Official 2018-2019 Psychiatry Residency Application Thread

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Slow interview invite day?


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yanks26dmb said:
Anyone know if most programs end up sending rejections or just ghost you?

Also, Ive applied to several schools which have already sent out both interviews and rejections.. I've received neither. Wondering what this means.
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Ghost. I sent out 75 apps last year. Had 9 interviews, 3-4 secondaries (didn't get interviews from any of them), and 10-15 rejections. So about 2/3 didn't bother responding including a few I called/emailed to express interest because they were in my home city.
 
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I'm essentially just staring at my computer hoping for an interview invite e-mail. :watching:
 
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Ghosting is a new term in pop culture this year. It should mean you watch someone while ignoring them and not letting them know you're there, kinda like stalking. But it actually means you stop contacting them by suddenly and without explanation withdrawing from all communication which is dumb because that's not what a ghost symbolizes or does.

It's rise is due to the decline of empathy in society, along with the promotion of a more selfish, narcissistic culture.
 
splik said:
You are at least 3 yrs behind... it’s not a new term
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Entering pop culture took a few years. I know it originated in some articles as early as 2011, had some mention in 2015, but really didn't catch fire until 2017, and was regularly mentioned on pop culture shows in the past year. It's subjective. Doesn't matter anyway.
 
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Anyone else get much more invites before Oct 1st? It’s been pretty quiet for me since then...


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Can we please start a 2018-2019 Psychiatry Interview Reviews / Insight thread? Interview season is starting and I found last year's to be very helpful! :)
 
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Seroquelae said:
Can we please start a 2018-2019 Psychiatry Interview Reviews / Insight thread? Interview season is starting and I found last year's to be very helpful! :)
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I have started a new thread - check it out! :banana:
 
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3 before and 1 after for me. I have faith things will pick up as the cycle goes on and people start canceling.

Or maybe I'll be here in January freaking out about my few precious interviews :shrug:
 
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same story here, guys! 3 before mspe, 1 after. keep focusing on "why am i not getting more interviews?" rather than thinking about how to do amazing on the interviews I do have. Everyone seems to be saying it's too early to freak out...so hopefully, they're right and we just have to stay positive. good luck everyone!
 
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Also DO and also silence save a couple rejections since October 1. I’m really worried.
 
good morning to another day of staring at your email
 
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How much does a letter of interest email really help in this stage? Who should you send it to the program director or the program coordinator? I was going to contact my top programs I havent heard back from yet. Only sitting on 3 interviews is not a very comfortable position and there are programs I would really live to see and be considered for.
 
Could I get some feedback advice on my application? I was wondering if anyone had recommendations on whether or not I should send emails updated the status of my application? Prior to 9/15: I am an AMSenior having a Step 1: 246, Step 2 CK: 248, 2nd quartile, but a fail on Step 2 CS. Today I received a new passing score on Step 2 CS, I have updated ERAS as far as resubmitting my transcript. I had received 3 invitations so far, but would like advice on sending emails updating my status. Any advice would be greatly appreciated.
 
DOs are getting a raw deal around here.

To share a flip side, and I hope this doesn't come off as humble brag, just want to give other DOs hope, I'm sitting at 9.

I think more ii are going to be coming for everyone in here, just maybe slower than desired.
 
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WorldChanger36 said:
How much does a letter of interest email really help in this stage? Who should you send it to the program director or the program coordinator? I was going to contact my top programs I havent heard back from yet. Only sitting on 3 interviews is not a very comfortable position and there are programs I would really live to see and be considered for.
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N=1: I've emailed a joint message to PD's & PC's at my tippy top programs (only if they'd already been sending out invites): one's taking a look, one waitlist (sadly all interview slots were full by the time I emailed), and one interview! :) In two cases, it was PD's who replied, while it was a PC in the other.
 
autopoietic said:
N=1: I've emailed a joint message to PD's & PC's at my tippy top programs (only if they'd already been sending out invites): one's taking a look, one waitlist (sadly all interview slots were full by the time I emailed), and one interview! :) In two cases, it was PD's who replied, while it was a PC in the other.
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Would you be willing to share via PM an outline of how you put together your letter of interest? Obviously with personal detail removed
 
