Hey all,
I'm a struggling 4th year DO student desiring to go into Psychiatry who has very low borderline passing Comlex Level I, II (passed first try for both) and 2 failures for the PE. I recently received a passing score for my 3rd PE attempt and was able to scramble into a TRI in a place that has a Psychiatry residency.
While I'm relieved that there is some hope for a future (school kicks you out if >2 board exam failures) and that I will be able to graduate. I'm not entirely sure how viable the Psych dream still is. The TRI program has yet to submit its application for ACGME accreditation so I was wondering:
1) How viable is it for me to apply for ACGME psych for the next application cycle? There are only about 9-10 AOA psych programs that will decrease due to the looming merger
The problem is that once your are in your TRI you won't be able to do auditions. So it may affect you at those 9-10 AOA program if they only take people who do away rotations with them. Not sure how it would affect ACGME chances though.
2) I know I have a better chance for in-house residency programs for the next application cycle since I would be working directly with staff, but is this all what I'm limited to? I don't see why other programs would even consider me since nothing much else would change in my ERAS application aside from a PD LOR and hopefully a passing Comlex Level-III score if I choose to take it.
You can try to snag a research gig if possible (try to publish something either now or during residency). You may even try to see if there are conferences in your area to connect with psychiatrists apart of residency programs.
3) Should I consider taking Comlex III before I start residency? I feel this would help me prepare better for residency and also make me less of a viability in the eyes of PD's who take a look at my application since they would probably be concerned about my ability to pass board exams.
No, no, no! Start your residency first and then have your residency/internship pay for your COMLEX. Don't dump money when you don't need to.
If anything, you could try and take step II and try to pass it (you would have to take practice exams to gauge where you are). I think this may do a lot more good. Based on your testing history this maybe a risk also.
4) Should I start opening up to the idea of applying to IM,FM as well after my TRI? As much as I love Psych I'd prefer not having to deal with the chaos of scrambling again lol
Not sure on this one.
*My red-flags are mostly due to low scores, GPA. I do not have any red flags regarding disciplinary/professionalism/legal trouble. I feel my clinical evaluations are decent, and relatively strong during my Psychiatry rotations. 2/4 of my LORs were strong.*
I'd appreciate any feedback even if you have only partial answers or anecdotes of other TRIs in a similar position.
