did you personalize?
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I plan on personalizing my top 10 but not in any crazy way just a sentence or two in my concluding paragraph on why my interests/goals align with unique aspects that make their particular program a good fit for me. Many of them are location, one of them is ties to their program through my research, others are things about their program that fit my PS theme.
 
Will residency have access to your September rotation grades ? Wondering when I can start slowly slow down in trying getting honors in non specialty rotations.
 
Are people applying to prelim/transitional needing to get the IM chair letter for supplemental apps.
 
When you get really good evals for your first 2 rotations of fourth year but your school doesn't put anything after 3rd year on the MSPE
 
Thats st
fldoctorgirl said:
When you get really good evals for your first 2 rotations of fourth year but your school doesn't put anything after 3rd year on the MSPE
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thats strange. Dont people try and honors their 4th year specific specialty that they are going into. ASnd if they only High pass its seen as a red flag.
 
Chelsea FC said:
Thats st

thats strange. Dont people try and honors their 4th year specific specialty that they are going into. ASnd if they only High pass its seen as a red flag.
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We can't honor anything in fourth year at my school anyways. We can only honor things that have shelfs, so no shelf = only pass (we don't have high pass either).
 
Read on reddit that some people are going to remove wedding/engagement rings for interviews and avoid any mention of their SOs because they heard programs see this as a red flag for females because it means baby/mat leave coming soon. Wtf. Also...why would you want to go to a program like that.
 
fldoctorgirl said:
Read on reddit that some people are going to remove wedding/engagement rings for interviews and avoid any mention of their SOs because they heard programs see this as a red flag for females because it means baby/mat leave coming soon. Wtf. Also...why would you want to go to a program like that.
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This is something that occurs at all types of interviews. In law and Big business firms as well. I dont think it can be a reflection on a program as a whole because it could just be one person subconscious bias that can hurt you.
 
Weirdly enough for men, it can work the opposite. "My wife works right down the road" would signal to programs that person will rank them highly
 
Ive also seen attractive friends also remove wedding rings. We all know that attractive people normally get ranked better in interviews overall. The thinking is the ring could subconsciously affect that. Its all a game that people from all walks of life have to play.
 
fldoctorgirl said:
Read on reddit that some people are going to remove wedding/engagement rings for interviews and avoid any mention of their SOs because they heard programs see this as a red flag for females because it means baby/mat leave coming soon. Wtf. Also...why would you want to go to a program like that.
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I’m not doing that. My SO is a huge part of my life and there’s no way I can go a whole day of constantly talking to people and being questioned without mentioning them
 
Chelsea FC said:
Thats st

thats strange. Dont people try and honors their 4th year specific specialty that they are going into. ASnd if they only High pass its seen as a red flag.
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The logic is that only grades prior to transcripts will be seen by programs. So for me that is probably only going to be my first 2 rotations. People normally take their sub-Is during this time to show they honored it and to get letters, which is why you hear about people trying hard to honor 4th year rotations. The transcripts won’t have any grades after oct 1st, so (in most cases, I’m sure there are exceptions) as long as you get a P in the rest, you’re basically safe.
 
hiiiiiiiiiii said:
I’m not doing that. My SO is a huge part of my life and there’s no way I can go a whole day of constantly talking to people and being questioned without mentioning them
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Same. My SO is mentioned in my PS. I don't want to go to a program that views that as a red flag.
 
fldoctorgirl said:
Same. My SO is mentioned in my PS. I don't want to go to a program that views that as a red flag.
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Yeah, I think it will be less of a program issue and more of individual biases of the person sitting next to u during the interview. Which u will prob find at every program. Sad to say
 
Would programs not interview me without a Level 2? (my score wont be in until mid october) One of my school advisors (i dont know if he knows what hes doing? but idk hes scaring me). Step 1 mid 250s, 6 pubs, all honors except OB HP, strong letters/ECs
 
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I used my SO as part of my “why our program” for every interview. Him keeping his job was super important so i was very committed to staying in the area i applied to.
 
Deecee2DO said:
Would programs not interview me without a Level 2? (my score wont be in until mid october) One of my school advisors (i dont know if he knows what hes doing? but idk hes scaring me). Step 1 mid 250s, 6 pubs, all honors except OB HP, strong letters/ECs
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Depends on programs but my home program told me that I should send them a email to make sure they remember to offer me an interview because they screen people out who don’t have step2. Look @NotAProgDirector post a few post above.
 
Chelsea FC said:
Depends on programs but my home program told me that I should send them a email to make sure they remember to offer me an interview because they screen people out who don’t have step2. Look @NotAProgDirector post a few post above.
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Yes i contacted all my 50 programs im applying to and only 2 of them screened for step 2 for interviews but im talking about Level 2 not Step 2
 
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Deecee2DO said:
Yes i contacted all my 50 programs im applying to and only 2 of them screened for step 2 for interviews but im asking about Level 2
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Gotcha. Any reason why u didnt ask them about lvl 2 same time u did about Step 2?
 
