Emergency Medicine Safety Programs

[UnderwaterDoc]

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I apologize if my question has been addressed in the past, I searched through the forums and I did not find any similar topics.

I just started my 4th year in medical school, and I am absolutely sure that I want to pursue EM. However, I have very low board scores (195 Step I, Step II in October), I have Passed every class and clerkship, I have very few extracurricular activities, and no memberships in any clubs.

As I am sure you realize, my application is not going to be very strong, to say the least, and I am panicking about not matching anywhere.

So my question is this: can anybody suggest safety programs for EM? Or at least which programs are less competitive than most? Any input will help and be greatly appreciated, thanks very much.

 

[Richspiders07]

i dont think there really is such a thing as a "safety program."

i'd look up the places that had to scramble over the past few years - apply to those. i'd apply to all of the brand new programs - as some more competitive applicants may shy away from those. then i'd think about the least desireable area of the country you could ever see yourself living - see if they have a program - apply. finally, if there are programs with a solid amount of foreign med students getting spots, i'd apply there.

oh - and the best thing you can do is totally dominate step 2 and get some amazing letters in the works.

 

[gman33]

I can't recommend programs, but I would think you would want to apply to as many programs as possible. Like maybe ALL of them.
This will cost some $$, but you'd like to get as many interviews as possible. If you do well on the interviews, you may get a decent position on some rank lists. The key is just getting your foot in the door.

If your home institution has a program, make sure you get to know the people there. Perhaps they will give you a spot or at least be able to hook you up with some connections.

 

[MSmentor018]

absolutely, apply to all of them. I don't really know of "safety programs" since EM is competitive. grades are not everything but it's important. make sure you have very strong LOR's and a great PS. slam dunk the rotations. good luck!

 

[anonymousEM]

As an attending, I would advise you to get with the EM student clerkship director at your school (if you have one) immediately to discuss these things. You have realistically evaluated your situation and someone who knows you personally will be able to give much better advice than anonymous posters here.

You will need to rock step 2, your EM rotations (get 2-3 at places where you can get SLORS and have a reasonable chance of ranking highly/wanting to match) and have no other red flags.

While there are some programs who will absolutely not consider you with your step 1 score, no one can say which places are "safety schools" The best advice I can give is to apply to as many places as you can afford if EM is the only thing you want to do and work hard to have great EM rotations. We usually match several of our rotators and some wouldn't have been picked for interviews had we just had their paper application.

Best of luck.

 

[strongboy2005]

So, how much would it cost to apply to ALL of the EM programs in the country? I mean, once the interviews start rolling in you can pick and choose (assuming you are getting a lot of interview invites), but why not just apply to all the programs in the country?

 

[Tiger26]

So, how much would it cost to apply to ALL of the EM programs in the country? I mean, once the interviews start rolling in you can pick and choose (assuming you are getting a lot of interview invites), but why not just apply to all the programs in the country?

$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$

 

[tkim]

So, how much would it cost to apply to ALL of the EM programs in the country?

$3415.00 for 155 programs. I think those include the combined programs as well.

 

[UnderwaterDoc]

Thanks to all for your advice. A lot of what has been mentioned I have done, hopefully it will be enough, since I really couldn't see myself doing anything else.

As far as applying to all programs, I will definitely consider it, my list right now stands at 56 and counting 🙂

One more dumb question, how does one find out which programs had to scramble last year?

 

[strongboy2005]

$3415.00 for 155 programs. I think those include the combined programs as well.

That's not bad. Is it like applying to medical school where they send you secondaries or do they choose to invite solely based on your primary application?

 

[tkim]

That's not bad. Is it like applying to medical school where they send you secondaries or do they choose to invite solely based on your primary application?

They screen you based on ERAS app (scores, LORs, transcript, MSPE) and send you an invite. There's no secondary. Some places reject you outright, some never respond at all. In fact, I'm still waiting for a couple of invite/rejections to come back ...

 

[Tiger26]

$3500 seems like kind of a lot of money to me, but at the same time, it's a lot more palpable than going unmatched from not getting enough interviews. If you really want to do EM, then it certainly sounds like it's worth it to you.

One thing to consider is that even if you get a ton of interviews, you may still go unmatched if you only go to the most competive ones--I'd attend them on a tiered basis--i.e. 3-4 competitive, 3-4 mid-range, and some non-competitive/new programs.

Look at places that people typically don't want to live. I won't name names, but mostly anywhere not in a big city or bordered by an ocean/mountain

 

[Emergency!]

The midwest has a ton of very good/great programs that are generally considered less desirable because people (particularly those from a big city or not from the midwest) don't want to live in places like Cleveland, Akron, Toledo, Dayton, Detroit, Saginaw, Lansing, Flint, Kalamazoo, Hershey, York, Indianapolis, etc. (There are more - just a few off the top of my head).

And definitely consider new programs (especially the new(er) programs in above less desirable areas. The one program I interviewed at that was interviewing for their 2nd class had only 1 non FMG, and the majority of people I interviewed with were FMGs.