How do I know which Psychiatry residencies are competitive? How do I know if *I'm* competitive for them?

[kelminak]

Hey there,

I was just wondering if there was any way to get information on whether or not a residency is considered competitive or not. I know of FREIDA, but basically all I get from that is 1/4 to 1/2 the residencies listing an average step score range and that's about it. Is there other methods of figuring out whether a residency is good?

At this point I basically only have a decent Step (230s) and a bad COMLEX (490s) to my name, so I don't know where that puts in me in terms of competitiveness and whether any of these programs will care about my COMLEX score or not. I have no research, clubs...etc. to my name either which I know is going to hurt me, so hopefully I can put something together this year so my CV isn't nearly blank.

Thanks!

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[TexasPhysician]

Word of mouth is the best way.

 

[kopftonmd]

If your school has access to the texas star data, that could be helpful.

 

[clozareal]

For whether a residency program is good or not, word of mouth is probably the best way. Mostly from the residents since you'll be in their shoes next year. I couldn't care less about the faculty's impression of what they think the resident's work-life balance and quality of their training are like. Make good use of your interview day when you get a chance to speak with the residents. If you don't get an opportunity to speak with the residets, then the writing's on the wall with that one.

For the competitiveness of a residency, one imperfect proxy is to look at which medical schools the residents went to. If there are zero DO residents, then it's very unlikely that you, as a DO applicant, will get into that residency program. Also, the competitiveness of medical school (average MCAT score, average GPA) of the residents probably corresponds with the competitiveness of that residency (Step scores, clerkship grades).

 

[kelminak]

For whether a residency program is good or not, word of mouth is probably the best way. Mostly from the residents since you'll be in their shoes next year. I couldn't care less about the faculty's impression of what they think the resident's work-life balance and quality of their training are like. Make good use of your interview day when you get a chance to speak with the residents. If you don't get an opportunity to speak with the residets, then the writing's on the wall with that one.

For the competitiveness of a residency, one imperfect proxy is to look at which medical schools the residents went to. If there are 0 DO residents, then it's unlikely that you as a DO applicant will get into that residency program. Also, the competitiveness of medical school (average MCAT score, average GPA) of the residents may correspond with the competitiveness of that residency (Step scores, clerkship grades).

Gotcha. I do have someone at this program I'm particularly interested in who went to the same school as me, so that at least says that the door is open if I'm a decent applicant. I wish I could get more specific information otherwise, but I don't have a lot of connections personally and COVID hasn't helped with that either. 😛 Thanks!

 

[Merovinge]

Gotcha. I do have someone at this program I'm particularly interested in who went to the same school as me, so that at least says that the door is open if I'm a decent applicant. I wish I could get more specific information otherwise, but I don't have a lot of connections personally and COVID hasn't helped with that either. 😛 Thanks!

I would think about residencies a bit like dating on an app. You really don't want to get your heart set on a person (residency) when you are just browsing through because any one person's likelihood to end up as the perfect fit for that other person (residency) in absolute value is quite low. If getting to date that person motivates you to hit the gym, learn some culinary dishes (better test scores, better grades, research), then great, otherwise make sure you are casting an appropriate sized net.

As someone who's been able to see many different systems and practices since leaving adult training, I can't tell you how happy I am to have gotten the training I did at my number 3 program. I remember being a bit sad on match day, but holy cow did it end up being a blessing, particularly since my top 2 programs were in smaller cities and it turns out I am quite the standard 30 something in my love of larger metros.

 

[Candidate2017]

I would think about residencies a bit like dating on an app.

Yes, I wouldn't be surprised if there were some type of paraphilic dating app where swiping right puts you in indentured servitude for 4 years.

 

[Dharma]

Yes, I wouldn't be surprised if there were some type of paraphilic dating app where swiping right puts you in indentured servitude for 4 years.

If you have loans, indentured servitude goes well beyond residency...

 

[whopper]

As far as I know there is no source of data that tells the public of number of applicants being accepted/rejected, average GPA, USMLE scores, etc.

 

[kelminak]

As far as I know there is no source of data that tells the public of number of applicants being accepted/rejected, average GPA, USMLE scores, etc.

Yeah that's what I'm starting to realize. It's a little frustrating to have no idea other than guessing whether or not applying to a residency is worth the effort or not. =/