Help please

[at1771]

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Hi everyone, congrats to everyone who matched, I unfortunately did not 🙁

I was wondering what you guys thought I should do from here, and wondering what some of the other unlucky applicants who did not match are planning to do. I know there's the option of doing research and trying to apply again next year, or just doing your internship and reapplying during that, or looking for a pgy-2 opening during your intern year. I know one opened up this year at uc irvine, but how often does a spot open up? I've been advised by my dean to just do my intern year, but I'm worried that if I do that and can't find anything, I will be stuck having done an intern year with no categorical residency to continue on to. Advice?

 

[4424]

i mentioned this to the other post that was asked the same question. i really think you need to identify what was deficient in your application. if you didn't do enough research, then yes consider doing more research to strengthen your app. very few people match the second time by doing nothing different, which basically is what doing a prelim year would be.

 

[CastroViejo]

If you are trying to minimize the number of years you 'waste' I would think it's better to do research instead of internship and here's why. My guess is that there were a lot of people interested in the single UC Irvine opening this year. I would call the secretary there and actually ask how many tried to get that spot, but I would assume it is pretty high. Also, it is relatively rare that someone drops out of ophtho, so there are probably only 1-3 PGY-2 spots becoming available every year. If you did intern year, you, along with many others, are banking on being able to land that spot, which seems like a bad bet. More likely, you would not get that spot and you would have to re-apply to as a PGY-1, but keep in mind that you have done nothing this year to improve your application, so what are the odds that somehow now you will match? So then, you will take another year off to do research, then maybe your application gets you in, but again, it is most likely a pre-PGY2 program since 400+ positions open every year, not just 1 or 2.

On the other hand, if you suck it up and do the research now, maybe that will be enough to let you match next year. So this way you only 'waste' the research year, but otherwise you may waste intern year, the research year, and then match a year in advance, so you would have to wait around another year. So in total most likely 1 year wasted versus 2.

That's just my take on it.

 

[DKofLV]

If you are trying to minimize the number of years you 'waste' I would think it's better to do research instead of internship and here's why. My guess is that there were a lot of people interested in the single UC Irvine opening this year. I would call the secretary there and actually ask how many tried to get that spot, but I would assume it is pretty high. Also, it is relatively rare that someone drops out of ophtho, so there are probably only 1-3 PGY-2 spots becoming available every year. If you did intern year, you, along with many others, are banking on being able to land that spot, which seems like a bad bet. More likely, you would not get that spot and you would have to re-apply to as a PGY-1, but keep in mind that you have done nothing this year to improve your application, so what are the odds that somehow now you will match? So then, you will take another year off to do research, then maybe your application gets you in, but again, it is most likely a pre-PGY2 program since 400+ positions open every year, not just 1 or 2.

On the other hand, if you suck it up and do the research now, maybe that will be enough to let you match next year. So this way you only 'waste' the research year, but otherwise you may waste intern year, the research year, and then match a year in advance, so you would have to wait around another year. So in total most likely 1 year wasted versus 2.

That's just my take on it.

This is my exact opinion too...sounds like solid advice

 

[usamsIII]

First you need to look at the deficiencies in your application and what could have happened that could have probably hurt you. Was it low board scores, not being a us grad, not having something that is unique?

Whatever it may be I think this upcoming year is your year to solidify that ...with this in mind I think you should actually do an intern year over a research year...and this was told to me by my ophtho dept as well as my dean...

do your intern year at a place where you are considering the ophtho program...this way you can do an entire year of research while also doing an entire intern year. It will be a crappy year of nonstop work, but this way you are able to do research while completing your intern year...the fellow attendings you know will write you a good letter and can call or speak with the PD or chairman, who he probably knows well just because they work in the same hospital.

I met someone on the interview trail who was doing that...and i thought it was a good idea. He was doing research and his intern year at the same time. His attendings liked him and so did the ophtho dept he was working with. He did electives with them as well.

 

[CastroViejo]

i dont get this whole 'identify your weaknesses' thing...i mean if your weakness was boards or not being a US grad...there's really nothing you can do about it now. The only thing you can do is more research, fellowship, something like that...none of which actually addresses those specific deficiencies.

It's not impossible, but it seems pretty unlikely that you can both do meaningful research and perform well enough during an internship that you can impress people. I'm sure there are super-people out there who can do it, but I doubt it's a typical experience. And even if you did, you would most likely still only be able to match into a pre-pgy2 spot, so you have a year to kill anyway. Not to mention that if you didnt match the first time, you can't really limit yourself to just wanting to match at one program. I would just try to do the best research as possible (perhaps at the place you want to match at) without getting distracted by the incredible work load of internship.

 

[thalia44]

Does your school have an ophthalmology department? Can you ask them for advice?

 

[KHE]

As a medical school outsider, what happens to people who don't "match" in their chose specialty? Do they scramble to match into something "else?"

It seems that people try to do an internship year or a research year and apply again. If that too fails, what becomes of these people? Another specialty? Law school? Hari Kari?

 

[Stark]

DO A RESEARCH YEAR
DO A RESEARCH YEAR
DO A RESEARCH YEAR

Anybody can go on and do an internship. That doesn't show your dedication, interest, or enthusiasm for ophtho. It just shows you want and quick and easy solution.

An internship won't help you Step scores, or grades, or class rank, or med school you went to.

At this point, the only thing you can do to really beef-up your application with enthusiasm is a research year. You'll get valuable experience and get to co-publish a couple of papers.

Above all - a research year says "I'M NOT GOING TO QUIT - I LOVE OPHTHALMOLOGY SOOOOOO MUCH!" That's what a program wants - someone who loves ophthalmology so much they are willing to sacrifice for it.

Best of Luck,

Stark

PS

DO A RESEARCH YEAR
DO A RESEARCH YEAR
DO A RESEARCH YEAR