Official Eternal IM WAMC Thread

[AussieAg]

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DO
Step 1/comlex1 = 249/617
step 2/comlex2 = 259/746
comlex pe = pass
SSP
probably top 1/3 of class?
half honors (IM) and half high pass
No research/no pubs
Letters will be okay, but nothing special

WAMC at an academic center in philly?

@gutonc

You'll match at any one of them except HUP.

 

[AussieAg]

Looking for thoughts of where I should apply. I'm a student with a red flag (DUI 10 years ago) with average boards. So i need any help i can get.

I have a really generic application with below average board scores so I'm wondering what community programs or possibly university (i know unlikely) that would be interested.

DO Student w/ red flag (DUI >10 yrs ago, no failures, no professional issues).
Step 1: 219
Level 1: 599
Step 2: TBD - Probably 220-230 range
Level 2: TBD - probably 550-599 range.
No Research. 50th Percentile Class Rank
No AOA. No SSP.
3rd Year: Only HP in Family Medicine. P in the rest.
LOR: 1 FM, 1 Cardio, 1 IM, Chair Letter
EC: Ambassador for the school. Other than that pretty much nothing.

FL resident. 3rd year rotations were in Pennsylvania. Honestly open to any region or program mostly because I understand my red flag puts me at a disadvantage.

My list so far. Debating on applying to b/w 70-80 programs. Based on a previous posters on reddit & SDN that had similar board scores.

• Midwest: Uni of Minnesota, Uni of Kansas, UMKC, Uni of Missouri-Columbia, St Louis Uni, UIC- advocate, Wisconsin, OU-OKC, OU-Tulsa, OSU, UAMS,
• Texas: UT Medical Branch, UT Austin, Baylor COM, UT health, and Texas Tech Center, UT-Houston, UT-austin, Methodist Health- Dallas, Baylor Scott and White, UTMB
• Florida: Uni of Miami MIller/Holy Cross, UCF-Ocala, UCF-NF, UF-Pensacola, UF-Jacksonville, USF, FSU COM, Orlando Health , Broward, Advent Health
• Penn: Geisinger, Temple, Drexel, Jefferson, Allegany
• East Coast: USC
• NE: Washington Hospital, Baystate, westchester NYMC, Albany, Montefiore, UConn, UMass, NYMC, Icahn St Lukes, Maimondies, Rutgers Hofstra, Stony brook, SUNY Schools, NJ state Schools, GW.

I've tried to do my research based on previous posts and reddit. Just curious if I can get a critique of my potential list. Am I applying too aggressively based on my board scores? Should I focus more on community programs?

Don't waste your money on UT Austin, Baylor COM, and UT-H. Baylor Scott & White has 3 programs: Dallas, Temple, and Round Rock, of which the latter two are better options for you. Your Texas list seems to duplicate programs (UTMB, UT-A). Add Christiana Care to your "Penn" list. Don't waste your time with Drexel or USC.

You have a lot of reach programs on your list. There's nothign wrong with that but you need to include more "low-mid tier" university and strong community programs. With your background and scores you want 80-100 realistic programs and THEN your reaches. Keep in mind that you'll have to apply to more programs this cycle because of the virtual interviews. Good luck.

 

[getfat]

Don't waste your money on UT Austin, Baylor COM, and UT-H. Baylor Scott & White has 3 programs: Dallas, Temple, and Round Rock, of which the latter two are better options for you. Your Texas list seems to duplicate programs (UTMB, UT-A). Add Christiana Care to your "Penn" list. Don't waste your time with Drexel or USC.

I'll do that! Thanks for the help! I have no clue so I'm slowly trying to cater an appropriate application list.

You have a lot of reach programs on your list. There's nothing wrong with that but you need to include more "low-mid tier" university and strong community programs. With your background and scores you want 80-100 realistic programs and THEN your reaches. Keep in mind that you'll have to apply to more programs this cycle because of the virtual interviews. Good luck.

Good point! I'll do that. I falsely assumed my list was mostly "low to mid-tier" university so I'll try to figure that out.

Critique like yours helps because when i ask upper levels or alumni about my competitiveness for a program, the answer is always "yeah you have a chance you'll never know if you don't apply".

I understand nobody wants to hurt my feelings but it makes it hard to make an appropriate application list.

 

[gutonc]

Good point! I'll do that. I falsely assumed my list was mostly "low to mid-tier" university so I'll try to figure that out.

Critique like yours helps because when i ask upper levels or alumni about my competitiveness for a program, the answer is always "yeah you have a chance you'll never know if you don't apply".

I understand nobody wants to hurt my feelings but it makes it hard to make an appropriate application list.

I'm going to disagree (congenially) with @AussieAg on this one. By my count, there are ~5 - 10 programs on your list that are true reaches for you. You've also left off a bunch of good options in the regions you're considering.

Just as an example, in the Midwest:
Not happening for you: UMinn, Wisco
Maybe: KU
Missing: Indy, Iowa and UCinn (all are maybes for you, but more likely than UMinn and UW-Mad), UIC, Rush, MCW, Kentucky, Louisville, SIU, Creighton, Nebraska

Look at the other areas you're considering and I'm sure you'll find similar things. Like in the NE...add Maine, UVM, Dartmouth (maybe a reach), a bunch of Boston area programs (St E's and Lahey come immediately to mind, I'm missing half a dozen at least), Rochester, Buffalo...you get the idea.

 

[getfat]

I'm going to disagree (congenially) with @AussieAg on this one. By my count, there are ~5 - 10 programs on your list that are true reaches for you. You've also left off a bunch of good options in the regions you're considering.

Just as an example, in the Midwest:
Not happening for you: UMinn, Wisco
Maybe: KU
Missing: Indy, Iowa and UCinn (all are maybes for you, but more likely than UMinn and UW-Mad), UIC, Rush, MCW, Kentucky, Louisville, SIU, Creighton, Nebraska

Look at the other areas you're considering and I'm sure you'll find similar things. Like in the NE...add Maine, UVM, Dartmouth (maybe a reach), a bunch of Boston area programs (St E's and Lahey come immediately to mind, I'm missing half a dozen at least), Rochester, Buffalo...you get the idea.

Ill work on that! Thanks a lot for the critique!

 

[Deecee2DO]

You'll match at any one of them except HUP.

Has HUP ever taken a DO for IM? I saw they took one for plastics which is even more competitive. Not sure how that dude pulled that off but thats impressive. My best guess would be a stronggg connection and maybe taking a year to do research at HUP?

 

[HatTricks01]

Has HUP ever taken a DO for IM? I saw they took one for plastics which is even more competitive. Not sure how that dude pulled that off but thats impressive. My best guess would be a stronggg connection and maybe taking a year to do research at HUP?

