I plan on applying to Internal Medicine for the upcoming application season. I've been reading that it's important to do a sub-i in IM to get the experience and a letter, but my school doesn't offer or require it. Should I do an away sub-i? ICU (which is required)? A normal away IM elective that functions as an "audition" rotation, and not a sub-i? I'm kind of at a loss and I've already spent so much time researching with no solid solution I can be confident in.
My school doesn't offer a medicine sub-i. What should I do?
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Start your own Sub-I and become the preceptor.
Cool
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do a search there was a thread on this recently
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No one was responding and OP creating this thread prolly helped with subsequent posts to that thread addressing the issue.
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Do you feel confident that you can competently carry up to five (a high estimate, but there are school where this happens) patients? Have you received generally positive feedback on your notes? Will you have the energy and interest to take call with your intern for a few weeks - assuming they're not cool enough to tell you to get the hell out by 4:00?
If the answers to these questions are "yes", then an away is a good idea.
I'd generally say that the wisdom of doing an away depends heavily on Step and M3 scores, but as a DO, you are already fighting a fairly uphill battle if you apply to the elite IM programs (by no means impossible, but a steep climb, nonetheless). So I think that for someone in your situation, it really comes down to: will the away help or hurt you?
If you really need a letter, you could do an IM elective at your own institution and ask one of the faculty in that specialty to write you one.
If the answers to these questions are "yes", then an away is a good idea.
I'd generally say that the wisdom of doing an away depends heavily on Step and M3 scores, but as a DO, you are already fighting a fairly uphill battle if you apply to the elite IM programs (by no means impossible, but a steep climb, nonetheless). So I think that for someone in your situation, it really comes down to: will the away help or hurt you?
If you really need a letter, you could do an IM elective at your own institution and ask one of the faculty in that specialty to write you one.
Yeah. What is up with these ****ty schools that don't provide the basics.
Would an IM LOR from 3rd year be enough to not have to do an audition or sub-I? I'm finding it incredibly difficult to schedule a sub-I in the very small time frame I have before applications can be submitted anywhere, let alone elite programs. My school starts 4th year very late so getting that exact time is proving nearly impossible and I'm starting to lose hope with that.
Not sure. I thought it was pretty standard, but apparently it isn't, which only makes my life harder when trying to beef up my application to be more competitive.
I could do an ICU rotation and could most likely get a letter out of that. Would that be better than a normal audition rotation at some other institution I don't have much vested interest in?
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Probably, although it definitely depends on your past performance. What's the ballpark of your Step 1 and M3 scores? And at what kinds of programs are you realistically looking?
I have 600+ on COMLEX 1, and I plan on taking USMLE Step 2 (I realized too late that I should've taken Step 1 so I might as well take Step 2). Mostly honors in 3rd year with some decent evaluations. I honored the IM shelf but I'm still waiting on the eval and OSCE grades to come back in.
In terms of programs, I'd like to go to a university program as my 1st choice. I don't care about getting into "top tier" programs.
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If you don't care about going to top-tier programs, I'd say that doing an away might be more trouble than it's worth, unless you have a far-and-away top choice whom you want to impress. The ICU rotation or an IM elective should be enough. Oh, and you can definitely use a letter from your IM rotation if there's an attending who will write you a glowing one.
Thank you for your input. Would it be safe to say then that not doing a designated sub-I won't have much of an affect on match outcome?
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My impression is that sub-Is function as additional opportunities to pack good comments into the MSPE, demonstrate competence in whatever field one is entering, and get letters. I won't lie to you - the default expectation is that people applying IM will have done a sub-I. But if you do an elective or unit month, you can essentially accomplish the same goals as those of a sub-I. Just be sure to treat that month as seriously as you would a sub-I.
So no, not doing a sub-I doesn't necessarily hobble you in residency applications, and I don't think mid-tier university programs will screen you out based on that.
