MD & DO Co’22 ERAS Panic Thread

Burrell College of Osteopathic Medicine
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fldoctorgirl said:
Honestly, I'm really not a fan of attending noon conference and stuff as part of the interview day. Like I appreciate the sentiment of trying to show me what it's like, but they're all the same and it just makes the interview day last so long. Idk if this is an uncommon opinion but I just feel like it's not necessary.
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Oh yeah, it's awful. Couldn't feel more strongly about this.

AnonymousXYZ said:
This is so strange to me! I had no idea this was a thing. None of my psych interviews have had any conferences. What specialty are you applying to?
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Rads is definitely doing it. The worst offender so far was an IR interview that had me attend IR morning conference at 0700, IR and DR info session from 8-9, then EIGHT interviews with what turned out to be every member of the residency selection committee, and then we had to stay for afternoon report from 12-1. I mean, if I wasn't already gonna rank the place low, that would have solidified it... esp since one of the interviewers was pretty unfriendly which is relatively uncommon for rads
 
calivianya said:
Oh yeah, it's awful. Couldn't feel more strongly about this.


Rads is definitely doing it. The worst offender so far was an IR interview that had me attend IR morning conference at 0700, IR and DR info session from 8-9, then EIGHT interviews with what turned out to be every member of the residency selection committee, and then we had to stay for afternoon report from 12-1. I mean, if I wasn't already gonna rank the place low, that would have solidified it... esp since one of the interviewers was pretty unfriendly which is relatively uncommon for rads
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eight???!!

I think I've usually had no more than 2-4 interviews per day? sometimes I've had dual interviews where there will be two faculty together, so maybe 2-5 people total that I talk to? average is probably 3
 
Matthew9Thirtyfive said:
Oh no wonder. Anything related to IM is guaranteed to involve excruciatingly long conferences. Thank God some of you want to do IM. I would go crazy if I had to do it more than 10 weeks.
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Lol, I was kind of expecting the answer to involve IM, ha ha! As a student the reports and conferences can be a nice break from the work day (especially if they got coffee or lunch!) but it's kind of strange to have them as a part of the interview... I guess if interviews were in person and I could get a free lunch there I wouldn't mind, ha ha! But otherwise, I'm good!
 
TelemarketingEnigma said:
eight???!!

I think I've usually had no more than 2-4 interviews per day? sometimes I've had dual interviews where there will be two faculty together, so maybe 2-5 people total that I talk to? average is probably 3
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That’s where my specialty sucks. We are doing 10-15, with two faculty members per room, plus a resident session. Exhausting. It’s a full day show
 
Lawpy said:
As long as there's no expectation or requirement of drinking, i'm content. In fact, any program that requires people to drink is an automatic massive red flag on my book, and i say that even with regularly hanging out with people who drink.
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FFS

Have you ever heard of somewhere that *requires* people drink? (Hint, it would be massively illegal)

This is fretting about an imaginary problem.
 
So one of the programs I'm interviewing at is about ~2 hours outside of my desired geographic area but is making things hella tempting by offering literally $20-25k more than any other program in the state. On the other hand, I'm suspicious of this because like...why???? It's so much more money though, so tempting.
 
fldoctorgirl said:
So one of the programs I'm interviewing at is about ~2 hours outside of my desired geographic area but is making things hella tempting by offering literally $20-25k more than any other program in the state. On the other hand, I'm suspicious of this because like...why???? It's so much more money though, so tempting.
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I think I know which program this is. From what I've heard it's basically because the cost of living is higher in that area.
 
calivianya said:
Oh yeah, it's awful. Couldn't feel more strongly about this.


Rads is definitely doing it. The worst offender so far was an IR interview that had me attend IR morning conference at 0700, IR and DR info session from 8-9, then EIGHT interviews with what turned out to be every member of the residency selection committee, and then we had to stay for afternoon report from 12-1. I mean, if I wasn't already gonna rank the place low, that would have solidified it... esp since one of the interviewers was pretty unfriendly which is relatively uncommon for rads
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Usually I get 3-4. The most I ever had were 6 but at least it was 15 minute interviews.

I can't imagine 8. That's mega stressful.

I REALLY appreciate places where you start at 8-9, talk to 3 people, and you're done by 1030-1100.
 
