Couples Match Question

[whackamole21]

appreciate any help I can get here. I’m applying psychiatry, partner in Pediatrics. Both US MDs with no red flags. I found a previous thread on the psychiatry forum about PDs at the same program possibly talking to each other before ranking—what about before giving out interviews?

My SO is a somewhat weaker applicant than me numbers-wise, any chance I could be costing myself interviews if the psych PD reaches out to the Peds one to see if theyre even planning to interview the Peds applicant?

If things don’t work out during the season in terms of # of interviews and success getting interviews in cities with several programs then we are okay “uncouple”-ing our lists before rank and being apart for 3 years. Again, just wanted to gauge how common, if at all, it is that PDs communicate before offering interviews. Thanks

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[psychattending]

At times we do reach out prior to offering interviews at my school. It depends on the strength of the applicant and the field. If it is a highly competitive field, then I will reach out in order to make sure that I am not "wasting" an interview slot. If it is a less competitive field with lots of openings (like Peds), then I will not tend to do so as there are a large number of slots. My recommendation to you would be to do nothing for now and see what happens. If after a couple of weeks you have tons of interviews and your SO has none that you are really interested in, then one of you could reach out to see if the peds program will give your SO an interview.

 

[TankTuck]

Are the programs able to see whether or not you checked the "couples match" box? If not, I would say go for it and check the box. At this point it won't hurt you and will give you as a couple significantly more options.

 

[OldPsychDoc]

I think they can see when you check the box in ERAS. We also put the name of the other applicant in ERAS. I know with NRMP in a couple days we register as a couple

If you check the box we can see the name of your partner and their specialty.

We get occasional communication from other programs when they've interviewed a candidate they like and want to ask if we are interviewing the other. Often just knowing that the other member of the team is in play tips us to add them for an interview. But there's never a "take this person or else..." vibe.

 

[really_realistic]

Definitely not before Oct. 1. From what my school advisor tells me, you may come across negatively if you proactively contact them before MSPEs are released.