Matching with no aways

[sdnuser001]

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Hi I'm a USMD but I wouldn't consider myself to be terribly competitive on paper. I recently found out that the away clerkship I applied to is full and I'm not sure I'll be able to get one in time now. Would I still be in an okay position to match if I did a month of general rehab and a second month of peds rehab at my home institution? My home institution doesn't actually have a PM&R residency though and I'm not sure how much of an issue that would be.

 

[weidanielb]

I wouldn't say I was an amazing candidate, but I was able to secure invites to most places I applied without doing aways, doing exactly what you plan to do. I think as long as you do well on those rotations and get a letter out of it, you should be fine. Nobody ever brought up my lack of aways; I was only ever asked about my exposure to PM&R in general.

 

[SpinALL]

I believe just rotating at your home institution should be fine, but there are still away rotations that haven't even started taking applications on VSAS yet (and many that still are) if you actually still wanted to apply to them.

 

[gamrag]

You just need to do a 1-2 pm&r rotations to get a letter and know about the field so you can talk about it during interviews. Doing an away is not necessary to match there. I did not rotate at any of the top 6 programs on my rank list. Somehow I ended up at a great program and I was super happy. I didn't even think I did that well when I interviewed and did not think I had much of a chance.

PM&R is a small field. Just work hard at your home program and get the PD to write you a great letter. After that, you should be fine. Just apply, go to interviews and do your best.

 

[DMBandFan86]

In my opinion, you want to make your application as strong as possible. The fact that you are on SD trying to get advise seems to show that you have some hesitations about not doing an away because your application won't be as strong as possible. Therefore, its kind of a no-brainer - why wouldn't you just apply to more programs on VSAS and do an away rotation? It gives you a lot to talk about during your interviews, and who knows, it may just bump you up enough above other candidates to get into your top program.

Obviously, people have matched into PM&R with no aways, and some people have matched without ever doing a PM&R rotation. Applying to residency is pretty much a one time shot. If for some reason you don't match in PM&R the first time around, you might never get in.

 

[Lostin_space]

Hi I'm a USMD but I wouldn't consider myself to be terribly competitive on paper. I recently found out that the away clerkship I applied to is full and I'm not sure I'll be able to get one in time now. Would I still be in an okay position to match if I did a month of general rehab and a second month of peds rehab at my home institution? My home institution doesn't actually have a PM&R residency though and I'm not sure how much of an issue that would be.

I personally would not do a month of peds rehab, unless you are absolutely sure that's what you want to do, but certainly doing a month of general rehab should be fine. You don't necessarily need an away, and doing an away sometimes helps sometimes hurts depending on a number of factors. In general as long as you rotate in PMR to know what it is that we do and be able to talk about your interests you should do fine

 

[sdnuser001]

Thanks for all the advice! So my question then is how much (if at all) does it hurt to do only one month of PM&R vs. two? I kind of feel like 8 weeks is a little excessive but don't want to put myself at a disadvantage

 

[j4pac]

Thanks for all the advice! So my question then is how much (if at all) does it hurt to do only one month of PM&R vs. two? I kind of feel like 8 weeks is a little excessive but don't want to put myself at a disadvantage

I think that broad exposure to the field is a good idea. Inpatient and outpatient is preferred.

 

[DMBandFan86]

I kind of feel like 8 weeks is a little excessive

I'm starting to think you're just afraid of a little work. That or you just really need to reevaluate why you think you want to do PM&R. 8 weeks is not excessive. Don't worry, you won't be doing anything close to surgery hours. These rotations should be enjoyable and a good opportunity to explore the different aspects of physiatry.

don't want to put myself at a disadvantage

Then don't put yourself at a disadvantage. Do a couple of rotations and get yourself feeling confident that you will match into PM&R. Or just do 1 rotation like the other 3 or 4 people on here that already said they matched with no aways. Just make sure you are not going to doubt your choices all the way to match day.

 

[Mr. Osh Kosh]

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