How important is it to submit application the first day?

[futuredo32]

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I'm going into my 4th year of psychiatry residency and want to do a second residency in family medicine. Aside from all of the obstacles I will face (funding, being away from med school for so long etc), how important is it to get my application in on the first day as opposed to two weeks later? For what it's worth, I am a DO and am applying to both DO and MD programs. I did a traditional rotating internship and could start as a pgy2 in a DO program. I also traded up during my psych residency from a lower tier program to a higher tier program as the first program had some GIANT changes to the structure of the program mandated by the hospitals budget and lead to our PD abruptly quitting.

I could get my application in for the DO programs in on the first day, but being ultra busy with residency (I don't get the cushy 4th year because I transferred I have a tougher schedule which was part of the agreement I accepted when I transferred) I just feel like my personal statement in particular would be a lot better if I had more time to work on it. I have had a ton of call and it will lighten up soon, thus giving me more time to work on my personal statement and being that I am super non-traditional I think my personal statement is pretty important.

Thanks in advance for opinions, advice any guidance.

 

[RangerBob]

I remember my friends that applied to FM received invites very early--before the dean's letter came out (I think it was sent out about two weeks after the first day applications could be sent out). They were getting invites that first week and interviewing as early as early October. So I would think you want to get your application out as early as you can. Obviously you don't want to send out an application if it's not ready, but you still have plenty of time to finish your personal statement (mid-September, right?)

 

[futuredo32]

I think the DO one opens July 1. I would prefer to match into a DO program because I am just more comfortable in the usual small community type settings of the DO hospitals and also I could finish a DO FP residency in 2 years since I did a TRI. I'm just so stuck on what to say in my personal statement. Some say no one reads them anyway, I don't know, do they?

 

[RangerBob]

Oh--I see. I don't know much about the DO match, but I would think it's fairly similar to MD in that the FM interview invites are handed out like candy at the beginning, but it'd be worth getting someone's advice that applied to DO programs. As for programs not reading the personal statement, I really can't answer that. I know programs read my statement. Whether they did it before they sent out the invite or the morning of my interview I really can't say. I wouldn't take it too lightly as it is important, and it typically seems to matter more in less competitive specialties (like FM, or my case, PM&R).

I still doubt an extra two weeks to work on your personal statement will make that much of a difference--just do your best and buckle down right now. Read your medical school and/or psych personal statements to get a little inspiration/ideas, then just start typing, even if it's "I want to be a family doctor to help people," or something cliche'd like that. Just start typing to get your fingers moving and the gears rolling in your head and eventually you'll start producing something you're happy with, after which you can come back and rework or delete the earlier material.

 

[AMEHigh]

I think the DO one opens July 1. I would prefer to match into a DO program because I am just more comfortable in the usual small community type settings of the DO hospitals and also I could finish a DO FP residency in 2 years since I did a TRI. I'm just so stuck on what to say in my personal statement. Some say no one reads them anyway, I don't know, do they?

Not sure what specialty you're applying to, but I went to the acog conference which specifically had sessions for medical students. One of the sessions was prepping for residency applications and interviews. Several physicians who help with the interview process discussed the importance of the personal statement and CV. Obviously many programs look at board scores and academic record first, but after that, I think some programs do take the personal statement pretty seriously in that it can help you if it's somewhat interesting and it can hurt you if it's full of grammatical errors.

I'm sure not all programs look at the personal statement closely, but I'm writing my personal statement with the attitude that it could help me, so I'm going to take my time to make it thoughtful and interesting. Even if it doesn't necessarily help me, I don't want it to hurt me, which I think it can do if you don't take it seriously.

 

[futuredo32]

Actually, this year we can't apply to programs until July 15. In prior years it was July 1 if my memory is correct, so all is well. I will be ready July 15🙂
Thanks for the advice🙂

 

[Siggy]

Actually, this year we can't apply to programs until July 15. In prior years it was July 1 if my memory is correct, so all is well. I will be ready July 15🙂
Thanks for the advice🙂

It was like this last year too. July 1st applications open up for applicants. July 15th is the first day programs can download applications.