Glyx-13 said:
Would you be willing to share via PM an outline of how you put together your letter of interest? Obviously with personal detail removed
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Sure thing! I'll just post it here in case it may be of use for anyone else. I don't have any magic formula, but here's what I've done: briefly introduced myself (name & school) then spent 2-4 lines explaining why I thought the program and I were a good fit (largely, how its particular mission & programming made sense as the next step in training to be the sort of psychiatrist I want to be. I also mentioned geographic ties if genuine). Then I thanked them for their work & sent it off!
 
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FYI - remember that many programs only start reviewing DO applications after they have been through all/most of the MD applications. Similarly, many programs only review and offer interviews for IMGs after all the US MD and DO students. Which is to say, for those DO and IMG applicants, I would not be worrying until early november (certainly for the more competitive programs, for community based programs or traditionally DO heavy programs, the same timeline may still apply). Also, please bear in mind that it is quite a task to review the many applications, which happens over several months. Many programs do interview invitations in batches. In addition, there are usually many cancellations later in the season, which lead to people getting interviews invites even in December and January. I can remember being very frightened about my lack of interviews when I was applying quite some years ago but just because other people may have received interviews to x and y does not meet that you will not. There is still everything to play for. The problem with people over applying, is that some applications tend to hoard all the interview invites whereas other programs are forced to try to figure out which students are really interested in their program.

One thing that does make a difference (especially for IMGs) is if someone you know who has contacts at programs you are interested in can call those people on your behalf. I got a bunch of interviews that way.
 
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The PD at my institute told me that he's been hearing that psychiatry programs are getting flooded with applicants this year and that may be why there have been some delays in interview invites since psych programs like to look at the whole application. Hopefully this helps, good luck everyone!
 
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BTOTHEJ said:
The PD at my institute told me that he's been hearing that psychiatry programs are getting flooded with applicants this year and that may be why there have been some delays in interview invites since psych programs like to look at the whole application. Hopefully this helps, good luck everyone!
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It's crazy, on the spreadsheet, the average number of applications people submitted is 60! When everyone does this it helps a few people and hurts many. I wish they would allow programs to see how many you applied to in order to shame people into not acting on their anxious medical student tendencies.
 
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I don't think ERAS/NRMP would be willing to put a limit on the number of applications because anyone unmatched would probably hire lawyers to go after them. I would be in favor of charging a fee that goes up exponentially with number of applications. Trust me, we don't like this problem any better than you do.
 
MacDonaldTriad said:
I don't think ERAS/NRMP would be willing to put a limit on the number of applications because anyone unmatched would probably hire lawyers to go after them. I would be in favor of charging a fee that goes up exponentially with number of applications. Trust me, we don't like this problem any better than you do.
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I don't like the idea of using money because of the way it negatively affects people who are less well off; like a regressive tax. What about my idea to allow programs to see how many you applied to? That way programs can have a sense of how much the applicant is really interested in their program, or whether they are taking a shotgun approach (which for some people with less than stellar applications might actually make sense).
 
Other PDs: Is this really true, has the number of applications increased considerably this year? I was told 35 was sufficient.
 
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Old&InTheWay said:
It's crazy, on the spreadsheet, the average number of applications people submitted is 60! When everyone does this it helps a few people and hurts many. I wish they would allow programs to see how many you applied to in order to shame people into not acting on their anxious medical student tendencies.
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last year 13.7% of the US senior did not match, so understandably the students react this way.
 
Talked to a PD at a nearby hospital in California by me. Said that they had over 580 apps in the first week, when last year they only had 600 by December. I would call that flooded for sure.


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LABrondo said:
Talked to a PD at a nearby hospital in California by me. Said that they had over 580 apps in the first week, when last year they only had 600 by December. I would call that flooded for sure.


