Externship applications

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Paulywog

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Anyone hear back yet from any of the programs for the externship applications we just sent off on October 15th?

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I've heard back from all of my programs (all located geographically between Illinois and Pennsylvania). Most of them stated that they will be reviewing applications and be getting back to me soon, however I did receive the month I applied for from one program. I would imagine things will start to really get rolling the next 2 weeks. Good luck!
 
I just heard back from one saying that they would let me know by Tuesday, and one wanting more information. Other than that, nothing. The 2 students I was at my rotation with yesterday didn't get anything, so I don't feel bad about just hearing from the 2.

When you get approved for your clerkships, if you don't mind sharing, I'd like to hear where everyone is going and when. Maybe we'll cross paths somewhere.
 
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I got 1 month, receipt of app from another, and waiting on the other 3

Ahhhhh! This is exciting!
 
I haven't heard anything yet, not even an email saying they received it. I'll post where and when I am going.
 
I heard from 3 programs, one said they would let me know by tues, one said they received my info and the other needed another piece of info not in the clerkship manual.

G/L to everyone else, hope you get the months you wanted.
 
Nothing so far, starting to wonder if I should have sent more than 5 apps
 
I heard from 3 programs, one said they would let me know by tues, one said they received my info and the other needed another piece of info not in the clerkship manual.

G/L to everyone else, hope you get the months you wanted.

Hey longstech, did you apply to any of those programs we talked about?
 
Applied to 5....Accepted at 2 so far. secretary not-in at 1... The other 2 haven't heard from yet
 
P1 student here with a question. Can you apply to more externships then your specific pod school gives you months to actually go to them? For example, if you go to school X and they give you 6 months to do externships can you apply to 12 programs and then pick and choose which 6 programs you want to spend a month at?


You can really do whatever you want, but need to be careful because if you accepted to all of them, you will have to tell 6 of those programs you cannot go and this may burn bridges down the road. In addition, you need to put down the top three months you would want to do a certain program and it is nearly impossible to know which programs will accept you for what months. Proper etiquette is to apply to your 6 programs, wait for responses, and then apply to your backups.
 
Got my months for PennPresby and Yale. INOVA said call on Tuesday. No reply from the other 3.
 
P1 student here with a question. Can you apply to more externships then your specific pod school gives you months to actually go to them? For example, if you go to school X and they give you 6 months to do externships can you apply to 12 programs and then pick and choose which 6 programs you want to spend a month at?
Like Californicator said... Our school advises against this to prevent burning bridges. We get 5 months away from home clinics with one vacation month. I chose to apply to 6 programs. If all of my externships line up, then I will go to all of them. If one program doesn't workout with scheduling then I will have a free month. We will see what happens.
 
I'm not going to say whether I've heard back or been accepted anywhere or not. Take that!!
 
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I'm not going to say whether I've heard back or been accepted anywhere or not. Take that!!

i have to agree with you on this one. It seems each program is very different on their speed and etiquette on accepting a student. I think this forum could cause more worry then may be needed. It seems the majority I have talked to have not gotten a spot yet.
Plus, I have yet to hear about some one not getting a externship by the end of the year... now residency is a different story. :laugh:
 
How important is GPA when applying to these externships?
 
You can really do whatever you want, but need to be careful because if you accepted to all of them, you will have to tell 6 of those programs you cannot go and this may burn bridges down the road. In addition, you need to put down the top three months you would want to do a certain program and it is nearly impossible to know which programs will accept you for what months. Proper etiquette is to apply to your 6 programs, wait for responses, and then apply to your backups.

Burn bridges? I don't think you are giving the clerkship directors enough credit. I mean, they gotta understand how the process works and see it from the student's point of view. Also, wouldn't it be obvious when you apply to your "backups" that they are the "backup"?
 
I don't know if applying to more spots would burn any bridges. Even if you only apply for as many spots as you have clerkships, things still happen. Some programs may not give you the month you want, and you may have to switch, and then that may mean that you have to turn down a clerkship just due to scheduling. Just being in the process myself, I can't comment on how the clerkship directors see the situation. Most of my class applied to more programs than we have spots for. Time will tell if any bridges were burned beyond repair.

BTW, I got my month at Oakwood. Hopefully others will follow. :xf:
 
I don't know if applying to more spots would burn any bridges. Even if you only apply for as many spots as you have clerkships, things still happen. Some programs may not give you the month you want, and you may have to switch, and then that may mean that you have to turn down a clerkship just due to scheduling. Just being in the process myself, I can't comment on how the clerkship directors see the situation. Most of my class applied to more programs than we have spots for. Time will tell if any bridges were burned beyond repair.

