I am not a medical student, but the partner of a 3rd year DO student.
I need help, because I don't know what to tell my partner or how to help. They would be furious if they knew I posted this information to an online forum, but I don't know what else to do. It's my understanding that psych is becoming a more competitive specialty, and my partner is very concerned about being able to match next year. I don't know what to tell them or how to help. Here are their stats:
- Low Comlex 1 - 430ish. Practice exams were always above 500, so it seemed like a fluke. Unfortunately, it's not something they can retake since they passed
- LOA of 1st semester due to mental health issues. No fails/grade issues after that
- They already have 3 excellent LOR's (2 psych, 1 surgery). 1 of their LOR's is from the head of the psych program from that rotation
- Excellent remarks on all rotations thus far - I know they will do much better on Comlex 2 because they are above average in clinical
- No research, but will have 1 or 2 case reports when the time comes to apply
- As of right now, they are not planning to take USMLE
Do you think it's enough to apply very broadly to just psych? They have been told by various psych residents, and the PD from their LOR that the most important thing is your interview and your LOR's over your scores, whereas others (IM residents, and other psych PD) say that the scores are equally important. Also that it looks better to apply only psych to show programs that you're really interested in the specialty. So it's very confusing to get all this conflicting information. Do they need to rank a less competitive specialty like IM?
Any advice or feedback is appreciated.
I need help, because I don't know what to tell my partner or how to help. They would be furious if they knew I posted this information to an online forum, but I don't know what else to do. It's my understanding that psych is becoming a more competitive specialty, and my partner is very concerned about being able to match next year. I don't know what to tell them or how to help. Here are their stats:
- Low Comlex 1 - 430ish. Practice exams were always above 500, so it seemed like a fluke. Unfortunately, it's not something they can retake since they passed
- LOA of 1st semester due to mental health issues. No fails/grade issues after that
- They already have 3 excellent LOR's (2 psych, 1 surgery). 1 of their LOR's is from the head of the psych program from that rotation
- Excellent remarks on all rotations thus far - I know they will do much better on Comlex 2 because they are above average in clinical
- No research, but will have 1 or 2 case reports when the time comes to apply
- As of right now, they are not planning to take USMLE
Do you think it's enough to apply very broadly to just psych? They have been told by various psych residents, and the PD from their LOR that the most important thing is your interview and your LOR's over your scores, whereas others (IM residents, and other psych PD) say that the scores are equally important. Also that it looks better to apply only psych to show programs that you're really interested in the specialty. So it's very confusing to get all this conflicting information. Do they need to rank a less competitive specialty like IM?
Any advice or feedback is appreciated.
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