I don't know if this is a place to post questions like this, but what is a good way to answer " how did you find this program"? So far, I have been saying that I went to a far away medical school and I want to return back to my spouse and family. I have been thinking that I might be answering it wrong and it sounds in a way that it is the only reason why I applied. Did I screw up?
 
orthomyxostudent said:
I don't know if this is a place to post questions like this, but what is a good way to answer " how did you find this program"? So far, I have been saying that I went to a far away medical school and I want to return back to my spouse and family. I have been thinking that I might be answering it wrong and it sounds in a way that it is the only reason why I applied. Did I screw up?
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I answer these in the same way of "why this program"
 
fldoctorgirl said:
So one of the programs I'm interviewing at is about ~2 hours outside of my desired geographic area but is making things hella tempting by offering literally $20-25k more than any other program in the state. On the other hand, I'm suspicious of this because like...why???? It's so much more money though, so tempting.
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It’s a nice program. I rotated there and really liked it. I think they just genuinely value and care about their residents.
 
is it worth it to send a thank you email to a program 16 days after an interview? i forgot to send mine to one program lol
 
I say "um" so much and I'm always so paranoid about it making me look bad.
 
I don’t think thank you letters will affect your rank.
 
How much work is it to send a thank you note? Whether it affects the ranking outcome at all, it is common courtesy to do so when someone was good enough to review your application, send you an invite and interview you regardless if you like them or not.
 
MDMechEngr said:
How much work is it to send a thank you note? Whether it affects the ranking outcome at all, it is common courtesy to do so when someone was good enough to review your application, send you an invite and interview you regardless if you like them or not.
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This is a 2 way street , u researched the program spent money and applied there. Also did their stupid secondary app. It’s just one more BS that doesn’t matter that we feel compelled to do
 
Chelsea FC said:
This is a 2 way street , u researched the program spent money and applied there. Also did their stupid secondary app. It’s just one more BS that doesn’t matter that we feel compelled to do
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So what post-interview things do affect rank? If thank you notes, open house visits, and letters of intent are just white noise does trying to keep a dialogue going with a program you are interested in really not affect anything? Or does it all just come down to how well we answered a couple of interview questions over an hour or so zoom call and whatever is on our ERAS apps?
 
Psych1912 said:
So what post-interview things do affect rank? If thank you notes, open house visits, and letters of intent are just white noise does trying to keep a dialogue going with a program you are interested in really not affect anything? Or does it all just come down to how well we answered a couple of interview questions over an hour or so zoom call and whatever is on our ERAS apps?
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I think the latter . Yes I think that’s all white noise in my eyes.
 
Psych1912 said:
So what post-interview things do affect rank? If thank you notes, open house visits, and letters of intent are just white noise does trying to keep a dialogue going with a program you are interested in really not affect anything? Or does it all just come down to how well we answered a couple of interview questions over an hour or so zoom call and whatever is on our ERAS apps?
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I've heard letters of intent to your #1 and 2 can bump your rank list a bit. PDs want to match higher on their rank list and also want residents who actually want to be there.
 
Prehealth1011 said:
What are your step scores (all 3 digits) and what region are you from

Everything else doesn’t matter. It’ll make more sense when you’re in residency. Right now just continue to do them all if it’s gonna keep you up at night
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So having a parent who is faculty doesn’t matter?

Because I’ve seen that happen 4 times in my totally average med school, and one of them matched a competitive specialty with a failed step 1.

There’s more to it than step and region, obviously.
 
ontiquicuo said:
According to the NMRP Code of Conduct, neither applicants nor programs should be using post-interview contact to influence rankings.

Not saying it doesn't happen.
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Sending a letter of intent is not a match violation, as I understand it. From the site "Applicants may voluntarily communicate their interest to a program(s); however, applicants may not solicit verbal or written statements from a program(s) implying a commitment to rank the applicant.
 
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Prehealth1011 said:
What are your step scores (all 3 digits) and what region are you from

Everything else doesn’t matter. It’ll make more sense when you’re in residency. Right now just continue to do them all if it’s gonna keep you up at night
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Not remotely accurate.
 
NicMouse64 said:
Sending a letter of intent is not a match violation, as I understand it. From the site "Applicants may voluntarily communicate their interest to a program(s); however, applicants may not solicit verbal or written statements from a program(s) implying a commitment to rank the applicant.
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Nobody said an LOI was a match violation. I was responding to the question that if letters, open houses, etc are white noise, how do you affect your rank post interview.
 
Connections matter a lot but I fail to see how a 5 minute email would make a program rank differently but willing to be educated why people think differently.
 
Chelsea FC said:
Connections matter a lot but I fail to see how a 5 minute email would make a program rank differently but willing to be educated why people think differently.
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As someone else alluded, Chairman’s (and even residents) want to feel like they are your most desired program. So calls, emails, whatever communications that you emphasize they’re you’re #1 has influence… unless they didn’t care for you.