BTW, I got my month at Oakwood. Hopefully others will follow. :xf:
I heard that bridges get burned from the lady at our school who deals with our externship and residency stuff. I am not sure if it is true. I am about to apply for a few extras just in case. We will see what happens in a couple days.
 
Many students at my school apply to a backup program. I did, just in case I did not get accepted or my months didn't work out.

GPA is extremely important for some programs but for most there may be a GPA requirement of 3.0 (however one can still apply with a lower GPA because this is not a rigid stipulation) or no requirement at all. I don't think you need to be too concerned with this. I know someone that has a 2.9 something and still got all their programs. Just try to do your best in your upcoming classes and pass your boards. Also, start to research and visit programs now if you have not begun to do so.
 
You really can burn bridges if you don't use some sort of strategy.

Programs talk to each other and if gets around that you applied to more programs than you can actually attend, you've wasted that program's time if they've gone thru your app, scheduled you in, and now have to find a replacement for you.

I think it's ok to apply to maybe apply to 1 extra, but anything over that can put you in a bad position.

And unless your externing after match, the programs won't know you're using them as a backup. And that's the last thing you want them to know before interviews anyway, even if you are.
 
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I understand that schools might be sensitive to what their students do because it might reflect poorly on the podiatry school but frankly its your future on the line here. Where you extern and how you do during externship CAN effect where you ultimately end up IMO. I would want to make sure I get the programs I want or at least get the back up programs I want if my first choices don't accept me. Therefore I feel you have to apply to more programs then the amount of months you have to extern. You have to crack a few eggshells to make some eggs. But what do I know I'm just a P1.

I would listen to this guy.
 
You really can burn bridges if you don't use some sort of strategy.

Programs talk to each other and if gets around that you applied to more programs than you can actually attend, you've wasted that program's time if they've gone thru your app, scheduled you in, and now have to find a replacement for you.

I think it's ok to apply to maybe apply to 1 extra, but anything over that can put you in a bad position.

And unless your externing after match, the programs won't know you're using them as a backup. And that's the last thing you want them to know before interviews anyway, even if you are.

Interested how these myths perpetuate even after 15 years when I was in the mix. Hmmmm....
 
You really can burn bridges if you don't use some sort of strategy.

Programs talk to each other and if gets around that you applied to more programs than you can actually attend, you've wasted that program's time if they've gone thru your app, scheduled you in, and now have to find a replacement for you.

I think it's ok to apply to maybe apply to 1 extra, but anything over that can put you in a bad position.

And unless your externing after match, the programs won't know you're using them as a backup. And that's the last thing you want them to know before interviews anyway, even if you are.

I could understand what you are
Are saying if someone applied to 3 or 4 extra programs, however in an acceptance email I received they said something to the effect of "please get back to us asap so that we can give other students the opportunity to come here if you choose not to". This would make me believe that programs know we may be applying to more than just our required number of programs. I think/hope they understand our dilemma....most directors were once in our positions too.
 
And unless your externing after match, the programs won't know you're using them as a backup. And that's the last thing you want them to know before interviews anyway, even if you are.

Let's say your are applying for clerkships in June, July, and August.

So you apply to Programs X, Y, and Z

You get Program X for June and Program Y for July but you didn't get Program Z.

So now you apply again (after the initial application)...

These programs would know you are applying as a back up. They were not on your top list of programs which you applied to in the initial application. This is what I meant in my post.

I could understand what you are
Are saying if someone applied to 3 or 4 extra programs, however in an acceptance email I received they said something to the effect of "please get back to us asap so that we can give other students the opportunity to come here if you choose not to". This would make me believe that programs know we may be applying to more than just our required number of programs. I think/hope they understand our dilemma....most directors were once in our positions too.

Yup. As I suspected the clerkship directors understand the process and should know what the students are going through. They are not stupid.
 
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I understand that schools might be sensitive to what their students do because it might reflect poorly on the podiatry school but frankly its your future on the line here. Where you extern and how you do during externship CAN effect where you ultimately end up IMO. I would want to make sure I get the programs I want or at least get the back up programs I want if my first choices don't accept me. Therefore I feel you have to apply to more programs then the amount of months you have to extern. You have to crack a few eggshells to make some eggs. But what do I know I'm just a P1.

You're a P1, ok.

The only people who apply for back ups are those people in the bottom 85% of your class.
 