While integrated plastics may be more competitive as a specialty than IM, if you want to match to a “top tier” IM program, you need an application that would hold its own in the derm/ortho/plastics world.

In any case, to answer your question, I’d be willing to bet the answer is a resounding no. A buddy of mine who graduated from Penn’s med school told me that their IM program won’t even interview their own school’s applicants unless they have an exceptional application.

 

[Deecee2DO]

While integrated plastics may be more competitive as a specialty than IM, if you want to match to a “top tier” IM program, you need an application that would hold its own in the derm/ortho/plastics world.

In any case, to answer your question, I’d be willing to bet the answer is a resounding no. A buddy of mine who graduated from Penn’s med school told me that their IM program won’t even interview their own school’s applicants unless they have an exceptional application.

holy **** lol well that makes sense

 

[HatTricks01]

MD School ranked #24-#29
Step 1: 232
Step 2 CK: 256
Step 2 CS: Pass
AOA: No
P/F preclinicals

Clerkships:
H in psych
HP Medicine, Surgery, Neuro, Peds,
P in OB/Gyn. family med - P (this rotation is P/f)
IM Sub-I P/F but have gotten excellent evals, letter

Research: 1 co-author basic science paper from undergrad, 2 case reports in med school
Letters: 3 very strong, including 1 from a former well-known longtime PD at my school

ECs: Random clubs, volunteering, nothing special
Hobbies: marathon running, few unique others

List:

Looking to be in east coast

Reaches
Beth Israel
Mt. Sinai
Weill Cornell
NYU
Emory
Vanderbilt
Northwestern
Uchicago
Duke
UVA
UNC
Mayo MN
Brown
Yale
Pitt
Case Western
Michigan


Targets
BU
Tufts
Georgetown
George Washington
Thomas Jefferson
Temple
Cincinnati
Dartmouth
Albert einstein
Stony brook
Ohio state
Rochester
University of Maryland

Safeties
Mt. Sinai SLR
Downstate


Thoughts? Any reaches very unrealistic i should cut, any more targets or safeties to add, or any targets that are actually reaches? @gutonc

UVA, Case, and Brown can be moved into the target group. As far as what’s left in your reaches, you’re unlikely to get looks from any of them given your average step 1 and lack of honors in IM and AOA. I’d still send apps there cus who knows, maybe there’s something else in your app that grabs their attention.

I would add Rutgers-NJMS, Rutgers-RWJ, Rush, UIC, Loyola, Jackson-Miami, and Wake as targets/safeties.

 

[Code Blah]

Thanks so much! Any advice research wise? Im working on it but I only have M3 and M4 is that enough time to get pubs? Do I need super strong pubs before IM residency or just my name on a few projects? I obvi know by the time I apply GI ill have more since I can do research during IM too but as far as landing that strong IM residency im sure these programs want bigtime pubs right? Like you mentioned i have the scores but my weakest part right now which im working on is the research aspect

You don't need super strong pubs before IM residency; but, since you're DO and aiming for academic programs, it would likely help in some places. As a medical student, it's hard to get first/second author pubs in bigtime publications unless you're doing combined PhD; residencies know that, so research during medical school is just bonus points. It would probably help your application to get your name on a few projects as nonprimary authors; it may also help in exposing you to different research topics in GI so you go into residency knowing what research topic you want to pursue. A lot of top academic programs screen DO out during applications, so unfortunately, research won't help there.

This changes during residency. The cards fellowship director at my residency basically told me that he would take 1 first author publication over 10 5th authors, even if it's a minor project that only leads to a poster or oral presentation, because the first author denotes that you took ownership of the project, and took your time to see the commitment through.

 

[Deecee2DO]

You don't need super strong pubs before IM residency; but, since you're DO and aiming for academic programs, it would likely help in some places. As a medical student, it's hard to get first/second author pubs in bigtime publications unless you're doing combined PhD; residencies know that, so research during medical school is just bonus points. It would probably help your application to get your name on a few projects as nonprimary authors; it may also help in exposing you to different research topics in GI so you go into residency knowing what research topic you want to pursue. A lot of top academic programs screen DO out during applications, so unfortunately, research won't help there.

This changes during residency. The cards fellowship director at my residency basically told me that he would take 1 first author publication over 10 5th authors, even if it's a minor project that only leads to a poster or oral presentation, because the first author denotes that you took ownership of the project, and took your time to see the commitment through.

Thats really good info thank you. So basically the best way to maximize my chances at Brown, Dartmouth, Yale (reach but im gonna send an app out-girl at my school got interviewed there last year but she ranked another program higher), Georgetown (my school just matched a student there shes a PGY1 and she has been mentoring me) and Wake is to continue my 250+ Step trend on Step 2 hop on research projects as non primary during M3/4 and rock clerkships? Does it hurt that I wont be DO version of AOA. Im top quartile but didnt get the DO version of AOA and probs wont because all I did was eat sleep and breathe step 1 during M1/2 and literally did nothing else with my life because I knew I needed a 250+

 

[Code Blah]

Thats really good info thank you. So basically the best way to maximize my chances at Brown, Dartmouth, Yale (reach but im gonna send an app out-girl at my school got interviewed there last year but she ranked another program higher), Georgetown (my school just matched a student there shes a PGY1 and she has been mentoring me) and Wake is to continue my 250+ Step trend on Step 2 hop on research projects as non primary during M3/4 and rock clerkships? Does it hurt that I wont be DO version of AOA. Im top quartile but didnt get the DO version of AOA and probs wont because all I did was eat sleep and breathe step 1 during M1/2 and literally did nothing else with my life because I knew I needed a 250+

Yeah, and make sure you rock your sub-I and get great recs. A lot of the top academic programs screen for AOA, but most of those places are not DO friendly anyways. Honestly, I do not know if mid-tier academic programs screen DO students by the DO version of AOA. However, I can't emphasize enough the importance of your letters. I matched into a top 10 IM program without research, AOA, or even honors in IM, and I highly suspect it was due to my recommendation letters, since I didn't really have much of anything else going for me on my app.

 

[Deecee2DO]

Yeah, and make sure you rock your sub-I and get great recs. A lot of the top academic programs screen for AOA, but most of those places are not DO friendly anyways. Honestly, I do not know if mid-tier academic programs screen DO students by the DO version of AOA. However, I can't emphasize enough the importance of your letters. I matched into a top 10 IM program without research, AOA, or even honors in IM, and I highly suspect it was due to my recommendation letters, since I didn't really have much of anything else going for me on my app.

