Olive View - UCLA Internal Medicine Residency Program Chief Resident Q&A!!

[ovmedchiefres]

Hi Everyone!

We are the current Olive View-UCLA IM Chief Residents for the 2020-2021 Academic Year. As we are entering into the residency application/interview season, we wanted to create a forum to answer any questions that you may have about our program! Feel free to ask us anything! (Applications, interview season, resident life, LA Life, fellowships, etc).

- OVMC Chiefs

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[deleted1016251]

Hello!

First off, just wanted to say that it’s awesome that you’re doing this and letting us ask questions!

I’m a 4th year Med student from a D.O medical school planning to apply to Internal Medicine. As a California native myself, I have had my eyes on this program in particular for about the last two years, so I definitely have a lot of questions for you all, but I’ll just keep it to a few for now.

1) What can you share with us about the application review process at your program? What are ways that applicants can stand out when they apply?

2)The IM program at Olive View has accepted relatively few DO applicants in the past (although I know a previous Chief was a DO). Is there a DO bias to any degree at Olive View, and what can DO applicants do to overcome that?

3) What is your program doing in order to overcome the challenges of having all residency interviews over Zoom? As a student, I’m concerned about not being able to get a good feel for any of the programs I apply to because I won’t be able to visit them or speak to current residents about their experience.

Hope that wasn’t too many questions! Can’t wait to hear back from you all, really appreciate you taking the time to reach out to students online

 

[deleted1016251]

Hi Everyone!

We are the current Olive View-UCLA IM Chief Residents for the 2020-2021 Academic Year. As we are entering into the residency application/interview season, we wanted to create a forum to answer any questions that you may have about our program! Feel free to ask us anything! (Applications, interview season, resident life, LA Life, fellowships, etc).

- OVMC Chiefs

Hello?

 

[ovmedchiefres]

Hello!

First off, just wanted to say that it’s awesome that you’re doing this and letting us ask questions!

I’m a 4th year Med student from a D.O medical school planning to apply to Internal Medicine. As a California native myself, I have had my eyes on this program in particular for about the last two years, so I definitely have a lot of questions for you all, but I’ll just keep it to a few for now.

1) What can you share with us about the application review process at your program? What are ways that applicants can stand out when they apply?

2)The IM program at Olive View has accepted relatively few DO applicants in the past (although I know a previous Chief was a DO). Is there a DO bias to any degree at Olive View, and what can DO applicants do to overcome that?

3) What is your program doing in order to overcome the challenges of having all residency interviews over Zoom? As a student, I’m concerned about not being able to get a good feel for any of the programs I apply to because I won’t be able to visit them or speak to current residents about their experience.

Hope that wasn’t too many questions! Can’t wait to hear back from you all, really appreciate you taking the time to reach out to students online

Hi there!

Thanks for showing interest in our program and for your questions!

1. Olive View takes a very holistic approach when reviewing applications. As any program we would take into consideration evaluations, board scores, letters of recommendations, extracurricular activities, etc. In addition we really look for applicants who’s goals and values align with our mission statement as a program. As you may already know, we are a county program that works heavily with the underserved and underrepresented population. So when we are reviewing applications we look out for a resume that demonstrates strong interest and commitment to this type of population.
   
   
2. If you look at our resident roster from prior years, you will see that we on average have ~1-2 DO residents in each class. With that said we look at all applicants with the same criteria regardless of whether they are MD/DO. And as you correctly pointed out, one of our chief residents last year was a DO! My personal advice would be not to focus so much on MD vs DO; at least for our program, as mentioned above, we really look at things holistically and whether an applicant is a great fit for our program.
   
   
3. Great question! This is definitely a new challenge for all programs across the country, and we can definitely understand the frustration of not being able to physically check out our hospital and program. With that said, we’re currently working on creative ways that the applicant can get an in-depth look at our program. We are in the works of posting videos that showcase the highlights and strengths of our program and some of our residents. We also encourage you to follow us on social media on our twitter and instagram page! We will hosting virtual happy hours which will be a chance for the applicants to meet and and directly ask questions to our residents. On the actual interview date, you will also have plenty of time to meet our PD’s and residents to get a better feel for the program.

Hope that helps!
- OVMC Chiefs -

 

[sallyhasanidea]

What's your step 1 cut off?

What else do you screen applicants by?

 

[ovmedchiefres]

What's your step 1 cut off?

What else do you screen applicants by?

Hi!

We don't have a screening step 1 cut off score. Below is the link to the FAQ portion of our website:

Frequently Asked Questions - UCLA-Olive View Internal Medicine Residency

Since the COVID-19 pandemic and in alignment with AAIM recommendations, our interview process has changed. We offer only video interviews and virtual orientati

www.uclaoliveview.org

"Is there a USMLE Step 1 Score Requirement?
No. We do not require a minimum USMLE score for interviews or ranking. However, we do expect that interviewed applicants have passed USMLE Step 1."

As mentioned above, we look at every applicant holistically including but not limited to evaluations, extracurriculars, test scores, personal statement, research, and fit for our program.

Hope that helps!
- OVMC Chiefs -

 

[unicorns123]

Hi! I was wondering where residents usually live?

 

[ovmedchiefres]

Hello! About 60-70% of our residents live in west LA near the Westwood area. A large percentage also live in the valley, which includes Sherman Oaks, Studio City, Tarzana, and Encino. The rest are scattered all over LA including Pasadena, Alhambra, Santa Clarita, etc. Hope this helps!

- OVMC Chiefs-

 

[freelyjointed]

Hi OVMC chiefs,

I know this is a long-shot, but hoping to get some help with scheduling an interview. On another thread on this forum I asked for an interview date swap for OVMC IM prelim year but was wondering if there would be a mechanism to reach out to other applicants and ask for a swap (instead of asking on the general SDN forum). I would really love to interview here and trying my best to make it happen. Thank you so much for any tips/advice!

Best,
freely