Graduated, no match, still interested

[Johnny Mnemonic]

---

Members do not see this ad.

Hi all,

I just graduated this cycle. I applied to pgy1 inpatient residency programs but only got one interview and didn't match. I have been published in a peer reviewed journal, inpatient intern experience, but I had mediocre grades (3.3) through pharmacy school.

I think one of the major reasons I didn't match was I applied only to residency programs in metropolitan south Florida, which is pretty highly saturated and competitive for any type of position. At any rate, I graduated and took a retail job in far northern California. I'm still interested in a residency and would like to apply next cycle in this much higher demand area. (I got a job here easily - rural n Cali seems like one of the highest demand areas still left.) I was hoping some here might be able to help give me some tips on staying sharp and making connections with residency programs in the area - Redding, central valley, south Oregon. I was thinking about reaching out to programs and seeing if I could participate in some research or on a volunteer basis to get my foot in the door and make a name for myself. Please let me know if you have any ideas.

 

[Abby Atwood]

Hmm... your application sounds much better than mine. I didn't get in anywhere, but I did get a decent number of interviews. I think you are right about it being a matter of a small search pool in a highly competitive area.

I recommend getting someone to read you letters of intent. I didn't really have someone to do that for me in round one. My interview rate went from 20% in phase I to 50% in phase II after I got some feedback.

Still didn't get accepted though. Lots of type A personalities looking for someone with a little more push and shove to them. 🙂

 

[rxdawg21]

After sitting on interview panels for residency I have a few pearls of wisdom. Common mistakes I have seen is not being thorough and complete with your clinical answers. If the question is broad such as a generic warfarin or vancomycin question you need to go in depth about goal levels, adverse effects, is it renally dosed? A lot of people give very simple answers to broad questions (or flat out don't know it).

Another piece of advice is to not be overly pushy. It's easy to tell if you will be hard to handle/put up with. Also if on a tour make sure to have good back and forth banter with the person giving you a tour.

These are all simple things that have caused people to drop.

 

[Johnny Mnemonic]

I appreciate the residency interview tips, but I'm more concerned about being in a position to even be able to get interviews next cycle as someone who is one year out of school

 

[Rockinacoustic]

You need to secure at least a per-diem inpatient job. The research is nice, but it won't substitute for performing daily job functions you will be doing as a resident.

 

[rxdawg21]

I know someone that applied 3 straight years to residency, third times the charm and got one his 3rd time. He also took 3 times getting into the local state school. I know several other people that did a year of retail and then got residencies after realizing retail wasn't for them. One even got a residency in Atlanta hospital.

 

[quickpic007]

I appreciate the residency interview tips, but I'm more concerned about being in a position to even be able to get interviews next cycle as someone who is one year out of school

Just take the 200K income you can get in Nor cal and be happy! Retail is bad but there are worse things

 

[Johnny Mnemonic]

Ha, damn, did I get lowballed at 70/hr?

 

[quickpic007]

Ha, damn, did I get lowballed at 70/hr?

depending on the city and role maybe. the 200k includes overtime naturally

 

[Sine Cura]

70 is arguably low-ball for the meth counties but it's not like new grads have much leverage