Let's say your are applying for clerkships in June, July, and August.

So you apply to Programs X, Y, and Z

You get Program X for June and Program Y for July but you didn't get Program Z.

So now you apply again (after the initial application)...

These programs would know you are applying as a back up. They were not on your top list of programs which you applied to in the initial application. This is what I meant in my post.



Yup. As I suspected the clerkship directors understand the process and should know what the students are going through. They are not stupid.

I disagree with you. There are quite a few students who still want to research programs before they put in all of their applications and do so at a later date to make sure they are picking the right programs for them. It's not using the program as a backup, it's putting in your due diligence.

If you're unsure about a program, there's an acceptable route for you to be known there and that's by visiting the program. And you're not taking into account that you probably don't have very many months to work with. If you're double booking 1st choices, some of the programs, at least in the area I am going, require you to go that month and you can't get out of it. So no, not every RD is ready to just let you out of a 1st choice month just because you thought that it would be a backup.

Going thru it now, knowing that residents all talk to each other because they were all friends in school, makes it a lot harder than you make it seem. Until you've actually had to go thru this, you won't know what it's like trying to balance all these factors.
 
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Going thru it now, knowing that residents all talk to each other because they were all friends in school, makes it a lot harder than you make it seem. Until you've actually had to go thru this, you won't know what it's like trying to balance all these factors.

I just want to put something out there. I'm not disagreeing with you. I'd just like to add that I think many in your position over estimate how much time residents spend with these issues. They may mention things in passing amongst their friends, but they are far too busy to really make a big impact.

Residents are rarely making decisions about who the incoming residents are. They are asked their opinion, which could hold some weight if the student was terrible, but it is rare that a resident will say "we HAVE to have this person here next year", and that advice is followed. Especially with residencies that have multiple residents every year. They are so busy just keeping up, they don't really get that involved.
 
If you aren't submitting your apps on the 15th (the first possible day), you are doing every other student applying for the same rotation a HUGE favor...

I hope everyone else thinks like Maserati, or at least has faculty that tells their students that taking your good sweet time is a smart move.
 
If you aren't submitting your apps on the 15th (the first possible day), you are doing every other student applying for the same rotation a HUGE favor...

beyond this, send it via email or fax. dont send applications via mail unless its its the only way they accept apps.

email/fax the minute after 12:01(or 11:01 or whatever). Inboxes fill up and fax machines run out of paper. I wish i was joking.

Some programs make decisions on what id call a rolling basis. I had two acceptances the 16th. Think they waited around for paper apps and 'late' applicants to roll in?

Also--Apply to back ups the same time you apply to your first choices. If you arent applying to 2 or 3 extra programs on top of your first choices youre setting yourself up for frustration. Sleazy and mildly rude? Maybe. But at the end of the week its your life and potential residency, while only a slight irritation to the program you deny. Id rather be clerking at my 1st, 2nd, and 3rd choices instead of some of my 1sts, and then just whatevers left over after a weeks gone by for your other programs to deny you or offer you months youve already filled.

top 15% of your class or not, you should be doing these things.
 
I just want to put something out there. I'm not disagreeing with you. I'd just like to add that I think many in your position over estimate how much time residents spend with these issues. They may mention things in passing amongst their friends, but they are far too busy to really make a big impact.

Residents are rarely making decisions about who the incoming residents are. They are asked their opinion, which could hold some weight if the student was terrible, but it is rare that a resident will say "we HAVE to have this person here next year", and that advice is followed. Especially with residencies that have multiple residents every year. They are so busy just keeping up, they don't really get that involved.

I understand what you're saying. But in this climate, all of the 3rd years are in fierce competition with each other. I think one of the facets that we care about is being as professional as possible.

I agree with your post, but if there's even a remote chance that programs will talk, I'm not willing to take the risk of applying to how many months I have (+/- 1), just in case. :oops:
 
I understand what you're saying. But in this climate, all of the 3rd years are in fierce competition with each other. I think one of the facets that we care about is being as professional as possible.

I agree with your post, but if there's even a remote chance that programs will talk, I'm not willing to take the risk of applying to how many months I have (+/- 1), just in case. :oops:

I completely understand where you're coming from. I was the same way, so I know what its like.

I'll tell you, fierce competition or not, if you show up on time, dressed professionally, know how to keep your mouth shut when you should and also when to speak up when you should (which DOES NOT mean just speak when you're spoken to) , you're FAR ahead than most. And if you know a thing or two and can treat patients well...at that point, you're a shoe in (no pun intended lol).

