How to stand out more for residency applications

[Hopefully_a_successful_MD]

I want to point out: I'm not trying to make this into a "WAMC" for specific field/residency program. If this is in the wrong place, let me know so I can post elsewhere.

I'm an M3 on his first rotation - surgery. Doing well enough I believe. Mid-rotation feedback is standard - "willing to learn, tries to be involved, has a basic grasp of X, Y, and Z. Work on presentations on rounds. Keep reading. 3/5 stars." Other than that, the only other objective data I have is that I'm either in the upper 3rd or lower 2nd quartile of my class. All P/F and they don't reveal class rank (to us, at least.) I can only guess my place because I consistently made low A's/high B's on all tests (more B's than A's lol.) Other things to note:

• At a state MD school with no red flags - they have residencies and med student rotations in every field I'm interested in
• Passed Step I first try
• No volunteer activities - I didn't really learn how to study effectively until mid-M2 year, so it took me longer to learn concepts. Always felt behind so I didn't do much other than study, work on hobbies, and hang a little with friends
• Only thing "academic" that I was involved with was joining the Radiology Interest Group. Not in an elected position, but I've attended meetings when I could
• Have some hobbies, including working out and skiing. I've been told hobbies play an important role with apps, so hopeful that me being more social and showing I do have a life outside med school will help me with future interviews
• I am currently working on a research project that will make me first author when published. Don't know if this will be published by the time ERAS is sent out. Not in a field I'm remotely interested in though
• Wife is an MD/PhD student at a state school on the opposite side of the country from me (won't be couples matching since she won't apply for residency until 2026.) We own property there. I'm pretty much locked into that state and, essentially, that program. Both of us doing medical school across the country is hard enough lol

I mean, other than honoring rotations and getting a high Step 2 score, what could I do to improve my app? I'm most interested in DR; however, I like anesthesia and IR, but I think I'd have to go the ESIR route through DR instead. I'm not enough competitive for an integrated IR position. Should I reach out to the rads department to do case studies? Network in the field? Stop being neurotic?

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[cj_cregg]

Are you able to do an away rotation at that program/others in the area that would be acceptable to you? That's probably the biggest thing that could help you assuming you make a good impression.

 

[voxveritatisetlucis]

charisma

 

[Hopefully_a_successful_MD]

Are you able to do an away rotation at that program/others in the area that would be acceptable to you? That's probably the biggest thing that could help you assuming you make a good impression.

Good idea tbh. I'll have to look into it. The school allows the med students to treat COVID+ patients if they've been vaccinated and boosted. So I'm sure they'll let a visiting M4 come in

charisma

How do I portray this other than putting "I'm charming as f**k, trust me bro" in my personal statement?

 

[operaman]

Excellent question.

Sounds like you’re already doing some very good things. No red flags from a decent school is a great place to start. Things you can do at this point:

1) really strive to improve on your rotations. Impressing clinically with your work ethic, knowledge base, and good social/emotional intelligence is huge. The best interview question I ever found was asking every applicant who else they’ve met on the interview trail they would want to have as a co resident. I’d keep a tally of the responses and the top names were nearly always near the top of everyone’s list and those who matched ended up being stellar residents. Those who didn’t match with us all matched well and I still see their names on papers or panels or otherwise making a positive impact. Be the kind of student that other students want to have as a colleague. Those are the same students that people want to train as residents.

2) start networking now. This is easier if you can commit to a field because you can narrow your focus. But you’re going to need help and connections to help grease the wheels for you. Start with M4s matching that field and ask who the good mentors are and start reaching out to those attendings. Find ways you can be around the department - like grand rounds or didactics or wherever else students are allowed to go. Just start becoming a familiar face for everyone while you build relationships with key staff.

3) research is always a great way to stand out. Find some other projects you can jump on. Ask residents if they have any posters or presentations that they haven’t written up as a manuscript. Those are nice easy ones, you get a pub, and at least one resident and their PI will love you for getting some mileage out of an old project.

4) as you build relationships, start research programs where you want to end up, find out who you know that knows key players there. You need some people who can make a phone call for you if things aren’t going your way or just to advocate for how great you are. Since you’re looking across the country, these can help get you on the short list if your current location was an issue at first glance.

5) away rotation(s) at your desired location. These are double edged swords so proceed with caution. If you’re honoring rotations and getting great evals, you have a shot at cinching the deal with a solid away performance. You can also screw the pooch by making a bad impression on the wrong person, so this is no guarantee, but usually people with consistently strong clinical performance will do well. Go there and be a star and you’re golden. Strong rotators usually turned out to be very strong residents. It’s basically a month long interview and most people can’t fake it for that long.

If you’re not strong clinically, then be careful with aways. Some people definitely look better on paper and in a short interview than they do after 70-80 hours a week! Know yourself and proceed accordingly.

 

[psyspy]

Everyone gave good advice here. The “first author when published” should be changed to “likely first author if published.” I bring this up because there’s no guarantee for either, depending on what your advisor desires and if a journal that he chooses to submit to says yes.

With that main focus should be rotations and studies. Go for the first author paper but bear in mind that in itself is a bit of a crapshoot too (better to rack up multiple research products with your name on them as some author tbh)

 

[AzBasRad]

I want to point out: I'm not trying to make this into a "WAMC" for specific field/residency program. If this is in the wrong place, let me know so I can post elsewhere.

