FM ERAS Reapplicant questions

[TennisShoeChic]

I am a USMG, matched 1st choice FM residency, subsequent resignation in good standing May 2017 (10 months) for fatigue/stress management, reapplying this 2018 cycle for FM only again.

Essentially came in with a knowledge deficifit in clinical skills (applying book knowledge to live patients) and had baseline anxiety that flared WAY up with sleep deprivation and feeling behind my peers. Have seen psychologist, on time off, Prioritized mental health stuff- slept a lot, kept up with psychologist recommendations for stress management (CBT, journaling, exercise) and have studied/passed step 3 (222, mean 225).

My questions:

1) helpful at all to ask psychologist for letter of Rec or is this just weird?

I have v. good relationship with them, but seems unusual and don't want it to unintentionally harm my app.

So far, I have a neutral PD letter, one good attending Rec, and reusing two med school letters with new date on them. Yes, it would be better to have more residency letters, but with timeframe here, would be v difficult to get in a timely manner for app.

2) degree of explaining why I left residency- 1-2 sentences using he Phrase "stress management"? Or 8-10 sentences really going in depth?

My apprehension for going short is I dont want to be short/vague, get interview, and then when I discuss it in details it's a no-go from programs. Would rather be "screened out" initially than waste my time and money on interviews that won't bear fruition. At same time, dont want to shoot myself in the foot with oversharing.

Thanks all!
Also, I would sure appreciate it if comments only addressed the questions and not what I could have done/should have done to stay in residency.

Thanks SDN!

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[gutonc]

I am a USMG, matched 1st choice FM residency, subsequent resignation in good standing May 2017 (10 months) for fatigue/stress management, reapplying this 2018 cycle for FM only again.

Essentially came in with a knowledge deficifit in clinical skills (applying book knowledge to live patients) and had baseline anxiety that flared WAY up with sleep deprivation and feeling behind my peers. Have seen psychologist, on time off, Prioritized mental health stuff- slept a lot, kept up with psychologist recommendations for stress management (CBT, journaling, exercise) and have studied/passed step 3 (222, mean 225).

My questions:

1) helpful at all to ask psychologist for letter of Rec or is this just weird?

I have v. good relationship with them, but seems unusual and don't want it to unintentionally harm my app.

That's weird. If you get to the point where a program wants to know that you're actively on the mend (which it seems that you are) and needs proof, that's when you bust out the letter from your shrink. But LORs are about your ability to function as a physician in general.

So far, I have a neutral PD letter, one good attending Rec, and reusing two med school letters with new date on them. Yes, it would be better to have more residency letters, but with timeframe here, would be v difficult to get in a timely manner for app.

You have the LORs you have. Don't stress about this.

2) degree of explaining why I left residency- 1-2 sentences using he Phrase "stress management"? Or 8-10 sentences really going in depth?

My apprehension for going short is I dont want to be short/vague, get interview, and then when I discuss it in details it's a no-go from programs. Would rather be "screened out" initially than waste my time and money on interviews that won't bear fruition. At same time, dont want to shoot myself in the foot with oversharing.

Don't overshare from the get-go. "Health related issues" is both true and appropriate, and should be enough for the first pass. You will need to address it if/when you get interviews. But don't let that limit you out of the gate.

Thanks all!
Also, I would sure appreciate it if comments only addressed the questions and not what I could have done/should have done to stay in residency.

Thanks SDN!

I know you probably want this to be all rainbows and unicorns, but that's not an unreasonable response to your predicament. That said, comments about this part of your situation aren't really directed at you (or maybe they are, but those posters are a**holes), but to help other members out that are in a similar position.

If you had come here when the s*** was hitting the fan in your firs program, perhaps you could have gotten some helpful advice. But that's water under the bridge for you. Try not to get upset about the situation.

And most importantly, good luck this year.