Awesome! I will do my best to get kickass LORs. Thats impressive! you had to have had good Steps too though im guessing lol

 

[Code Blah]

Awesome! I will do my best to get kickass LORs. Thats impressive! you had to have had good Steps too though im guessing lol

Oh yeah, totally forgot about step scores. Back in medical school, my dean said something about don't let your step 2 score drop by 10 points, which could be a red flag for residency programs. So if you keep your 250+ trend, you'll be golden. My step 1 was 6 points lower than yours. I destroyed step 2 though, so that helped. However, on my interview trails, no one mentioned my step scores, but many mentioned the letters.

 

[Deecee2DO]

Oh yeah, totally forgot about step scores. Back in medical school, my dean said something about don't let your step 2 score drop by 10 points, which could be a red flag for residency programs. So if you keep your 250+ trend, you'll be golden. My step 1 was 6 points lower than yours. I destroyed step 2 though, so that helped. However, on my interview trails, no one mentioned my step scores, but many mentioned the letters.

Lol cue my Step 2 anxiety 🤣the grind never ends! Thats good insight thank you. So basically Step got you the interviews and your interview skills/letters helped seal the deal. Being an MD student in these cases really helps too which I have going against me lol but with my 497 MCAT there wasnt a chance in hell i was getting any MD school love. Thanks again for the advice

 

[Code Blah]

Lol cue my Step 2 anxiety 🤣the grind never ends! Thats good insight thank you. So basically Step got you the interviews and your interview skills/letters helped seal the deal. Being an MD student in these cases really helps too which I have going against me lol but with my 497 MCAT there wasnt a chance in hell i was getting any MD school love. Thanks again for the advice

Yeah, the testing grind never ends. After this, it's step 3. Then every year in residency, you have the ITE. Then boards after your graduate.

Honestly, MD/DO doesn't matter once you get that foot in the door. Once you get that interview, it means they think you're a good fit for their program. After that, it's up to you to convince them you're the best fit.

As for interview skills, LOL, I don't really have any. I just treated it as hanging out with a new coworker for the first time. Honestly, the 2 interviews for the place I matched, I explained how to play ultimate frisbee to one interviewer, and compared pictures of wild-life we saw while hiking with the other interviewer.

 

[AussieAg]

I'll do that! Thanks for the help! I have no clue so I'm slowly trying to cater an appropriate application list.



Good point! I'll do that. I falsely assumed my list was mostly "low to mid-tier" university so I'll try to figure that out.

Critique like yours helps because when i ask upper levels or alumni about my competitiveness for a program, the answer is always "yeah you have a chance you'll never know if you don't apply".

I understand nobody wants to hurt my feelings but it makes it hard to make an appropriate application list.

My pleasure. To be fair, your seniors have a point. I got some really random interviews at good programs where I didn't have connections for both residency and fellowship. It doesn't hurt to apply, especially in this cycle. One point I'll harp on is to apply broadly. People may look at you like you're crazy when you apply to 100+ programs but consider it an insurance policy against not matching.

I'm going to disagree (congenially) with @AussieAg on this one. By my count, there are ~5 - 10 programs on your list that are true reaches for you. You've also left off a bunch of good options in the regions you're considering.

Just as an example, in the Midwest:
Not happening for you: UMinn, Wisco
Maybe: KU
Missing: Indy, Iowa and UCinn (all are maybes for you, but more likely than UMinn and UW-Mad), UIC, Rush, MCW, Kentucky, Louisville, SIU, Creighton, Nebraska

Look at the other areas you're considering and I'm sure you'll find similar things. Like in the NE...add Maine, UVM, Dartmouth (maybe a reach), a bunch of Boston area programs (St E's and Lahey come immediately to mind, I'm missing half a dozen at least), Rochester, Buffalo...you get the idea.

My point was more so that he had 10-15 (at my count; I defer to you because you've been doing this way longer than me) reach programs out of a list of ~50. I completely agree with your assessment of many good regional options being left off.

 

[AussieAg]

Has HUP ever taken a DO for IM? I saw they took one for plastics which is even more competitive. Not sure how that dude pulled that off but thats impressive. My best guess would be a stronggg connection and maybe taking a year to do research at HUP?

Not that I'm aware of, although apparently a DO from Hahnemann somehow ended up there to finish out his cardiology fellowship.

 

[Deecee2DO]

Not that I'm aware of, although apparently a DO from Hahnemann somehow ended up there to finish out his cardiology fellowship.

Yes the Penn cards fellow DO went to my med school actually lol dude hustled hard

 

[AlteredScale]

Has HUP ever taken a DO for IM? I saw they took one for plastics which is even more competitive. Not sure how that dude pulled that off but thats impressive. My best guess would be a stronggg connection and maybe taking a year to do research at HUP?

I think there have been 1-2 (I think). One from PCOM another from NYIT. Both instances, they were listed as an MD on the roster. There’s also a DO that did complete their IM at Yale New Haven and HO at MSK. They are now the BMT clinical trials director at KU.

 

[Deecee2DO]

I think there have been 1-2 (I think). One from PCOM another from NYIT. Both instances, they were listed as an MD on the roster. There’s also a DO that did complete their IM at Yale New Haven and HO at MSK. They are now the BMT clinical trials director at KU.

Studs. Theres another one that did IM at Yale New Haven and then GI at UConn he went to NYIT. So i guess it does happen but its exceedingly rare. They all must have had serious ties to these programs as there is clearly more that goes into that than an obvious unrelenting work ethic and maybe a little luck lol

 

[AlteredScale]

Studs. Theres another one that did IM at Yale New Haven and then GI at UConn he went to NYIT. So i guess it does happen but its exceedingly rare. They all must have had serious ties to these programs as there is clearly more that goes into that than an obvious unrelenting work ethic and maybe a little luck lol

So hard to say honestly! Mixture of everything (faculty ties, ethic, research, being like-able/team player, and performing well) seems to do the trick.

 

[EEtoPre-Med]

School: Mid to Low Tier MD

Step 1: 255+
Step 2: 255+
Class rank: Right on the 1st/2nd quartile border but IDK
AOA: Yes
GHHS: Yes
Clerkships: Honors in 4 including IM, 3 P's (We have H/P/F no HP w/ roughly 25% honors), Sub-I grades are P/F but I passed haha.
Research: 1 basic science pub in college with 3 posters/conference papers, 3 projects in med school but only 1 poster, and 1 abstract, the other two projects/papers were just submitted.
ECs: President of a few clubs/boards
LoRs: 2 outstanding letters, a chair letter, and maybe an average letter.


Programs (No order):
1. Duke
2. North Carolina
3. Wisconsin
4. Michigan
5. Indiana
6. Iowa
7. Wash U
8. Mayo
9. Vanderbilt
10. Nebraska
11. UTSW
12. Emory
13. Cleveland Clinic
14. UAB
15. Baylor (Houston)
16. U of Minnesota
17. Rush
18. U of Chicago
19. UVA
20. UT Memphis
21. U Pittsburgh
22. U of Colorado
23. UT Memphis
24. Ohio State
25. U Cincinatti
26. U Louisville
27. U Maryland

I was going to pick 3 more to get an even 30.

