Peds advisor says maybe I should do psych/family med

[idkmyname]

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So I met with the peds chair at my school last week. We went over my CV, personal statement, transcript and a tentative list of schools I'm interested in. I have about 30 schools on my list (all mid- and low-tier). After looking at my stats (gpa 2.7, comlex 420, all H or HP in clinicals) he thinks that I should apply to 5-10 psych or family med residencies. I absolutely have no interest in family medicine and wouldn't mind child psych if I didn't have to do 3-4 years of adult psych. Are my stats really so horrible that my chances of matching peds are slim?

Also, do you think I should explain my low grades/COMLEX score in my PS or wait for it to come up in interviews? I'm not excusing my low scores, but my mom died, leading to my dad getting addicted to drugs, and I was worried about my 6 younger siblings well-being so I was extremely distracted. Things are better now and I am really enjoying 3rd year. I also feel really good about Step 2. What do you guys think? Is peds out of the question for me?

 

[Stitch]

I think you should do what you are interested in. People who go into fields they don't enjoy make unhappy physicians, and that will affect everything from patient care to your home life. Is there anyone else in the peds department you connected with that could better advise you? I'm not familiar with complex scores, but I'm willing to bet if you can find strong letters of recommendation and cast a wide net you'll find solid peds training somewhere.

I'll also add that I've seen students who were 'average' on paper become stellar residents and pediatricians. It all has to do with how you apply yourself during residence and how willing to work and learn. So I don't think I'd ever tell someone not to go into peds if that's what they wanted to do.

 

[Cuthbert]

So I met with the peds chair at my school last week. We went over my CV, personal statement, transcript and a tentative list of schools I'm interested in. I have about 30 schools on my list (all mid- and low-tier). After looking at my stats (gpa 2.7, comlex 420, all H or HP in clinicals) he thinks that I should apply to 5-10 psych or family med residencies. I absolutely have no interest in family medicine and wouldn't mind child psych if I didn't have to do 3-4 years of adult psych. Are my stats really so horrible that my chances of matching peds are slim?

Also, do you think I should explain my low grades/COMLEX score in my PS or wait for it to come up in interviews? I'm not excusing my low scores, but my mom died, leading to my dad getting addicted to drugs, and I was worried about my 6 younger siblings well-being so I was extremely distracted. Things are better now and I am really enjoying 3rd year. I also feel really good about Step 2. What do you guys think? Is peds out of the question for me?

You are in a tough situation. It will be difficult, but not impossible to get into a residency slot for peds. You have a few things going against you as you explained. Being a DO is sometimes enough to keep you out of top tier programs, so are your scores. But as you stated, you are applying to mid to low tier. This will help. What area of the country are you looking at? Are you open to all areas?

A few words of advice. Don't rank a specialty that you will hate. You will regret that decision, possibly for all of your life. Also, if you choose to apply to FP as well as peds, DO NOT let the peds programs know you are doing it. It looks like you may not have been able to make up your mind (although we understand why you might do this).

The good news is this, you passed your boards. There are many peds programs that will be happy with this. They may not be the "TOP" programs in the country, but if you work hard, you will become a good pediatrician at any program.

 

[idkmyname]

Thanks for the advice!! I am fine wherever I end up, I just want to match peds and nothing else! I've met with other Pediatricians who think I won't have a huge problem. It was just scary to hear someone say that I should look elsewhere "just in case"

 

[michigangirl]

I agree with all of the above. Don't rank family med/psych, please, if you have no interest. There are several peds programs that are not ultra competitive that will provide great training. I think it will be key for your dean's letter/one of your rec letters to talk a bit about your grades to justify why it's not "all on paper" for your application. I don't think it could hurt to discuss it in your personal statement too, and use the adversity that you dealt with as a strength for your future career and perserverence.

 

[umass rower]

If pediatrics is what you want, apply to pediatrics. Although I'm not intimately familiar with the inner workings of programs, I suspect that most do not have strict number cutoffs for applicants. It looks like you have good clinical-year grades, and that implies that there are people out there who would give you good letters. That should be fine to at least get a look from most programs outside the top tier. The catch would be if you were ever on probation or forced to remediate anything; if so, that will be a big red flag on your file.

 

[rokshana]

So I met with the peds chair at my school last week. We went over my CV, personal statement, transcript and a tentative list of schools I'm interested in. I have about 30 schools on my list (all mid- and low-tier). After looking at my stats (gpa 2.7, comlex 420, all H or HP in clinicals) he thinks that I should apply to 5-10 psych or family med residencies. I absolutely have no interest in family medicine and wouldn't mind child psych if I didn't have to do 3-4 years of adult psych. Are my stats really so horrible that my chances of matching peds are slim?

Also, do you think I should explain my low grades/COMLEX score in my PS or wait for it to come up in interviews? I'm not excusing my low scores, but my mom died, leading to my dad getting addicted to drugs, and I was worried about my 6 younger siblings well-being so I was extremely distracted. Things are better now and I am really enjoying 3rd year. I also feel really good about Step 2. What do you guys think? Is peds out of the question for me?

was he talking about MD programs or DO programs?

there are plenty of peds programs so if you are flexible with location types of programs you shouldn't have a problem...

do some away rotations early in 4th yr so they get to know you (of course this is a double edged sword...), apply widely and broadly and then narrow down things once you get interview...and go on a lot of interviews...