Prelim surg applying to Anesthesia

[towelonthefloor]

Hi all,

Hoping to get some advice.
I applied to EM this cycle and unfortunately did not match. I SOAPed into a prelim surgery position that has an EM program but not an anesthesia program.

I was always on the fence about anesthesia and EM, but ultimately decided on EM (i basically put all my eggs in one basket). I never obtained anesthesia letters and only have EM letters.

My entire app was planned out with EM in mind but I can see myself happy in both. Really regretting not dual applying and going through SOAP.

DO student
Step 230/230
Comlex 580/540
No red flags- I suspect the reason I didnt match was my weak CV (poor advising let me not include a lot of things) and a bad letter.

I could get new letters from the surgery PD and probably another surgeon i work with. But idk how viable it would be to try and get an anesthesia letter. In the event that I can not get one, is it even worth applying?

I don't think my poor heart can take the stress of not matching again and any advise is well appreciated!

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[rakotomazoto]

Sorry to hear about your difficulties. For what it's worth, some medical schools don't have an anesthesiology rotation and so they apply with letters from internal medicine or surgery or other specialties. It's not absolutely necessary to have that anesthesia letter. But you had better make sure the rest of your application is spotless. A bad letter is actually a huge red flag. Only ask for letters from people who will definitely write you a strong letter of recommendation.

 

[towelonthefloor]

Sorry to hear about your difficulties. For what it's worth, some medical schools don't have an anesthesiology rotation and so they apply with letters from internal medicine or surgery or other specialties. It's not absolutely necessary to have that anesthesia letter. But you had better make sure the rest of your application is spotless. A bad letter is actually a huge red flag. Only ask for letters from people who will definitely write you a strong letter of recommendation.

Thanks for the response.

And the letter wasn't BAD per say, but it was definitely mediocre. EM puts a huge weight on their letters and use their own specialty standardized format to submit them.
I looked up letters for anesthesia but it seems like there are varying answers if they want their own specialty. But these were all through the general match and not a prelim reapplying through the match.

Will definitely be resubmitting letters for the upcoming cycle with extra caution.