So....how does this list look? Any diamonds I'm missing or diamonds in the rough? I want to stay in the midwest/south/east. Stayed away from northeast because I didn't think I would qualify for some of them.

 

[HatTricks01]

School: Mid to Low Tier MD

Step 1: 255+
Step 2: 255+
Class rank: Right on the 1st/2nd quartile border but IDK
AOA: Yes
GHHS: Yes
Clerkships: Honors in 4 including IM, 3 P's (We have H/P/F no HP w/ roughly 25% honors), Sub-I grades are P/F but I passed haha.
Research: 1 basic science pub in college with 3 posters/conference papers, 3 projects in med school but only 1 poster, and 1 abstract, the other two projects/papers were just submitted.
ECs: President of a few clubs/boards
LoRs: 2 outstanding letters, a chair letter, and maybe an average letter.


Programs (No order):
1. Duke
2. North Carolina
3. Wisconsin
4. Michigan
5. Indiana
6. Iowa
7. Wash U
8. Mayo
9. Vanderbilt
10. Nebraska
11. UTSW
12. Emory
13. Cleveland Clinic
14. UAB
15. Baylor (Houston)
16. U of Minnesota
17. Rush
18. U of Chicago
19. UVA
20. UT Memphis
21. U Pittsburgh
22. U of Colorado
23. UT Memphis
24. Ohio State
25. U Cincinatti
26. U Louisville
27. U Maryland

I was going to pick 3 more to get an even 30.

So....how does this list look? Any diamonds I'm missing or diamonds in the rough? I want to stay in the midwest/south/east. Stayed away from northeast because I didn't think I would qualify for some of them.

You’re selling yourself way too short here. I would add every top northeast program as you will get interviews at a handful of them: MGH, BWH, BIDMC, Penn, Sinai, NYU, Cornell, Columbia, Yale, Hopkins etc. If you avoided the northeast because you don’t want to live there, then that’s a different story.

At the least, I would add Northwestern. Overall, with that list you’ll likely have twice as many interviews than you will go on.

 

[Deecee2DO]

School: Mid to Low Tier MD

Step 1: 255+
Step 2: 255+
Class rank: Right on the 1st/2nd quartile border but IDK
AOA: Yes
GHHS: Yes
Clerkships: Honors in 4 including IM, 3 P's (We have H/P/F no HP w/ roughly 25% honors), Sub-I grades are P/F but I passed haha.
Research: 1 basic science pub in college with 3 posters/conference papers, 3 projects in med school but only 1 poster, and 1 abstract, the other two projects/papers were just submitted.
ECs: President of a few clubs/boards
LoRs: 2 outstanding letters, a chair letter, and maybe an average letter.


Programs (No order):
1. Duke
2. North Carolina
3. Wisconsin
4. Michigan
5. Indiana
6. Iowa
7. Wash U
8. Mayo
9. Vanderbilt
10. Nebraska
11. UTSW
12. Emory
13. Cleveland Clinic
14. UAB
15. Baylor (Houston)
16. U of Minnesota
17. Rush
18. U of Chicago
19. UVA
20. UT Memphis
21. U Pittsburgh
22. U of Colorado
23. UT Memphis
24. Ohio State
25. U Cincinatti
26. U Louisville
27. U Maryland

I was going to pick 3 more to get an even 30.

So....how does this list look? Any diamonds I'm missing or diamonds in the rough? I want to stay in the midwest/south/east. Stayed away from northeast because I didn't think I would qualify for some of them.

Dude youre at an MD school with 255+ Steps and AOA. You can literally apply anywhere you want lol add Hopkins, MGH, Penn, NYU, Columbia

 

[Nephronlearner]

Hey everyone, sorry to bother you. Visa-requiring FMG applying for IM here. I would like to think that I have a decent application but with a couple of potential red flags so if anyone can provide some insight, it would be greatly appreciated.
I graduated in 2017 (applying just over 3 years after my graduation date). My scores are 257 and 264, I passed CS but I didn't take Step 3. I have a significant gap right after graduating due to family circumstances. 10 months of work experience in my home country.
As a student I did 2 rotations in the US, at prestigious hospitals, did well, got LoRs, they will be re-uploaded this year.
Have plenty of teaching experiences and some research. Published a bunch literature reviews and book chapters but no original research papers.
Did two "virtual externships" this year (due to covid) and got LoRs out of them.

Last year I applied a month late and only got one interview invite, which is making me paranoid about this year!

Now I have an option to either travel to the US (insanely complicated but doable) to do one hands-on month in a private clinic or do another "virtual" rotation. I understand travelling nowadays could be seen as irresponsible by PDs. I could also imagine them not wanting to hire someone whose US electives were in 2017. I plan on using 2 LoRs from those 2017 electives (now updated) and 2 from this year's experiences.
Do you have any advice regarding that?

Also, since I cannot apply to 350 programs, do you have any advice regarding the type of programs I should be aiming for? I am aware that I have no chance at the highly competitive university programs but I am more curious whether you think it makes sense to apply to any university programs at all?

 

[deleted706240]

School: Mid-low tier MD
Step 1: 255+
Step 2: 265+
AOA: Considered junior but didn't get it, likely will be senior although I understand this is too late for applications
GHHS: No
Research: 5 publications, 1 first author. 4 abstracts/oral presentations, 2 first author. all surgical/basic science
Clerkships: HP in peds, neuro, P in psych, honors in surgery/IM/obgyn/FM
EC's: typical club stuff, some volunteering here and there

Here's my problems/questions:
I was planning on doing surgery originally but changed my mind very recently. because of this, my AI was in surgery rather than IM. as a result, my LOR's will come from a surgeon, a generic chair IM letter, and an IM doc.

Programs in no particular order:
1) MGH
2) BID
3) Penn
4) Hopkins
5) UVA
6) Duke
7) UNC
8) Wake
9) MUSC
10) Vanderbilt
11) Ohio State
12) Cincinnati
13) IU
14) Chicago
15) Northwestern
16) Louisville
17) Kentucky
18) WashU
19) SLU
20) UAB
21) Emory
22) U Florida
23) USF
24) Mayo Rochester

I know I'm a good applicant by the numbers and I'm not posting here to get you guys to tell me that I'll match better than rural North Dakota. I'm basically posting to ask if that despite the fact that I have fairly weak/strange LOR's and my AI was in surgery rather than IM, if I will still be competitive at the higher caliber programs on my list like MGH, Hopkins, Duke and Vanderbilt.

thanks

 

[Adjet]

School: Mid-low tier MD
Step 1: 255+
Step 2: 265+
AOA: Considered junior but didn't get it, likely will be senior although I understand this is too late for applications
GHHS: No
Research: 5 publications, 1 first author. 4 abstracts/oral presentations, 2 first author. all surgical/basic science
Clerkships: HP in peds, neuro, P in psych, honors in surgery/IM/obgyn/FM
EC's: typical club stuff, some volunteering here and there

Here's my problems/questions:
I was planning on doing surgery originally but changed my mind very recently. because of this, my AI was in surgery rather than IM. as a result, my LOR's will come from a surgeon, a generic chair IM letter, and an IM doc.

