Help! Don't understand residency applications...

[aauerba1]

---

Members don't see this ad.

I am currently a second year, will be starting my third year in July. I was planning on getting married in August of my fourth year and taking that month off... my FI is in law school, so the end of August is pretty much the only time I could do it.
I talked to some of our administration about it, and they seemed to feel that taking August off would have a negative impact on my chances for residency. I don't know what I want to do yet, but my understanding is that interviewing takes place October- December, so I guess if I take August off then I will have only the July and September senior evaluations.
Does anyone know anything about this? How important is it?? I obviously want to have a good chance for residencies, but I also want to get married, and I would otherwise have to wait at least 6 months, likely more.

 

[Smurfette]

I am confused as to your timeline. If you are taking August of your third year off, you should be ok so long as you complete all your 3rd year requirements by the time you start applying to residencies as a fourth year. You don't interview until your fourth year.

You may have to explain your time off, however, and taking an entire month off I guess could raise some eyebrows (mostly depending on what you ultimately apply to) or it could just wreak havoc on your overall third year schedule as far as getting all your requirements done. Seriously though, if you are getting married and taking time off in third year it shouldn't hurt you very much unless you take time off in the middle of a rotation and come back after a month off to finish that same rotation.

 

[aauerba1]

Sorry, I re-read my post and it isn't clear at all!
I will start third year July 6th of 2006...
I will end third year June 25th of 2007... and start 4th year July 5th of 2007. I am planning on taking August of 2007 off... this would be right at the beginning of fourth year.

 

[SteadyEddy]

I would agree with the all-knowing and all powerful Smurfette 🙂. I, like you was in a very similar situation. What I did was NOT take any vacation during my 3rd year...and then took one whole month off to get married during July of 4th year (the very beginning). Here's one mistake that you can avoid in doing so. If you will need an LOR, do that rotation right before you leave in August (I didn't and felt like a fish out of water when I got back from vacation). Other than that, take August off, get married, and live happily ever after. Congratulations and good luck.

Sorry, I re-read my post and it isn't clear at all!
I will start third year July 6th of 2006...
I will end third year June 25th of 2007... and start 4th year July 5th of 2007. I am planning on taking August of 2007 off... this would be right at the beginning of fourth year.

 

[cchoukal]

The early match (SF match) deadline is usually in late August. If you intend to apply to these specialties (ENT, Neuro, Neurosurg, Ophtho, and maybe others, check www.sfmatch.org), or urology, you'll want to get your ducks in a row before taking off for the wedding. My early match interviews started in late october, and regular match interviews started in mid november.

 

[jamie]

I applied for peds this year, and I took off September (yes, the entire month) to get married -- I had my wedding/honeymoon the first half, then I used the second half as pure lazy time off. I did my AI's in July and August, and no one asked about that on my interviews (and I got my first choice). I don't know the timeline for early match residencies, so things may be different. I'm not sure how taking the month off would negatively impact your chances for residency -- I asked the registrar at my school, and he didn't seem to think it would be a problem at all (he is a very nice and accomodating guy).

I would recommend having ERAS ready as much as possible either before you get married or as soon after as possible, so you can submit it as close to Sept. 1 as possible.

 

[Smurfette]

I would agree with the all-knowing and all powerful Smurfette 🙂.

Aw, I'm blushing! 😳 🙂 BTW, congrats on OSU, SteadyEddy.

Seriously though, I think the bottom line is that as long as you are on the ball about residency application stuff (ERAS submissions start Sept 1) and getting your letters of recommendation (which you can still get in Sept and early Oct 4th year, as long as you are not doing an early match specialty), you will be just fine. Residency programs don't care about fourth year vacations--everyone takes time off during fourth year.

FYI, ENT will be switching to the regular match next year; it was just announced.

 

[Wednesday]

Hi,

Pretty much everyone takes vacation during fourth year, so that's not the issue. Usually the first three months of fourth year (July, August, September) are the times to do away rotations and get letters as a fourth year. They are also a good time to try out some different specialties if you haven't found what you want to do by the end of third year. Even if you are absolutely sure what you want to do now, you very well may change your mind by the end of next year and want that time to explore a few fields before ERAS is due that you will not be exposed to 3rd year. It seems that everyone at my school has very specific ideas about the first three months and couldn't care less about the rest of the blocks. And getting married in August may impact July as well (planning, etc)

If it's really the only time you can get married, you gotta do it. Life doesn't stop for medical school. But if there is another time, you might want to consider it. It may end up being a lot less stressful next year at this time if you do.

Good luck and congrats!