How Important is Midyear?

[PharmStudent664]

Apologies in advance for this being long. I tend to be long-winded.

I am having a bit of an inner struggle with myself concerning how important it is that I attend Midyear. I am definitely interested in pursuing a residency, however, I can't seem to convince myself that the nearly $1000 Midyear will cost for me to attend is worth it.

I already know which programs I am interested in, have attended a local residency showcase which included some of those programs (the programs I am interested in are all in the same area), and have emailed the programs I am interested in requesting additional information. A lot of these programs have a vast amount of their information online and I feel I know quite a bit already. As time goes on I also plan to attend a local meeting where there will be residents presenting their projects and to contact current residents from the programs I am interested in via email. Since I know the primary purposes of attending Midyear as a P4 are the residency showcase and the resident poster presentations, it seems like, for me, who knows what exact programs I am interested in and am capable of finding out the information I don't know through other means rather than spending $1000, that Midyear may not be necessary. While I really wish I could go, the finances of the trip are the limiting consideration.

An additional factor is that during the months of January and February, I will be on rotations that will require me to fly quite a bit of distance in order to interview with the programs I am interested in. I feel that my money is better well spent buying those plane tickets than putting it towards Midyear.

The side of me that wants to do everything I can to make myself stand out and look dedicated, however, is what causing me to be so distraught about my current decision not to attend Midyear. Every person / program I talk to about my plans to pursue a residency ask me if I am planning to attend Midyear and they talk about what a good experience it is (which I don't doubt). Do programs prefer students that attended Midyear? Or are they able to understand the logic of my decision not to attend Midyear and instead look at the other things I have done to find the best fit program for me? What additional things can I do to "make up" for not going to Midyear?

Thank you for any insight and comments.

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[njac]

I'd say if you know where you're applying and are already in contact with those programs you probably don't need to go to Midyear. Especially if you've already had face to face contact with people from those programs at your school or state SHP meetings.

I'm going because I have a list of ~25 programs I'm trying to narrow down. I need to meet program directors and see if they are people I can work with, etc.

 

[KARM12]

Again if you are sure of where you are applying then you dont need to go to Midyear. You might miss the opportunity to speak to some programs you may not have considered....that is how I ended up at my current program and I love it!

But no...there is no advantage froma program's stand point if you went to Midyear or not. Many programs do not even keep any sort of list of who they talked to. Good luck with the process...it is a crazy time, but doing a residency will be worth it in the end!

 

[Priapism321]

You don't need to bother showing up, definitely not.

 

[bigpharmD]

Agree.... you do not HAVE to go to midyear. I worked for a year prior to doing a residency and did not go to midyear. I contacted programs and submitted applications. Midyear is a cluster, and you will be lucky if anyone remembers your face.

 

[spacecowgirl]

I never went due to finances and I had no problems getting a residency.

 

[KUMoose]

So anyone have extra floor space for midyear? I promise I shower and clean up after myself.... My plans fell through when my roomy decided to start dating someone. Talk about the ultimate 3rd wheel.

 

[njac]

I'd say join us but I think we've found a 4th girl for our room. If that falls through want a heads up?

 

[KUMoose]

I'd say join us but I think we've found a 4th girl for our room. If that falls through want a heads up?

Sure.

 

[legaia]

It Midyear were in Las Vegas again, then I'd say definately go :-D. But if you made up your mind on which programs to apply to, there is probably no reason to go unless you want to visit disney world. Know that you will probably only be able to talk to 5 programs per 3 hour session... at least when I did it last year, the people kept talking and talking and you couldn't really leave. But I had to write down my name and such, but I think that was for the residency to contact you later after the residency showcase.