Programs in no particular order:
1) MGH
2) BID
3) Penn
4) Hopkins
5) UVA
6) Duke
7) UNC
8) Wake
9) MUSC
10) Vanderbilt
11) Ohio State
12) Cincinnati
13) IU
14) Chicago
15) Northwestern
16) Louisville
17) Kentucky
18) WashU
19) SLU
20) UAB
21) Emory
22) U Florida
23) USF
24) Mayo Rochester

I know I'm a good applicant by the numbers and I'm not posting here to get you guys to tell me that I'll match better than rural North Dakota. I'm basically posting to ask if that despite the fact that I have fairly weak/strange LOR's and my AI was in surgery rather than IM, if I will still be competitive at the higher caliber programs on my list like MGH, Hopkins, Duke and Vanderbilt.

thanks

It's unfortunate that AOA won't be out in time for applications because that tends to be important at the top places if you aren't coming from a T30 med school. Otherwise, good scores and H in medicine are a solid foundation to apply with. The letter situation isn't ideal, but I think most programs should understand if you explain in your personal statement.

Without AOA, programs like MGH/BWH, Penn, Duke, Hopkins could be tough to crack into - who knows maybe you get a bite but I wouldn't bank on it. You should be a reasonably competitive applicant for Vandy, Emory, WashU, BID (some of this depends on your school's region). If you're somehow able to get AOA in time for programs to know, it would boost your chances a decent amount

 

[AlteredScale]

Hey everyone, sorry to bother you. Visa-requiring FMG applying for IM here. I would like to think that I have a decent application but with a couple of potential red flags so if anyone can provide some insight, it would be greatly appreciated.
I graduated in 2017 (applying just over 3 years after my graduation date). My scores are 257 and 264, I passed CS but I didn't take Step 3. I have a significant gap right after graduating due to family circumstances. 10 months of work experience in my home country.
As a student I did 2 rotations in the US, at prestigious hospitals, did well, got LoRs, they will be re-uploaded this year.
Have plenty of teaching experiences and some research. Published a bunch literature reviews and book chapters but no original research papers.
Did two "virtual externships" this year (due to covid) and got LoRs out of them.

Last year I applied a month late and only got one interview invite, which is making me paranoid about this year!

Now I have an option to either travel to the US (insanely complicated but doable) to do one hands-on month in a private clinic or do another "virtual" rotation. I understand travelling nowadays could be seen as irresponsible by PDs. I could also imagine them not wanting to hire someone whose US electives were in 2017. I plan on using 2 LoRs from those 2017 electives (now updated) and 2 from this year's experiences.
Do you have any advice regarding that?

Also, since I cannot apply to 350 programs, do you have any advice regarding the type of programs I should be aiming for? I am aware that I have no chance at the highly competitive university programs but I am more curious whether you think it makes sense to apply to any university programs at all?

Why did you apply a month late last year?

I’m not sure how strong a letter from 2017 will be nor a letter from a virtual rotation. But it is what it is. Apply to all programs that have FMGs in their list AND do not have explicit requirements about recent clinical experiences. It’s not worth ur time or money to apply to places that are going to automatically toss ur app for being 3 years out from true clinical experience.

Additionally, you should apply to FM, TRI, and prelim spots.

You can try ur hand at university if you fulfill their requirements as I described above.

 

[TrueRenegade]

School: Low tier MD in SE(but have connections to NE)
Step 1: 248
Step 2: 267
AOA: nope
GHHS: nope
Rank: 2nd quartile
Research: 1 co-first (of 3) (basic science), 1 3rd author (basic science review), 1 4th author (clinical review). Another in progress with a decent chance of being submitted or hopefully accepted(co-first, clinical)
Clerkships: HP in all rotations including IM 🙁 except FM and surgery (P)
EC's: Few officer positions. Worked a year in healthcare prior to med school, and another year working another full-time job.

School list:
Reach: Emory, Vandy, Baylor, UTSW, UNC, UVA, UChicago, NYU, will add a few dream schools
Target: Tulane, UF, USF, CCF, Cedar Sinai, Case Western, Rush, Montefiore, UAB, Rutgers
Safety: TBD but will have a few

 

[Nephronlearner]

Why did you apply a month late last year?

I’m not sure how strong a letter from 2017 will be nor a letter from a virtual rotation. But it is what it is. Apply to all programs that have FMGs in their list AND do not have explicit requirements about recent clinical experiences. It’s not worth ur time or money to apply to places that are going to automatically toss ur app for being 3 years out from true clinical experience.

Additionally, you should apply to FM, TRI, and prelim spots.

You can try ur hand at university if you fulfill their requirements as I described above.

Thank you very much for your response.
Regarding the late application, personal circumstances have prevented me from applying on time.

Most IMG friendly hospitals generally seem to accept observerships and externships as acceptable forms of US clinical experience. I have tried calling a bunch of programs and the majority don't seem to have an issue with virtual rotations per se because of the pandemic, some even said they preferred that over people travelling. That being said I know they can say anything now and it may not relate to how they actually choose who to interview. So if I take their word for it and interpret their requirements accordingly, on paper I satisfy most of them.
But I am aware that having only telemedicine externships in the US since 2017 could hurt me a lot!

Do you feel travelling at this point to do an in-person externship would do me any favours or would it be more likely to also paint me as irresponsible?
I don't know if it would be possible to move on to a categorical spot following a preliminary one if I was to apply to them as well?

I guess the best course of action is just to apply very broadly and worst case scenario if I am unable to match, then do multiple months of US clinical experience next year as I would still be within 5 years of the degree which most hospitals seem to be okay with?

 

[Adjet]

School: Low tier MD in SE(but have connections to NE)
Step 1: 248
Step 2: 267
AOA: nope
GHHS: nope
Rank: 2nd quartile
Research: 1 co-first (of 3) (basic science), 1 3rd author (basic science review), 1 4th author (clinical review). Another in progress with a decent chance of being submitted or hopefully accepted(co-first, clinical)
Clerkships: HP in all rotations including IM 🙁 except FM and surgery (P)
EC's: Few officer positions. Worked a year in healthcare prior to med school, and another year working another full-time job.