I'm an M3 on his first rotation - surgery. Doing well enough I believe. Mid-rotation feedback is standard - "willing to learn, tries to be involved, has a basic grasp of X, Y, and Z. Work on presentations on rounds. Keep reading. 3/5 stars." Other than that, the only other objective data I have is that I'm either in the upper 3rd or lower 2nd quartile of my class. All P/F and they don't reveal class rank (to us, at least.) I can only guess my place because I consistently made low A's/high B's on all tests (more B's than A's lol.) Other things to note:

• At a state MD school with no red flags - they have residencies and med student rotations in every field I'm interested in
• Passed Step I first try
• No volunteer activities - I didn't really learn how to study effectively until mid-M2 year, so it took me longer to learn concepts. Always felt behind so I didn't do much other than study, work on hobbies, and hang a little with friends
• Only thing "academic" that I was involved with was joining the Radiology Interest Group. Not in an elected position, but I've attended meetings when I could
• Have some hobbies, including working out and skiing. I've been told hobbies play an important role with apps, so hopeful that me being more social and showing I do have a life outside med school will help me with future interviews
• I am currently working on a research project that will make me first author when published. Don't know if this will be published by the time ERAS is sent out. Not in a field I'm remotely interested in though
• Wife is an MD/PhD student at a state school on the opposite side of the country from me (won't be couples matching since she won't apply for residency until 2026.) We own property there. I'm pretty much locked into that state and, essentially, that program. Both of us doing medical school across the country is hard enough lol

I mean, other than honoring rotations and getting a high Step 2 score, what could I do to improve my app? I'm most interested in DR; however, I like anesthesia and IR, but I think I'd have to go the ESIR route through DR instead. I'm not enough competitive for an integrated IR position. Should I reach out to the rads department to do case studies? Network in the field? Stop being neurotic?

All great advice above. Here are some DR specific advice.

First and foremost, read the AMSER guide below:

https://www.aur.org/uploadedfiles/alliances/amser/educator_resources/amser_guide_to_applying_for_radiology_residency.pdf

Academics: Good step 2 CK score and clerkship grades/evals are a must. Consider doing a IM and/or surgery SubI and getting excellent LoRs.

Research: Definitely get involved with case reports in your home institution. Easiest would be ACR Case-in-Point or RSNA Case Collection. Most medical students discover their interest in radiology late and its not uncommon for most rads applicants to not have hardcore research in the field. I had a few pubs in IM and Med-onc and only a few case reports/posters in rads by the time I applied, but I was only asked about my rads specific projects.

Away Rotation: If you are targeting a specific region, definitely do an away rotation in the program and region. Ask to do case reports, poster presentations and read up on topics. You will always find residents in a program who will happily get you involved. Before you leave the program, definitely meet with the PD. If you a professional twitter account, connect with residents and keep in touch.

Letters of recommendation: DR programs care a lot about clinical LoRs and PDs routinely recommend max 1-2 radiology letters. This is because PDs know medical students can't really get involved in the reading room. IR rotations may be more interesting as you may have the opportunity to get hands on involvement. Radiology letters can be from DR or IR physicians. If you are applying DR, make sure that your letter writers attest to your interest in DR.

 

[psyspy]

All great advice above. Here are some DR specific advice.

First and foremost, read the AMSER guide below:

https://www.aur.org/uploadedfiles/alliances/amser/educator_resources/amser_guide_to_applying_for_radiology_residency.pdf

Academics: Good step 2 CK score and clerkship grades/evals are a must. Consider doing a IM and/or surgery SubI and getting excellent LoRs.

Research: Definitely get involved with case reports in your home institution. Easiest would be ACR Case-in-Point or RSNA Case Collection. Most medical students discover their interest in radiology late and its not uncommon for most rads applicants to not have hardcore research in the field. I had a few pubs in IM and Med-onc and only a few case reports/posters in rads by the time I applied, but I was only asked about my rads specific projects.

Away Rotation: If you are targeting a specific region, definitely do an away rotation in the program and region. Ask to do case reports, poster presentations and read up on topics. You will always find residents in a program who will happily get you involved. Before you leave the program, definitely meet with the PD. If you a professional twitter account, connect with residents and keep in touch.

Letters of recommendation: DR programs care a lot about clinical LoRs and PDs routinely recommend max 1-2 radiology letters. This is because PDs know medical students can't really get involved in the reading room. IR rotations may be more interesting as you may have the opportunity to get hands on involvement. Radiology letters can be from DR or IR physicians. If you are applying DR, make sure that your letter writers attest to your interest in DR.

Just curious why do you say IM or surgery sub I for him? Is an IM sub I generally helpful for applications if one does well in it?

 

[AzBasRad]

Just curious why do you say IM or surgery sub I for him? Is an IM sub I generally helpful for applications if one does well in it?

3rd year clerkship grades (in H/HP/P/F) system are more important than SubI. OP mentioned that their clerkships are P/F so doing well on IM or surgery SubI will be helpful in DR and PGY-1 prelim applications.

My med school had traditional H/HP/P/F curriculum and I had a colleague match into T25 DR programs with EM SubI.

 

[Hopefully_a_successful_MD]

Thank you all for your suggestions - this is why SDN can be a great resource. I'm taking notes on it. Going to meet with a former DR program director to get to know the field a bit more, potentially network, and get their opinions on what I can do. But I honestly think they won't tell me anything more than what was told here.