Chelsea FC said:
Thats st

thats strange. Dont people try and honors their 4th year specific specialty that they are going into. ASnd if they only High pass its seen as a red flag.
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High pass is a red flag? What is this malignant garbage programs are trying to pull (if this is true)

If a program told me during an interview that they had concerns because I only got a high pass or pass in a 4th year rotation I'd smile, answer politely and then move them down to the bottom of my rank list.
 
ohmanwaddup said:
High pass is a red flag? What is this malignant garbage programs are trying to pull (if this is true)

If a program told me during an interview that they had concerns because I only got a high pass or pass in a 4th year rotation I'd smile, answer politely and then move them down to the bottom of my rank list.
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I think if you’re applying into anesthesia and get a pass in your rotation that is a red flag. That’s what I’ve heard not sure if it’s true but that makes sense to me
 
ohmanwaddup said:
High pass is a red flag? What is this malignant garbage programs are trying to pull (if this is true)

If a program told me during an interview that they had concerns because I only got a high pass or pass in a 4th year rotation I'd smile, answer politely and then move them down to the bottom of my rank list.
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One HP is definitely NOT a red flag. If that were the case, like 98% of applicants would have a red flag
 
ohmanwaddup said:
High pass is a red flag? What is this malignant garbage programs are trying to pull (if this is true)

If a program told me during an interview that they had concerns because I only got a high pass or pass in a 4th year rotation I'd smile, answer politely and then move them down to the bottom of my rank list.
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I think they mean like if you get a high pass in your fourth year audition rotation where you’re supposed to be shining. Like why didn’t you get honors if that’s your time to shine?
 
Matthew9Thirtyfive said:
I think they mean like if you get a high pass in your fourth year audition rotation where you’re supposed to be shining. Like why didn’t you get honors if that’s your time to shine?
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Literally that’s what I’m saying. I was super happy about the honors I got until my PD told me that it was expected that u would pull honors in your 4th year auditions.
 
Matthew9Thirtyfive said:
I think they mean like if you get a high pass in your fourth year audition rotation where you’re supposed to be shining. Like why didn’t you get honors if that’s your time to shine?
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I mean my school literally does not offer honors for 4th year. My PICU subI wont even be on my transcipt anyways, my school still has not received the eval back from the program.

It just seems stupid because how would you even answer the question of "why you get no honors in 4th year" without either A: sounding like your lying (IE saying your school does not offer honors 4th year), B: unable to take accountability, or C: just saying you suck

Also, does it not take away from the whole point of honors if apparently everyone is supposed to get it? If everyone one has honors its basically meaningless
 
ohmanwaddup said:
Also, does it not take away from the whole point of honors if apparently everyone is supposed to get it? If everyone one has honors its basically meaningless
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Thats not how it works. If everyone is expected to perform at a higher lvl in their specialty of choice during 4th year to bag honors not doing so will raise concern to programs. Say it seems stupid if u want, but its also part of the process that has alot of stupid things in it so I dont think thats a pretty compelling argument.
 
ohmanwaddup said:
I mean my school literally does not offer honors for 4th year. My PICU subI wont even be on my transcipt anyways,
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This is what sucks about our school. Programs will have no idea we did xyz rigorous sub-I because it's non-existent on our official record. It's the main reason why I realllllly wanted a letter from my sub-I, so at least programs would know I actually did one.
 
fldoctorgirl said:
This is what sucks about our school. Programs will have no idea we did xyz rigorous sub-I because it's non-existent on our official record. It's the main reason why I realllllly wanted a letter from my sub-I, so at least programs would know I actually did one.
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Our lives are in the hands of this system and it's so arbitrary
 
Jackaleauxpe said:
Friendly reminder that it doesn't matter when you submit ERAS as long as you do it before September 29th. All apps are timestamped the same so there's no need to neurotically submit it at 12 AM tomorrow night.
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Is there a source for this? I believe you (and it's not like I'm ready to submit anyways), but just wondering.
 
Yall see that new ERAS supplemental application email?? Its optional?
 
DrStephenStrange said:
Optional for residency programs.

Edit: That means you'll still have to do it because some programs (probably majority of them) will still use it.
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GOTCHA, and when they say IM is involved they also mean people matching prelim/Transitional years.
 
Chelsea FC said:
Yall see that new ERAS supplemental application email?? Its optional?
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Was very confused by this too. Not all programs were participating, so I thought it was optional for them already?? I'm confused by what this means.
 
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I still haven't gotten the supplemental link despite having other emails from them and >50 programs saved. 😳
 
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