School list:
Reach: Emory, Vandy, Baylor, UTSW, UNC, UVA, UChicago, NYU, will add a few dream schools
Target: Tulane, UF, USF, CCF, Cedar Sinai, Case Western, Rush, Montefiore, UAB, Rutgers
Safety: TBD but will have a few

Good scores and research, but low tier med school and HP in medicine will set you back. That said, I think your categorization of reach and target is reasonable (except UChicago is probably in dream category given no midwest ties)

 

[TrueRenegade]

Good scores and research, but low tier med school and HP in medicine will set you back. That said, I think your categorization of reach and target is reasonable (except UChicago is probably in dream category given no midwest ties)

Appreciate the reply! I put UChicago as a reach because my school has gotten students in UChicago in the previous years so hopefully I'll have a shot as well

 

[HatTricks01]

Thank you very much for your response.
Regarding the late application, personal circumstances have prevented me from applying on time.

Most IMG friendly hospitals generally seem to accept observerships and externships as acceptable forms of US clinical experience. I have tried calling a bunch of programs and the majority don't seem to have an issue with virtual rotations per se because of the pandemic, some even said they preferred that over people travelling. That being said I know they can say anything now and it may not relate to how they actually choose who to interview. So if I take their word for it and interpret their requirements accordingly, on paper I satisfy most of them.
But I am aware that having only telemedicine externships in the US since 2017 could hurt me a lot!

Do you feel travelling at this point to do an in-person externship would do me any favours or would it be more likely to also paint me as irresponsible?
I don't know if it would be possible to move on to a categorical spot following a preliminary one if I was to apply to them as well?

I guess the best course of action is just to apply very broadly and worst case scenario if I am unable to match, then do multiple months of US clinical experience next year as I would still be within 5 years of the degree which most hospitals seem to be okay with?

I can’t speak to what it’s like applying as an FMG so take my words with a grain of salt but looking at your situation, i think not having significant US clinical experience for 3-4 years is a huge red flag as I would be worried about your ability to perform the basic clinical duties required of a resident. I’m not saying this is necessarily the case for you but that’s how I would see it as a PD. In my view, the letters from 3 years ago are not really an accurate assessment of you today. The virtual rotations are helpful and it’s great that you got letters out of them but if I were you, I’d try to do everything I could to get in person US clinical experience. I dont think it’ll paint you as irresponsible at all, your job will require you to be in person so why should your prior experience be any different?

 

[pringlesreturns]

School: DO school in Midwest
Step 1: 220
Step 2: high 230's
Comlex 1: 510's
Comlex 2: 630's
AOA: nah
GHHS: nah
Rank: 3rd or 4th quartile, not sure
Research: none
Clerkships: Honors in IM, Peds, HP in EM, OB, P in everything else
EC's: Some volunteer work. Worked a couple of years in healthcare before med school. Couple of years in a different career (non-trad).

Will be couples matching with an MD student from a low tier school. Looking for help on forming a list, maybe some helpful additions, maybe some community/solid DO programs I overlooked. I would like to match at the best program I can to keep fellowship options open!

Midwest: WI - MCW, Aurora
IL - Advocate, Northshore, Loyola, UIC
MO - SLU, Mizzou, UMKC? Mercy
IN - IU, St. Vincent
OH - Wright State, Riverside, Cincy, Kettering
MI - Spectrum Health - Grand Rapids, DMC - Wayne State, Ascension - Genesys
KS - U of Kansas KS and Wichita
NE - Nebraska, Creighton
IA - University of Iowa - Des Moines
MN - Hennepin, Abbott

South: TN - UT-Memphis, UT-Nashville
FL - USF, Cleveland Clinic, U of Miami - Jackson Health, Mayo Jacksonville
GA - Medical College of Georgia, Northside Gwinett
SC - Prisma Health - Both locations, Medical College of South Carolina
NC - Carolinas Medical Center Program
KY - Louisville, Kentucky?

Northeast: PA - Penn State, Geisinger, Albert Einstein, Penn Hospital program, Temple
DE - Christiana Care
NH - Dartmouth
NJ - ROWAN, Rutgers, Cooper
NY - Buffalo, Stony Brook, Rochester, SUNY?
MA - UMASS, Baystate
CT - UCONN

West: NV - UNLV
CA: Various Kaiser, maybe UCR

 

[AlteredScale]

School: DO school in Midwest
Step 1: 220
Step 2: high 230's
Comlex 1: 510's
Comlex 2: 630's
AOA: nah
GHHS: nah
Rank: 3rd or 4th quartile, not sure
Research: none
Clerkships: Honors in IM, Peds, HP in EM, OB, P in everything else
EC's: Some volunteer work. Worked a couple of years in healthcare before med school. Couple of years in a different career (non-trad).

Will be couples matching with an MD student from a low tier school. Looking for help on forming a list, maybe some helpful additions, maybe some community/solid DO programs I overlooked. I would like to match at the best program I can to keep fellowship options open!

Midwest: WI - MCW, Aurora
IL - Advocate, Northshore, Loyola, UIC
MO - SLU, Mizzou, UMKC? Mercy
IN - IU, St. Vincent
OH - Wright State, Riverside, Cincy, Kettering
MI - Spectrum Health - Grand Rapids, DMC - Wayne State, Ascension - Genesys
KS - U of Kansas KS and Wichita
NE - Nebraska, Creighton
IA - University of Iowa - Des Moines
MN - Hennepin, Abbott

South: TN - UT-Memphis, UT-Nashville
FL - USF, Cleveland Clinic, U of Miami - Jackson Health, Mayo Jacksonville
GA - Medical College of Georgia, Northside Gwinett
SC - Prisma Health - Both locations, Medical College of South Carolina
NC - Carolinas Medical Center Program
KY - Louisville, Kentucky?

Northeast: PA - Penn State, Geisinger, Albert Einstein, Penn Hospital program, Temple
DE - Christiana Care
NH - Dartmouth
NJ - ROWAN, Rutgers, Cooper
NY - Buffalo, Stony Brook, Rochester, SUNY?
MA - UMASS, Baystate
CT - UCONN

West: NV - UNLV
CA: Various Kaiser, maybe UCR

Your list is great for your application. Some tips: you need to focus on community programs that firstly have in house fellowships, lots of them, then community programs that have a good track record of matching into many different types of fellowships.

Midwest: MCW will be a maybe for interview invite. Not sure if I would keep Hennepin or St Vincent since they dont have the greatest track record for matching into fellowship.

South: UMiami and USF are going to be reaches for your app. If you have the extra money send it but even as a couples match dont expect to be pulled there aka you’ll match into a nearby programs. Everything else looks fine. Add the UF programs since they have in-house fellowships. Avoid UCF (HCA affiliated). Add LSU-NO and/or Shreveport if you want.

