Looking for honest advice on potential couples match

[Dr. Michael Scott]

My SO and I are currently both OMS-3s at a lower-tier DO school. He wants to do EM and my dream is OB. However, I ran into some trouble with step 1 and got a **** score, 215. My COMLEX was a 590. His step 1 was a 226 and COMLEX was a 495. We both have good grades, and are the type of people who interview well and have good recommendation letters. Obviously the big stain on our applications is step 1 scores, obviously more so for me. Don't know if the personality/people skills will be enough to overcome the scores.

My question is, is there any hope to couples match in these specialties with our statistics? The more I look into it, the more discouraged I get. kind of starting to panic, actually, and the school has been 0 help providing practical advice. Has anyone been in a similar situation? Any advice or guidance is appreciated, please be honest. Thank you!

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[DrRedstone]

If you and your SO can rock an away rotation with the same location, that would be the best shot. Find a place you are interested in and court the crap out of them.

 

[Dr. Michael Scott]

what do you mean by "court," and how soon would that need to start? we are third years now.

 

[ciestar]

what do you mean by "court," and how soon would that need to start? we are third years now.

Like courting? Woo the heck out of them.

 

[DrRedstone]

what do you mean by "court," and how soon would that need to start? we are third years now.

Start by inviting them to dinner, something semi-formal, then discuss the intricacies of clinical practice guidelines and your in-depth knowledge of them. Pair that with a healthy dose of empathy and offer to pay the $2xx bill with Step 1 credit.

Basically do your best to impress them with every interaction. Don't be obnoxious, just show them you are a genuine human being and you know things above the level they expect from the average student.

 

[Espressso]

Yeah I would second the above advice. Reach out via email to the program coordinator (not not notttt the director) at a program that you really like and is within reach, that ideally has both an Ob and EM program. Your bf should do the same, reaching out and in your emails mention you plan to couples match and you're highly interested in this program and you're just trying to stay on top of things and get information about securing an audition for next summer/fall.

This does a few things for you: one, it shows them you're on top of it. I mean, you're earlier than most student sby a long shot. Two, it shows you're interested in their program and if there's one thing programs love its to see that applicants want to come to their hospital. And three your name now resides in that program coordinators email inbox. If she/he ever needs to go back and search for potential applicants you show up. I think these are good things.

If you can find a program that is within reach for both you and bf and you both secure auditions I think that gives you your best shot at one, getting an interview, and two, matching together there.

 

[ritts]

Ngl, this would be very hard, mainly because you want to do OB. I would suggest dual applying and having a backup specialty to ensure that you match

 

[NotAProgDirector]

You're going to use the couple's match, because it gives you much better control over your match outcomes. It will maximize your chances of being together. You'll need to decide what happens if no option of being together is successful -- you can be apart in training, or choose that one of you not match at all.

The main question you'll need to answer is whether you will tell programs that you're couple's matching. You can do so on your ERAS application, but you don't need to. It's possible that some programs will recruit a couple -- if one program is interested in one of you, it's possible they will ask the other to be openminded about looking at you. It's also possible that a program might only invite you if both get interviews - this is more likely in geographic locations with a single program distant from other programs. There's no "right" answer.

As mentioned, you might want to apply to OB and something else - perhaps FM. In that case you might want to not mention the couple's issue in your app, as it might disclose that you're applying to two fields.

 

[Med Ed]

My SO and I are currently both OMS-3s at a lower-tier DO school. He wants to do EM and my dream is OB. However, I ran into some trouble with step 1 and got a **** score, 215. My COMLEX was a 590. His step 1 was a 226 and COMLEX was a 495. We both have good grades, and are the type of people who interview well and have good recommendation letters. Obviously the big stain on our applications is step 1 scores, obviously more so for me. Don't know if the personality/people skills will be enough to overcome the scores.

My question is, is there any hope to couples match in these specialties with our statistics? The more I look into it, the more discouraged I get. kind of starting to panic, actually, and the school has been 0 help providing practical advice. Has anyone been in a similar situation? Any advice or guidance is appreciated, please be honest. Thank you!

1. Pick a state that nobody wants to live in. Michigan is a good example. It's also a former stronghold of pre-merger osteopathic residencies.
2. Use the program finder tool on the ACGME website to see how many OB and EM programs there are in the state. In this case about two dozen of each.
3. Comb the website of each program to see current residents. Keep programs with at least one current DO resident. Discard the rest (or at least de-prioritize them).
4. Cross-index the lists of remaining OB and EM programs. Cities that have both become targets for away rotations when VSAS opens next year.
5. Shine during your away rotations. Show up early, stay late, read constantly, and be nice to everyone without being obnoxious.
6. Have a cup of Joe with the PDs and explain your dilemma. If they like you then they may look at this as the opportunity to nab two solid "known quantity" interns for the price of one. This will require some luck, but it's worth a shot.
7. Welcome to Saginaw! Your life is now complete.