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dont worry bro, one PD will swipe right T_T
 
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Old&InTheWay said:
I don't like the idea of using money because of the way it negatively affects people who are less well off; like a regressive tax. What about my idea to allow programs to see how many you applied to? That way programs can have a sense of how much the applicant is really interested in their program, or whether they are taking a shotgun approach (which for some people with less than stellar applications might actually make sense).
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The NRMP prohibits us from asking about what programs people apply to, how many, or what specialty. I doubt that they will let us see the total #.
I get the money thing giving rich people a leg up. How about the first 20 are free. 20-30 are $10 each, 30-40 are $100, then $1000. Even the rich will stay below 40 and the NRMP can deny limiting anyone.
 
Got my first rejection today. Was kind of weird and unexpected so early on but was super nice to see a program being totally straight up.

Out of curiosity, can anyone speak to the volume of applicants this cycle relative to say last year? I've been hearing inklings of folks being flooded but I don't know what that means in terms of actual applications.

I see that someone above talked about apps in oct vs dec, but that seems like a weird comparison given that most get things submitted in sept with eras opening so it likely peters out over the next bit.
 
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We actually seem to be plateauing at a level below the last three years--~1100 as opposed to 1500, but we've had massively more USMGs and DOs than say, three years ago, many of them from much farther afield geographically. My hypothesis is that the IMGs who just wanted any US residency have given up.
So our problem has shifted from one of "do they really want psychiatry?" to "how do we find the 6 dozen or so who are the best fit for our program to interview?"--and that takes time, hence folks are still waiting for interviews. The good news for you all is that we're already starting to get a few interview invitations declined by folks from far away who are discovering that they really didn't need to over-apply so drastically as a USMG.
 
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OldPsychDoc said:
We actually seem to be plateauing at a level below the last three years--~1100 as opposed to 1500, but we've had massively more USMGs and DOs than say, three years ago, many of them from much farther afield geographically. My hypothesis is that the IMGs who just wanted any US residency have given up.
So our problem has shifted from one of "do they really want psychiatry?" to "how do we find the 6 dozen or so who are the best fit for our program to interview?"--and that takes time, hence folks are still waiting for interviews. The good news for you all is that we're already starting to get a few interview invitations declined by folks from far away who are discovering that they really didn't need to over-apply so drastically as a USMG.
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Very interesting. Do you think interview offers are going to be slower across the board then?
 
OPD's wisdom is spot on as always. We too have more USMGs but doubt there are that many more USMGs out there. There are more but not double so it is hard to reject people when you don't know how many will accept invitations. If we don't reject you or invite you, this is a symptom of the problem and not a reflection of our ambivalence. Hang in there, the majority of you will land fine. We don't want to invite more people than we can handle and we don't know how many will show up. This is high stakes, but it is now less black jack and more roulette. Not my doing, just a reality of the rapid ride we are in.
 
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Hi! I just got a generic rejection email from a school through ERAS. However earlier in the week they sent me an interview invite and I talked to them on the phone and they sent me a personalized email confirming my interview date. What do you think this mean? I hope it’s just a mistake but this is also one of my reach schools so I’m kind of freaking out.
 
Beepboop said:
Hi! I just got a generic rejection email from a school through ERAS. However earlier in the week they sent me an interview invite and I talked to them on the phone and they sent me a personalized email confirming my interview date. What do you think this mean? I hope it’s just a mistake but this is also one of my reach schools so I’m kind of freaking out.
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Call them and ask, no need to freak out.
 
Shufflin said:
Ghosting is a new term in pop culture this year. It should mean you watch someone while ignoring them and not letting them know you're there, kinda like stalking. But it actually means you stop contacting them by suddenly and without explanation withdrawing from all communication which is dumb because that's not what a ghost symbolizes or does.

It's rise is due to the decline of empathy in society, along with the promotion of a more selfish, narcissistic culture.
Click to expand...

Shufflin said:
Entering pop culture took a few years. I know it originated in some articles as early as 2011, had some mention in 2015, but really didn't catch fire until 2017, and was regularly mentioned on pop culture shows in the past year. It's subjective. Doesn't matter anyway.
Click to expand...