NE: dartmouth, stony brook are a reach, nix Rowan that IM program is trash, you could try your hand at Jeff if you have the extra money for apps, Rochester is a maybe however my DO classmate just matched there but is from that city.

West: consider adding UC Irvine, UCSF Fresno, Scripps Green (kinda reach), scripps mercy, OHSU (kinda reach), UNM, UArizona.

 

[fldoctorgirl]

Avoid UCF (HCA affiliated)

Why are people so anti-HCA? I'm ignorant on the matter so just curious.

 

[Prehealth1011]

Why are people so anti-HCA? I'm ignorant on the matter so just curious.

More likely to be workhorse programs with no direction it’s basically the Caribbean version of residencies. There’s also a pdf somewhere that shows ABIM boards pass rate by residency. HCA hospitals always rank the lowest (sometimes in the 60s and 70s).

 

[pringlesreturns]

Your list is great for your application. Some tips: you need to focus on community programs that firstly have in house fellowships, lots of them, then community programs that have a good track record of matching into many different types of fellowships.

Midwest: MCW will be a maybe for interview invite. Not sure if I would keep Hennepin or St Vincent since they dont have the greatest track record for matching into fellowship.

South: UMiami and USF are going to be reaches for your app. If you have the extra money send it but even as a couples match dont expect to be pulled there aka you’ll match into a nearby programs. Everything else looks fine. Add the UF programs since they have in-house fellowships. Avoid UCF (HCA affiliated). Add LSU-NO and/or Shreveport if you want.

NE: dartmouth, stony brook are a reach, nix Rowan that IM program is trash, you could try your hand at Jeff if you have the extra money for apps, Rochester is a maybe however my DO classmate just matched there but is from that city.

West: consider adding UC Irvine, UCSF Fresno, Scripps Green (kinda reach), scripps mercy, OHSU (kinda reach), UNM, UArizona.

I appreciate the quick, detailed response. I've been lurking here for awhile, I hope your intern year is going well! Thank you.

 

[AlteredScale]

Why are people so anti-HCA? I'm ignorant on the matter so just curious.

It’s not that all HCAs are bad. Some are great. Tulane main hospital is HCA. The main function of HCA is to make money for their investors. The focus on education and teaching is secondary to business no matter what is said. An HCA program in the Midwest for IM closed without warning in the middle of the application cycle.

 

[SymB11]

Hi, I'm a US-IMG planning on doing the 2022 Match.

YOG: 2016
School: Australian MBBS
Step 1: 203 (1st attempt)
Step 2 CK: 225 (1st attempt)
Step 2 CS: passed
Step 3: failed 1st attempt; plan to retake early 2021
USCE: did majority of my clerkship in US (2015-2016), hopefully obtain new externships in 2021
3 US LORs (old LORs from 2016, plan to obtain updated and new LOR in 2021)
2 manuscripts, 2 poster presentations
No gaps in clinical experience, spent last 3 years (2017-2020) in home country working as intern/IM resident

Anyone with an honest evaluation of my chance of getting matched into IM?
Any suggestions as to how I can maximize my chance in the upcoming year?
Any advice is appreciated. Thanks.

 

[gutonc]

Hi, I'm a US-IMG planning on doing the 2022 Match.

YOG: 2016
School: Australian MBBS
Step 1: 203 (1st attempt)
Step 2 CK: 225 (1st attempt)
Step 2 CS: passed
Step 3: failed 1st attempt; plan to retake early 2021
USCE: did majority of my clerkship in US (2015-2016), hopefully obtain new externships in 2021
3 US LORs (old LORs from 2016, plan to obtain updated and new LOR in 2021)
2 manuscripts, 2 poster presentations
No gaps in clinical experience, spent last 3 years (2017-2020) in home country working as intern/IM resident

Anyone with an honest evaluation of my chance of getting matched into IM?
Any suggestions as to how I can maximize my chance in the upcoming year?
Any advice is appreciated. Thanks.

Can you clarify the 3 bolded things above?

How can you be a US citizen who went to Australia for med school then did residency in your home country and only now returning to the US?

I will say that as a graduate of a non-US school, your scores are kinda crappy and the failure on Step 3 is a problem. This is going to be independent of your citizenship.

Look at the most recent NRMP match data for IMGs, and then put yourself on the lower end of the curve given the above.

 

[AussieAg]

School: DO school in Midwest
Step 1: 220
Step 2: high 230's
Comlex 1: 510's
Comlex 2: 630's
AOA: nah
GHHS: nah
Rank: 3rd or 4th quartile, not sure
Research: none
Clerkships: Honors in IM, Peds, HP in EM, OB, P in everything else
EC's: Some volunteer work. Worked a couple of years in healthcare before med school. Couple of years in a different career (non-trad).

Will be couples matching with an MD student from a low tier school. Looking for help on forming a list, maybe some helpful additions, maybe some community/solid DO programs I overlooked. I would like to match at the best program I can to keep fellowship options open!

Midwest: WI - MCW, Aurora
IL - Advocate, Northshore, Loyola, UIC
MO - SLU, Mizzou, UMKC? Mercy
IN - IU, St. Vincent
OH - Wright State, Riverside, Cincy, Kettering
MI - Spectrum Health - Grand Rapids, DMC - Wayne State, Ascension - Genesys
KS - U of Kansas KS and Wichita
NE - Nebraska, Creighton
IA - University of Iowa - Des Moines
MN - Hennepin, Abbott

South: TN - UT-Memphis, UT-Nashville
FL - USF, Cleveland Clinic, U of Miami - Jackson Health, Mayo Jacksonville
GA - Medical College of Georgia, Northside Gwinett
SC - Prisma Health - Both locations, Medical College of South Carolina
NC - Carolinas Medical Center Program
KY - Louisville, Kentucky?

Northeast: PA - Penn State, Geisinger, Albert Einstein, Penn Hospital program, Temple
DE - Christiana Care
NH - Dartmouth
NJ - ROWAN, Rutgers, Cooper
NY - Buffalo, Stony Brook, Rochester, SUNY?
MA - UMASS, Baystate
CT - UCONN

West: NV - UNLV
CA: Various Kaiser, maybe UCR

Why is Texas omitted from your list of southern programs? You're overlooking multiple programs that are friendly to couples.

Another poster already touched on this but USF will be too far out for you. Their Step 2 cutoff is 240 (their chief of medicine said so when I interviewed there for residency). I agree with the sentiment of applying to more strong community programs with in-house fellowships.

 

[Throwaway101]

Med school: Lower mid tier MD school
Step 1: 245-250
Step 2: 260-265
Clerkships: H in all rotations
Class rank: Top 1/3ish
AOA: No
Research: no publications
EC: Normal med student volunteer stuff too.