Good luck :D!
 
Neither do you and you are an upperclassmen. Very scary...

The class of 2014 could use some more students like yourself. This would make it easier for me to get the programs I want while you are sitting around pondering the "proper" thing to do.

You are absolutely right: I do not know much. I have not been all the way through my clerkships, I have not been through my residency interviews, nor have I been through my residency. But what I do know more about than you do (whether you want to admit it or not) is the application process to clerkships. Whether you want to heed my advice or not is obviously up to you, but I am telling you the honest to god truth about the proper etiquette to applying.

I can tell you that life (and attitude) changes a lot between first year and third and fourth. You may think you may know more about school and clerkships than upperclassman, but in reality, you do not until you actually experience it. Confidence is great, but it is best not get a "big head" too early or it very well may isolate you from your peers and faculty as you strive to be the best student you can be. Good luck with your studies.
 
email/fax the minute after 12:01(or 11:01 or whatever). Inboxes fill up and fax machines run out of paper. I wish i was joking.

Some programs make decisions on what id call a rolling basis. I had two acceptances the 16th. Think they waited around for paper apps and 'late' applicants to roll in?

Also--Apply to back ups the same time you apply to your first choices. If you arent applying to 2 or 3 extra programs on top of your first choices youre setting yourself up for frustration. Sleazy and mildly rude? Maybe. But at the end of the week its your life and potential residency, while only a slight irritation to the program you deny. Id rather be clerking at my 1st, 2nd, and 3rd choices instead of some of my 1sts, and then just whatevers left over after a weeks gone by for your other programs to deny you or offer you months youve already filled.

top 15% of your class or not, you should be doing these things.
I don't know proper etiquette, so I won't comment on it. I will say that my experience has been similar to UW66. From hearing from some faculty, this year the programs accepted students very early, earlier than in years past, and I would venture to say that the majority of my class has their schedule complete. There are some programs that go very fast (as an example, I was at a rotation, missed a phone call, and 2 emails from a program, and when I emailed 5 minutes later - total time of 15 minutes from the phone call - they were full.) There are probably programs where there aren't many applicants that still have open spots if someone were to apply now, but I get the sense that those programs are in the minority. Maybe if you only waited a day until you applied to your back-up programs, it might not be such a big deal. But especially if you are applying for some of the more competitive programs, I would apply as soon as you get the chance.

Anyways, I have confirmed Franciscan and Oakwood for clerkships. Once I get confirmation of my others, I will post them. Where is everyone else headed?
 
For the 1st and 2nd years who think I'm advocating waiting for days to decide - I'm not. All I am saying, which is echoed by other posters on the thread, is that applying to numerous programs than you have months for has potential to turn ugly.

I never said that you should wait. If you know where you're going, send in the applications right away. Competitive programs fill the next day.

However, the 1st and 2nd years would argue with me if I said that the sky is blue. So when you get to this point in your careers, send 234098230948230 applications if it makes you feel better.
 
For the 1st and 2nd years who think I'm advocating waiting for days to decide - I'm not. All I am saying, which is echoed by other posters on the thread, is that applying to numerous programs than you have months for has potential to turn ugly.

I never said that you should wait. If you know where you're going, send in the applications right away. Competitive programs fill the next day.

However, the 1st and 2nd years would argue with me if I said that the sky is blue. So when you get to this point in your careers, send 234098230948230 applications if it makes you feel better.
I don't disagree entirely. I think it comes down to how you deal with the programs. If you apply to more programs than you have spots available, you have to realize that you will need to tell some of them "No thank you" at some point. Also realize that you may be forced to make a tough decision between waiting for a program you really want to respond or accepting the program that makes you an offer and says that they need to hear back by the end of the day or they are giving your spot away. Neither way to do it is perfect, and both have their risks, but for me, I decided that I would rather tell a program "No" than end up having to scramble for any open program since I didn't have a backup already in the works. Like I said, it worked out for me, but that doesn't mean it is "right."
 
How long should I wait to hear by from clerkships before I start getting worried?
I applied to 5 and have heard back from 2.
 
How long should I wait to hear by from clerkships before I start getting worried?
I applied to 5 and have heard back from 2.
I guess it depends on how many spots you have to fill. I wouldn't be frantic yet, but I might try to find out when those programs you haven't heard back from will be sending out emails.