Thank you emails, I don’t put any stock in and many programs will tell you explicitly not to even send them and it’s silly. You CAN communicate interest by reaching out and that matters, but just sending thank you emails isn’t necessary or sufficient. I’ve heard residents remark that a certain person kept in touch with various people over the interview season and that made them rank them higher. That’s different.

Personally, I am meeting up to 30 faculty members and 15+ residents in a typical interview day… and have 25+ interviews. I am not sending thank you notes to everyone I spoke with. Just no.

As the season goes on, I’ll reach out to residents in my top 5 and get a better feel for them. Then I’ll make my #1 call/email later on.
 
Interacting with a program’s social media can matter.

No, it shouldn’t. Yes, that’s crazy.

Yes, it does.

I’m not going to send any letters other than telling my top program they are my #1.
 
WhittyPsyche said:
As someone else alluded, Chairman’s (and even residents) want to feel like they are your most desired program. So calls, emails, whatever communications that you emphasize they’re you’re #1 has influence… unless they didn’t care for you.

Thank you emails, I don’t put any stock in and many programs will tell you explicitly not to even send them and it’s silly. You CAN communicate interest by reaching out and that matters, but just sending thank you emails isn’t necessary or sufficient. I’ve heard residents remark that a certain person kept in touch with various people over the interview season and that made them rank them higher. That’s different.

Personally, I am meeting up to 30 faculty members and 15+ residents in a typical interview day… and have 25+ interviews. I am not sending thank you notes to everyone I spoke with. Just no.

As the season goes on, I’ll reach out to residents in my top 5 and get a better feel for them. Then I’ll make my #1 call/email later on.
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30?!?!? Max I’ve met is like 10
 
I have not sent any thank you letters yet. I am, however, going to have an update in a month or so (graduating with my second degree that I was getting concurrently with my medical degree), and when I graduate, I figured I'd email all programs I interviewed with, tell them, and say something like thanks again for interviewing me, insert personal detail of conversation that I took notes on, blah blah blah.

And it will be a good excuse to send a hail mary email to places that haven't interviewed me and say hey, look, I have an update and I am still really interested in your program.


As a side note, I REALLY wish it was standard for all places to give you time between interviews. The last place I interviewed you moved you from one room immediately to another when you finished... so my notes are absolute crap. I was finishing my conversations with one person and starting a conversation with another less than 30 seconds later. Fortunately my last interview was with the PD so I could take notes on what we talked about afterwards, but everything else was a blur. I really appreciate the places that give you 1-2 minutes between interviews to take notes.
 
calivianya said:
I have not sent any thank you letters yet. I am, however, going to have an update in a month or so (graduating with my second degree that I was getting concurrently with my medical degree), and when I graduate, I figured I'd email all programs I interviewed with, tell them, and say something like thanks again for interviewing me, insert personal detail of conversation that I took notes on, blah blah blah.

And it will be a good excuse to send a hail mary email to places that haven't interviewed me and say hey, look, I have an update and I am still really interested in your program.


As a side note, I REALLY wish it was standard for all places to give you time between interviews. The last place I interviewed you moved you from one room immediately to another when you finished... so my notes are absolute crap. I was finishing my conversations with one person and starting a conversation with another less than 30 seconds later. Fortunately my last interview was with the PD so I could take notes on what we talked about afterwards, but everything else was a blur. I really appreciate the places that give you 1-2 minutes between interviews to take notes.
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Sounds like a good plan, the only concern is that they might have forgotten you by then.
 
Chelsea FC said:
Sounds like a good plan, the only concern is that they might have forgotten you by then.
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Might depend on specialty and program, but we had a meeting with PDs a couple weeks ago, and all of them said they have zero problem remembering interviewees throughout the season.
 
At one of my last interviews I was only interviewed by a non-physician, an adjunct clinical faculty member, and a resident. Am I weird in feeling like that was bad? Like they were saving the time with the other folks for different applicants?

Thankfully, this was my absolute lowest ranked program/lowest safety, but damn.
 
Ganon said:
At one of my last interviews I was only interviewed by a non-physician, an adjunct clinical faculty member, and a resident. Am I weird in feeling like that was bad? Like they were saving the time with the other folks for different applicants?

Thankfully, this was my absolute lowest ranked program/lowest safety, but damn.
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Sounds like a huge red flag.
 
So would y'all take it as a bad sign if applicants are spread out among interviewers, and one of the interviewers is the PD, but you're not one of the people interviewing with them?
 
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