Current list in no particular order:
Duke
UTSW
WashU
Vanderbilt
UPenn
Northwestern
Emory
UChicago
BIDMC
Yale
UAB
UNC
Baylor
UColorado
UVirginia
Rush
UFlorida
South Carolina
UT Houston
UKansas
UT San Antonio
Texas A&M

Am I top heavy or does this look fine with my stats?

 

[SymB11]

Can you clarify the 3 bolded things above?

How can you be a US citizen who went to Australia for med school then did residency in your home country and only now returning to the US?

I will say that as a graduate of a non-US school, your scores are kinda crappy and the failure on Step 3 is a problem. This is going to be independent of your citizenship.

Look at the most recent NRMP match data for IMGs, and then put yourself on the lower end of the curve given the above.

I am a U.S. citizen who graduated from an Australian med school where students complete their clerkships at a U.S. medical center they collaborate with. After graduating from med school, I returned to my home country to spend time with a sick family member and so did not participate in the match. I still wanted to continue my medical education during the meantime, and therefore spent the last 3 years completing all the required examinations and internship training in my home country before starting IM residency. I've always wanted to return to the U.S. to practice medicine some day. I am only returning to the US now after the family member has passed away.

 

[WPmed0209]

School: northeastern, Top 40-50ish
Step 1: mid 250s
Step 2: NA
AOA: No
GHHS: No
Clerkships: 5 H (including IM), 3 HP
Rank: Top 25%
Research: 1 first author case report in IM, 3 not-first author manuscripts in surgical subspecialty, lots of abstracts/posters
ECs: Pretty standard stuff, strong emphasis on teaching.

How does this list of reaches look? Any chances at them?
Penn
Cornell
Mt. Sinai
Columbia
BIDMC
MGH
B&W
Hopkins

 

[disorder]

School: northeastern, Top 40-50ish
Step 1: mid 250s
Step 2: NA
AOA: No
GHHS: No
Clerkships: 5 H (including IM), 3 HP
Rank: Top 25%
Research: 1 first author case report in IM, 3 not-first author manuscripts in surgical subspecialty, lots of abstracts/posters
ECs: Pretty standard stuff, strong emphasis on teaching.

How does this list of reaches look? Any chances at them?
Penn
Cornell
Mt. Sinai
Columbia
BIDMC
MGH
B&W
Hopkins

Penn prob not
Cornell probably
Mt. Sinai probably
Columbia maybe
BIDMC maybe
MGH prob not
B&W prob not
Hopkins prob not

Med school: Lower mid tier southern MD school
Step 1: 245-250
Step 2: 260-265
Clerkships: H in all rotations
Class rank: Top 1/3ish
AOA: No
Research: no publications; 1st author abstract with multiple presentations from surgery project (national meeting as well as local/state); current QI project going on now.
EC: Dual degree student with unique activities through it. Normal med student volunteer stuff too.

Current list in no particular order:
Duke
UTSW
WashU
Vanderbilt
UPenn
Northwestern
Emory
UChicago
BIDMC
Yale
UAB
UNC
Baylor
UColorado
UVirginia
Rush
UFlorida
South Carolina
UT Houston
UKansas
UT San Antonio
Texas A&M

Am I top heavy or does this look fine with my stats?

Nice mix. "Lack" of research may hurt. Maybe.
Do you hate the pacific ocean? OHSU, UW, UCLA, UCSF, UCSD
New york? MSSM, Columbia, Cornell, NYU
UMich?

Anyways, you'll match.

 

[Throwaway101]

Nice mix. "Lack" of research may hurt. Maybe.
Do you hate the pacific ocean? OHSU, UW, UCLA, UCSF, UCSD
New york? MSSM, Columbia, Cornell, NYU
UMich?

Anyways, you'll match.

Thanks for the feedback. Really hoping to match at a place that will give me a good chance to stay in house for solid cardiology training.
Never been to the west coast and won’t get a chance to visit, so I decided not to apply to programs that direction.
New York was a no from my SO. Not a huge fan myself either.
Will definitely add UMich. Thought about adding Mayo but my lack of pubs has made me second guess it. SDN seems to have a poor opinion of it as well from what I’ve read.

 

[disorder]

Thanks for the feedback. Really hoping to match at a place that will give me a good chance to stay in house for solid cardiology training.
Never been to the west coast and won’t get a chance to visit, so I decided not to apply to programs that direction.
New York was a no from my SO. Not a huge fan myself either.
Will definitely add UMich. Thought about adding Mayo but my lack of pubs has made me second guess it. SDN seems to have a poor opinion of it as well from what I’ve read.

Don't pigeon-hole yourself for cards. But, often a strong IM program will have a fairly decent cards program. Your goal is to get into an IM program that has a strong track record with good cards matches.

Cardiology, honestly, is quite varied in training and has strengths in certain sub specialties (I imagine it's like this for other specialties as well, not just cards). I will give an example- UCSF has a known reputation for being an amazing EP and Echo program, but interventional and HF not so much. As much as UCSF is an amazing medicine program that allows a ton of autonomy (and will open the door to competitive fellowships), going here to stay for an in-house cards fellowship and then wanting to do HF afterwards... may not be ideal. I don't think you'll 1. figure out what you like in cardiology yet (or maybe you do, hell if i know) and 2. figure out which cards programs are good at what until you make your way through residency and talk to people.

And, hell, throw Mayo in there. Who cares. It'll open doors. Their cards faculty and their dedication to teaching is something to be envied. Also, I see BIDMC in there- might as well throw in the long shot MGH and Brigham. You've already agreed to potentially train in Boston. Your strong step scores and H's in clinical rotations will take you surprisingly far- at least it should.

 

[Throwaway101]

Don't pigeon-hole yourself for cards. But, often a strong IM program will have a fairly decent cards program. Your goal is to get into an IM program that has a strong track record with good cards matches.

Cardiology, honestly, is quite varied in training and has strengths in certain sub specialties (I imagine it's like this for other specialties as well, not just cards). I will give an example- UCSF has a known reputation for being an amazing EP and Echo program, but interventional and HF not so much. As much as UCSF is an amazing medicine program that allows a ton of autonomy (and will open the door to competitive fellowships), going here to stay for an in-house cards fellowship and then wanting to do HF afterwards... may not be ideal. I don't think you'll 1. figure out what you like in cardiology yet (or maybe you do, hell if i know) and 2. figure out which cards programs are good at what until you make your way through residency and talk to people.

And, hell, throw Mayo in there. Who cares. It'll open doors. Their cards faculty and their dedication to teaching is something to be envied. Also, I see BIDMC in there- might as well throw in the long shot MGH and Brigham. You've already agreed to potentially train in Boston. Your strong step scores and H's in clinical rotations will take you surprisingly far- at least it should.

Really appreciate the advice!