Family Medicine Auditions

[asdfghjklqwerty]

Rising MS4 here...I ended up applying to programs for auditions a little late (I decided in late April that FM was the path for me) and haven't been able to secure one.
How important do you think auditions are for applying for FM residency? Is it okay if I don't have any? Any advice on what to do?

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[smq123]

Rising MS4 here...I ended up applying to programs for auditions a little late (I decided in late April that FM was the path for me) and haven't been able to secure one.
How important do you think auditions are for applying for FM residency? Is it okay if I don't have any? Any advice on what to do?

Generally, auditions are not that important for FM. They can be helpful for YOU, to decide if you like certain programs, but certainly not necessary to match well.

 

[smq123]

I will also point out that audition rotations have hurt some students. When I was a resident, we had one student who did an audition rotation with us. Clinically, she was fine, but she was just....weird, and kind of awkward, so we didn't rank her. Another student did an audition rotation with us, and did GREAT, but I think he got too comfortable, and acted cocky and tactless during the interview day itself, so that killed his chances.

 

[Sardonix]

Rising MS4 here...I ended up applying to programs for auditions a little late (I decided in late April that FM was the path for me) and haven't been able to secure one.
How important do you think auditions are for applying for FM residency? Is it okay if I don't have any? Any advice on what to do?

If you cannot fenangle some auditions it ain't the end of the world--just try to choose 4th yr rotations that will be applicable to the type of FM practice you think you want. If you want to do OB, do some of that. Derm? Do some outpatient derm rotations. Etc.

The important thing is you have an explanation for your choices. FM interviews tend to be chill with the main goal of ruling out 1) psychos and 2) fakers who are using FM as a back up. If it's something you think is important, make sure your app conveys that message. "Hey you'll see I had a bunch of rotations in ____ but at ___ point I decided FM was for me, so that's why my rotation selection looks like this." Or if you don't want to necessarily highlight it, be 100% ready to answer questions: "Your app looked like you were pretty interested in ___ but now you're all in on FM. What changed?"

FYI audition rotations for FM is mostly to show one's interest in a particular program and impress them with performance. It's the chance to get the insider knowledge of whether to rank them and how highly. If you do well and get along with the residents, great. If you don't, it's one less program to worry about. It's a double edge sword, but if it's a chill or good natured program even if stressful times the residents should RARELY every specifically ask to Do-Not-Rank someone unless they truly deserved it (think consistently lazy, late, rude, arrogant, or glaring red flags left/right). In my 3yrs residency only 2 people out of some 25 auditions met that criteria.

But all that said, we took PLENTY of people who never stepped foot in our city prior to interview day.

 

[VA Hopeful Dr]

I will also point out that audition rotations have hurt some students. When I was a resident, we had one student who did an audition rotation with us. Clinically, she was fine, but she was just....weird, and kind of awkward, so we didn't rank her. Another student did an audition rotation with us, and did GREAT, but I think he got too comfortable, and acted cocky and tactless during the interview day itself, so that killed his chances.

This is exactly why I didn't do audition rotations: I was worried about shooting myself in the foot. FM just isn't competitive enough to really need them.

 

[cj_cregg]

Agree with above. Can be helpful for you to rotate somewhere different from your home program to get a sense of what is "out there" in terms of FM training and what you like/don't like. Can help or hurt at that particular program depending on how you perform. If you can't do one, it's really not a problem at all. Equally valuable to spend time doing electives like sports med, palliative care, etc. that might help you be a better resident and family doc but don't necessarily get as much time as you'd like during residency.

 

[Cranjis McBasketball]

I’m glad I did them, mainly for myself. I had a couple programs I thought I’d ranked #1/#2 and after auditioning with them slid them outside the top 5 because of my experience. It’s just so hard to gauge programs in a half day interview where the programs are at their best.