how many programs?

[pdsrsdy]

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[Rutgers06]

hi all.

Im applying to pediatrics (as of 2 weeks ago) and looking for advice.

Im a US MD from top 25 - 50 school, HP in peds, and 199 on step 1. 3rd year was 1 honors, mostly hp, 2 passes.

Im wondering how many programs i should apply to? I would like to be in the midwest or west coast.

Also do most people do aways or not do aways?

amy advice is appreciated, thanks

It's hard to give a specific number of programs because it really depends on the competitiveness of the programs you apply to. For example, if you plan on applying to all the most competitive programs in the midwest and west coast (ie Cinci, Northwestern, Denver, Seattle, UCSF, UCLA, etc), then you would need to apply to more because your chances of getting interviews at those program is low given your scores/grades. If possible, try to meet with someone in your home peds program who will be able to sit down with you and review your application because usually they'll be able to give some guidance on programs that you would be competitive for. At my med school, that person was the program director, but where I'm at for residency, it's the peds attendings who are academic deans. Generally, you're going to want to apply broadly, including academic and smaller community programs. It's better to apply to too many programs and then pare down your interviews than to not have enough interviews.

In terms of aways, you should only really do them if there's a specific program that you're shooting for and can ensure that you can ace the rotation. They're mainly useful for you in terms of getting to know the program better. It's hard to ace away rotations because you're getting used to a new system and will invariably be compared to the home students who already know the system and residents from rotating there before. It's also tough to get a rotation with the gen peds stuff and often it's on a subspecialty/consult service, which is tough to shine on. In the people who have done aways at my residency program, I have rarely seen it help people, but I've definitely seen it hurt people who weren't very strong on their rotations. The most useful thing for you at this point in time would be to get strong letters of recommendations from your home institution and have a good Step 2 before you apply.

Hopefully that was helpful. Good luck on applying