So how much of a slap in the face should I consider it to be if my home institution doesn't offer me an interview? They didn't even have the gall to send a rejection email. Would you email them to ask why or just forget it and move on?
No interview from home institution = slap in the face?
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They saved you a lot of time and hassle. What's the point of interviewing at a place you don't have a chance at, just out of courtesy? My med school gave every home applicant an interview but to be honest that just put pressure on me to apply and go to the interview despite having no interest in staying.
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It all depends... on numerous factors not the least of which is what kind of candidate you are. So, I am going to throw some ideas to ponder. There is no reason for you to answer/respond. I am simply throwing them out to stimulate your own self evaluation/situational awareness.
1. some institutions limit home interviews to avoid in-breeding
2. some institutions interview all their med students even though they will never consider them seriously. This uses up some interview time, may/may not provide you with interview practice, may be an exercise of dishonesty.
3. you should have some sort of idea how well you did on your clinical rotations and where you stand as far as what the surgery residents/attendings think about you. If you are under the impression that they all loved you and think you would be a great addition, you should really think. Are you confused or are they simply backstabbing and dishonest and really did not like you..... Do you really want to train in such an environment.....
4. avoiding the dog and pony show of a fake interview is often, IMHO, not a slap in the face, but a favor. One should say thank you and move on to greener pastures.
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everything said here is good info
on the other hand i'd be a little ticked, but would move on very quickly
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maybe it's an honest error. another possibility is that you missed their cutoff (GPA, USMLE) but they'd be willing to overlook that and interview you anyway. why not call the coordinator and tell her you're interested in the program and ask if there's anything you need to do to complete your application.
Despite all the above comments, it's still pretty much a big slap in the face. There's probably someone in the program that doesn't like you for whatever reason.
I would try to find out why, as your LORs may contain some bad stuff if they came from those people.
The most approachable person is the program coordinator, although I may just go talk to her instead of sending an email where she can give a prepared generic response.
One of the big things that we look for in LORs is whether or not the home program has an interest in keeping the student. It's an unwritten rule that for good applicants, the home PD or chairman will make a comment in the LOR that they want the student to stay with them, whether it's true or not.
As an interviewer, if I found out that a student was not offered an invite from their home program, I would probably not consider the student for a spot, as it seems like a huge red flag.
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I would ask one of the faculty who I thought liked me (their comments on my evaluations reflected as much), and see what happened. Both of my letter writers were people I could easily approach, so I would have asked either/both of them.
If it's something you can/should remedy, then it would be valuable to know.
If it's something you can/should remedy, then it would be valuable to know.
One of my classmatea had the same thing happen. Good grades and all but he didn't get along w the residents. It actually wasn't a huge surprise except to him and yes, it was a slap in the face.
Thanks for all the honest comments. Turns out I actually got an offer the day after they sent out their invitations, but it was just for one date. Not sure what that means, but maybe I shouldn't read too much into it.
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Some places interview their own students on a separate day. I always found that weird, but where I did my residency the policy was that all students from that med school interviewed a different day...
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Might have been so that the students from there don't blab the truth about how awful the place is? 😉
Or they just modify the day so that they don't waste anyone's time by giving a tour of a hospital that everyone just rotated at for the past 6 months. I skipped the tour of my home program.
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My school did the separate day as well, but also had a few outside people added in. I'm sure it made them uncomfortable, and I still am not sure why they did it like that. They did make the tour optional.
There might be a bunch of really good reasons that your home program doesn't interview you, but in the end it means they don't want you-that is the slap in the face. You can rationalize all you want about how it is nice they saved you the time and trouble of a fake interview (how much trouble is it really if you live there-plus you get a nice free meal out of it at least), but if you aren't bitter about it you are a better person than I am.
Glad you got the interview offer. Certainly a slap in the face otherwise.
Another type of slap in the face- a friend of mine was in the middle of his away rotation at an institution when he got his rejection letter. They couldn't even wait for him to finish the rotation and go home? Something must have gone horribly wrong in that first half.
Another type of slap in the face- a friend of mine was in the middle of his away rotation at an institution when he got his rejection letter. They couldn't even wait for him to finish the rotation and go home? Something must have gone horribly wrong in that first half.
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the lesson to learn is that in surgery you need to have pretty thick skin
and try not to take snubs and barbs personally. try to learn, change what you can and not let it eat you up.
remember the abc's of surgery
accuse
blame
criticize
and I will add D- demean
and try not to take snubs and barbs personally. try to learn, change what you can and not let it eat you up.
remember the abc's of surgery
accuse
blame
criticize
and I will add D- demean
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Yet another type of slap in the face that happened to me, 2 days after my application was in, I saw my dean approaching me in the hallway with a thick stack of papers in his hands. I said "Hello Sir!". He shoved the stack of papers in my hand forcefully (my application) and said, "Horse's Ass Hello!", slapped me, and walked away. I wasn't sure back then, but I am convinced now that it was definately meant as a slap in the face.
Fortunately, my skin is thicker than a male transvestite buffalo wearing a female bufallo skin over his skin.