I didn't comment on this earlier, but I want some of what you're smoking. Also, can we be friends?
Never change.

texpsys said:
Could I get some feedback advice on my application? I was wondering if anyone had recommendations on whether or not I should send emails updated the status of my application? Prior to 9/15: I am an AMSenior having a Step 1: 246, Step 2 CK: 248, 2nd quartile, but a fail on Step 2 CS. Today I received a new passing score on Step 2 CS, I have updated ERAS as far as resubmitting my transcript. I had received 3 invitations so far, but would like advice on sending emails updating my status. Any advice would be greatly appreciated.
Click to expand...

I'm also an applicant, but I think that this will peter out for ya. Programs had probably red flagged you for failing step 3, but now that your passing score is in, you should be good to go since they're not going to be worried about you not matching

Old&InTheWay said:
I don't like the idea of using money because of the way it negatively affects people who are less well off; like a regressive tax. What about my idea to allow programs to see how many you applied to? That way programs can have a sense of how much the applicant is really interested in their program, or whether they are taking a shotgun approach (which for some people with less than stellar applications might actually make sense).
Click to expand...

Why would you want programs to see where you applied? Do you want them to see where you interview as well?

My application represents a bit of a shotgun approach as well, but I'm concentrating on two geographical areas. One where I've lived for a while and the other is a location where I lived as a kid and went to HS and still have family and friends in the area.

I understand it's going to be super messy, but other residencies have dealt with this kinda thing as well. I think it's going to lengthen the process and end up with things going later as things shuffle around towards the end.

MacDonaldTriad said:
The NRMP prohibits us from asking about what programs people apply to, how many, or what specialty. I doubt that they will let us see the total #.
I get the money thing giving rich people a leg up. How about the first 20 are free. 20-30 are $10 each, 30-40 are $100, then $1000. Even the rich will stay below 40 and the NRMP can deny limiting anyone.
Click to expand...

Yikes. That seems a bit... rough. I don't entirely disagree though.

OldPsychDoc said:
We actually seem to be plateauing at a level below the last three years--~1100 as opposed to 1500, but we've had massively more USMGs and DOs than say, three years ago, many of them from much farther afield geographically. My hypothesis is that the IMGs who just wanted any US residency have given up.
So our problem has shifted from one of "do they really want psychiatry?" to "how do we find the 6 dozen or so who are the best fit for our program to interview?"--and that takes time, hence folks are still waiting for interviews. The good news for you all is that we're already starting to get a few interview invitations declined by folks from far away who are discovering that they really didn't need to over-apply so drastically as a USMG.
Click to expand...

To your knowledge, do you think programs are going to be interviewing and ranking more folks for positions because of all this uncertainty? I'm not concerned about it per se, but I'm just curious about how all this works!

MacDonaldTriad said:
OPD's wisdom is spot on as always. We too have more USMGs but doubt there are that many more USMGs out there. There are more but not double so it is hard to reject people when you don't know how many will accept invitations. If we don't reject you or invite you, this is a symptom of the problem and not a reflection of our ambivalence. Hang in there, the majority of you will land fine. We don't want to invite more people than we can handle and we don't know how many will show up. This is high stakes, but it is now less black jack and more roulette. Not my doing, just a reality of the rapid ride we are in.
Click to expand...

Do applicants ever ghost on interviews? Like.... not show up unannounced... I was wondering if there was a blacklist for programs where they could communicate such things among themselves because that throws things off quite a bit. I would hope that this was a rare occurrence but....

Beepboop said:
Hi! I just got a generic rejection email from a school through ERAS. However earlier in the week they sent me an interview invite and I talked to them on the phone and they sent me a personalized email confirming my interview date. What do you think this mean? I hope it’s just a mistake but this is also one of my reach schools so I’m kind of freaking out.
Click to expand...

Was it georgetown? I bet it was friggin georgetown!

(I'm really sorry, I had to go there!)
 
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