Well I just found out that I did not match and post match does not look good. But Pedo is what I was meant to do and will make my resume stronger for next year. I was thinking GPR aimed towards pedo, but with GME funding being a concern I was told this is not a good idea. I could work for a private practice who treats mostly children, but I also heard that private practice does not look good on resumes. Which leaves me with public health for one year? What do you think is the best way to go in order to be more competitive next year.
Pedo Help
- Thread starter Gatormann
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It sounds like you were granted at least a few interviews in order to have been able to submit a match list. If that is the case, at the very least some programs thought your extracurriculars were good enough to show that you had an interest in pedo and therefore, those programs chose to give you an interview over other applicants. That having been said, it may not have been the quality or the quantity of your extracurricular activities this past cycle that was an issue. The deciding factor could have been your performance at the interview. On some past threads, it would seem that a few of the most common mistakes that applicants admit to having made were:
- displaying too much anxiety and nervousness during the interview. The pediatric chair at my school once told me that being a little nervous is natural but being too nervous suggests that you cannot handle emergencies if they were to ever happen in a pedo office.
- Not being able to convey thoughts and ideas with clarity and in a coherent manner. This seems to be a big one. I have had several pedo programs this past cycle tell me prior to my interview that this was one of the qualities that they would be evaluating me on.
In my opinion, it seems to me that the main problem could be your interview performance and not the quality or quantity of your extracurriculars as evident by the fact that you seemed to have received a few interviews. If that is the case, trying to do more extracurriculars is not going to help you get over that hump. You don't need a lot of interviews to match to a program. I know a lot of people this past cycle who received only one or two interviews at pedo programs but because they performed really well, they still matched to a program regardless. I also know people that went on eight or more interviews and still did not match. Of course…there is always the argument that if you improve your extracurriculars, then you'll get more interviews, and hence you have better odds of matching. I agree with that to a small extent but I would also make the counter-argument that regardless of whether an applicant gets 10 or even 100 interviews offers, if he/ she is making critical mistakes during the interview then they won't match to any program because they will be repeating the same critical mistakes over and over again. My college advisor drilled the idea in my head that the appplicant who makes the fewest mistakes will get the job and I didn't really truly understand that until now. The hard part is trying to determine what those mistakes are. Of course it doesn't hurt to improve your extracurriculars in the meantime while you wait for the next cycle but I think improving interview performance should be your main focus. That's just my honest humble opinion. Hopefully, other SDNers can give you their thoughts and opinions as well.
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When I found out I didn't get in (for ortho), I decided to do a year of GPR. I was afraid that if I made too much money at a private pratice, I would lose my focus in re-applying for next year.
At my GPR program, I treated a lot of dental phobic patients and I did a lot of IV sedations. Every week, we performed dental treatments on patients with mental disablity under GA in the OR….it was a great experience. If you do GPR at the program like the one that I did, I think your resume would look very strong for the next application cycle.
At my GPR program, I treated a lot of dental phobic patients and I did a lot of IV sedations. Every week, we performed dental treatments on patients with mental disablity under GA in the OR….it was a great experience. If you do GPR at the program like the one that I did, I think your resume would look very strong for the next application cycle.
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I too did not match my first application cycle (2008). From my experiences and my discussions with various programs, I would recommend in order of preferability: GPR, public health, internships, private practice.
Primary reasons being:
1) A GPR offers a learning environment with formatted learning experiences. Ability to offer expanded services (i.e.-through obtaining a conscious sedation permit, if you were to not match again.) Look for one with a fair amount of pedo experience. They are out there, but are tough to find.
2) PH will expose you to the pediatric population and will give you great exposure to clinical hands on experience. Not to mention, it looks good that you are committed to providing care to an under served population with access to care issues as well.
3) Internships are great if you can land a spot. I am afraid that there are only a few out there and most do not pay well, if at all.
4) PP is not the end of the world, but most programs are afraid you will learn bad habits and/or shortcuts that they will ultimately have to break you of. Plus, you might get accustomed to the income.
Keep in mind, that not everyone will be able to do a GPR or public health... So do whatever is available to you and that puts you in the best position to pursue a residency next cycle. I went to a GPR with a heavy pedo emphasis and fortunately it panned out for me this cycle. I truly hope this information helps you. I remember all too well what is like to be in your shoes, so just take a breath and keep plugging away.
Primary reasons being:
1) A GPR offers a learning environment with formatted learning experiences. Ability to offer expanded services (i.e.-through obtaining a conscious sedation permit, if you were to not match again.) Look for one with a fair amount of pedo experience. They are out there, but are tough to find.
2) PH will expose you to the pediatric population and will give you great exposure to clinical hands on experience. Not to mention, it looks good that you are committed to providing care to an under served population with access to care issues as well.
3) Internships are great if you can land a spot. I am afraid that there are only a few out there and most do not pay well, if at all.
4) PP is not the end of the world, but most programs are afraid you will learn bad habits and/or shortcuts that they will ultimately have to break you of. Plus, you might get accustomed to the income.
Keep in mind, that not everyone will be able to do a GPR or public health... So do whatever is available to you and that puts you in the best position to pursue a residency next cycle. I went to a GPR with a heavy pedo emphasis and fortunately it panned out for me this cycle. I truly hope this information helps you. I remember all too well what is like to be in your shoes, so just take a breath and keep plugging away.