Just on a side note, I think I was a bit premature in saying that the majority of my class had their schedules full. I think that now they are getting them full, but when I posted that a few days ago, I was a little bit premature. There are still quite a few people that haven't heard back from all of their programs, but since most of us over-applied, I think we are all going to be in good shape.
 
I just barely started hearing from my programs and heard from 4 of the 5 programs. A few programs said they would reserve my month but never received certain files that I thought I sent. So call and confirm that the programs received your information and check the status. I am also glad I applied to extra programs. 2 programs had months available that would not work with my schedule so I immediately confirmed my backup programs. We will see how hard it is to schedule my last month. Advice for next year students... over apply. The majority of our class also has their schedules full or one left to fill.
 
Well, I confirmed my last 2 places today. I could add another instead of a vacation month, but I think I would like the month to visit other programs. Here are the places I am going:

Henry Ford Macomb
Dekalb
St. Mary's - Evansville, Indiana
Franciscan
Oakwood

My vacation month is between my months at Franciscan and Oakwood. Any thoughts on programs I should visit on my journey between the two of them? Or any other places around Franciscan or Oakwood that I should visit?
 
Congrats to those who have it all figured out. I just finalized all of my programs this morning. I had 2 programs that didn't work out due to scheduling conflicts, and applied to other programs. My advice would be to have all of the application documents ready for extra programs, but to hold off a week or so to hear back from your initial programs. If any of those programs don't work out, you have the documents ready to send out right away. Hopefully this advice helps, as it worked out for me.
If everything works out, I'll be heading to Indianapolis, U of Florida, Louisville, Cincy, and the 2 Pittsburgh programs. Good luck!
 
If everything works out, I'll be heading to Indianapolis, U of Florida, Louisville, Cincy, and the 2 Pittsburgh programs. Good luck!
Congrats. Those seem like good programs. One of the programs in Louisville didn't work out with my scheduling, otherwise I would be headed that way too.
 
I'm using a bit different strategy than most:

Due to the shortage of residency spots, my utter laziness, and my underwhelming gpa, cv, and class rank, I have done extensive research and then applied to what I consider the 5 worst podiatry residencies in the country. By externing at these perennial cellar dwellers, I have effectively eliminated any real competition as these programs rarely have students visit, and those that do usually don't rank the programs high enough to match there anyway.

On interview day, the case I am going to make for myself is "Hey, matching me for your residency is at least better than *******, and could very possibly be better than blindly selecting from a pool of scramblers that you haven't met before."
 
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I'm using a bit different strategy than most:

Due to the shortage of residency spots, my utter laziness, and my underwhelming gpa, cv, and class rank, I have done extensive research and then applied to what I consider the 5 worst podiatry residencies in the country. By externing at these perennial cellar dwellers, I have effectively eliminated any real competition as these programs rarely have students visit, and those that do usually don't rank the programs high enough to match there anyway.

On interview day, the case I am going to make for myself is "Hey, matching me for your residency is at least better than *******, and could very possibly be better than blindly selecting from a pool of scramblers that you haven't met before."

LOL. As tongue in cheek as your post is, this is possibly the worst scenario there is.

Many quality applicants slip through the cracks and end up with great residencies during the "scramble".

Your training defines your future practice. Be wise.
 
Nothing so far, starting to wonder if I should have sent more than 5 apps
Finally confirmed with all 5 programs today. was able to get all 5, but I had to juggle my schedule to fit all of them.
Advise to those applying next year
only apply to 5 initially- why, because you don't know who will respond 1st, it is very tempting to respond to offers, when you hear almost every one in the class heard something from several programs just the next day.

I was rather impatient and did apply to more programs after 1 week. As a result, I will have to "burn bridges" and deny several offers. I was told by an upper classmate that last year some students did not have all their 5 externships until after a month. In hind sight I would have waited 2 weeks before applying to more programs.
 
I was rather impatient and did apply to more programs after 1 week. As a result, I will have to "burn bridges" and deny several offers.

You have to do you man, cause nobody's going to do it for you! You did the right thing, so if you just reply nicely you're not going to burn bridges with anyone. With the competition of spots, if you waited 2 more weeks who knows if you would have been able to fill those last few months with programs you actually wanted. Believe me, programs turn down students every day, it's a process for everyone, and as long as you're not rude or impolite you have no reason to worry. Like I said, do you first cause neither the school or the programs are going to be crying for anyone who doesn't have anywhere to go if they sat on applications for too long.
 
:thumbup: agreed. This is your future, that last thing I care about is how my school will look if I burn bridges because my school couldnt care less about me
 
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