Didn't match...now what?

[deleted77919]

I was actually told this when I called one of the programs I applied to (and felt good about). The basic message was "the more experience you have, the more they worry about how 'teachable' you are". I figure the only thing I can do is go somewhere and prove that I am teachable, because arguing really serves no purpose.

Wow . . . that's crazy. I would have thought EMS etc would be a positive because it means you know a little more about what you are getting into.

I hope my own EMS experience doesn't come back to bite me.

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[Sweet Tea]

Wow . . . that's crazy. I would have thought EMS etc would be a positive because it means you know a little more about what you are getting into.

I hope my own EMS experience doesn't come back to bite me.

I thought my EMS experience (lots of it) would help me, too, but apparently that was not the case.

 

[polygonal]

I have pretty extensive EMS and ED experience as well. I'm not sure whether it helped or hurt. I initially thought it couldn't do anything but help.

I think the whole idea of people being "teachable" is very real. During several of my interviews this was obviously an issue. I had several questions like "well, since you've done X, Y and Z, you probably think you know a lot about EM" and many "how are you going to deal with a senior resident who is younger than you and has seen thousands less patients when they tell you to do something."

I think it really can be problematic to some people. Having said that, I got >90% of the interviews I applied to. Also, the place where I matched brought of the experience thing but it was seen a huge positive. It's all in the eye of the beholder.

Good luck to you guys!!

 

[GeneralVeers]

The whole issue of being "teachable" is a legitimate concern. After working with residents from different backgrounds, I can say that the ones who finished, or partly finished other residents were harder to assimilate into the EM way of thinking.

If I should ever reach the point where I have any say in the match process, I'd much rather have fresh interns motivated to do EM, than someone who's trained in another area of medicine first.

 

[deleted109597]

The whole issue of being "teachable" is a legitimate concern. After working with residents from different backgrounds, I can say that the ones who finished, or partly finished other residents were harder to assimilate into the EM way of thinking.

If I should ever reach the point where I have any say in the match process, I'd much rather have fresh interns motivated to do EM, than someone who's trained in another area of medicine first.

Well, if someone out there dies between now and July 1, we can talk. However, I hope the prelim year doesn't make people think I'm an even worse candidate than I was this year.

 

[tkim]

I have pretty extensive EMS and ED experience as well. I'm not sure whether it helped or hurt. I initially thought it couldn't do anything but help.

I think the whole idea of people being "teachable" is very real. During several of my interviews this was obviously an issue. I had several questions like "well, since you've done X, Y and Z, you probably think you know a lot about EM" and many "how are you going to deal with a senior resident who is younger than you and has seen thousands less patients when they tell you to do something."

I got the same questions as well on the majority of my interviews. I have a feeling that programs have been burned by some people with prior experience.

 

[deleted77919]

I understand the concern about whether someone is "teachable" . . . hmm. Guess I'll try to convince people I don't remember anything from before medical school. At the rate I'm memorizing stuff I already feel like I've pushed out things like my 8th birthday, 6th grade, and calculus. I wonder what the next casuality will be.

 

[roja]

I think the 'teachable' thing depends on teh person and residency. We have had people who were PA's etc for years, other residencies, etc. 'teachable' has nothing to do with experience. We have had traditional residents and were horrible to teach and people with tons of experience that were easy. and vice versa. I think it has more to do with the person and the program you are applying to. Some are going to have a bias. Some aren't.

 

[GatorsGirl]

Well, if someone out there dies between now and July 1, we can talk. However, I hope the prelim year doesn't make people think I'm an even worse candidate than I was this year.

It varies program to program. Check your PM.
From what I gather, you are probably a strong candidate.

I could get knocked for saying this, but sometimes candidates with higher grades or board scores are put under higher scrutiny for a variety of reasons. 1-2 mediocre comments in a letter could stand out as more negative on a candidate with some stellar scores than with average scores.
This thinking is unfortunate - one college instructor told us it was statistically proven that a "curve-setter cannot do it everytime".

In other cases, people with high scores are often viewed as "obnoxious" if the file is open, and may even be Q'd for that on interviews.
For example, interviewers may remark on a 260 USMLE as if you should provide an explanation for it. ("I'm not sure how that happened, I didn't really study for it" is the WRONG answer) Some would rather see that person "broken in" from internship that to match straight into their program.

Fortunately, I hear of strong candidates going through a prelim year then matching into a program that they didn't even think they could get into the 1st time around.

I think the key for the unmatched candidate is Patience (easier said than done). It is 'okay' if you don't have a position all the way to the 2008 match. Of course it's good to check find-a-resident, contact programs, etc, but be careful about rushing into a spot, it may not be the right one for you.