Prelims...competitive?

[soulofmpatel]

I am getting multiple rejections from preliminary programs despite getting interviews in my specialty (Neurology). What is the deal? I thought these would be cake city. I'm a strong applicant, and I even wrote a separate personal statement for medicine?

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[JonnyG]

depends where you apply and remember a good amount of the preliminary applicants are people in the ROADE specialties. They usually have a great resume. The same thing applies to the traditional year.

 

[Acherona]

I am getting multiple rejections from preliminary programs despite getting interviews in my specialty (Neurology). What is the deal? I thought these would be cake city. I'm a strong applicant, and I even wrote a separate personal statement for medicine?

prelim is way harder than neuro. We have rads, derm, ophtho to contend with. And here I was thinkin I was avoiding the headache of competitive specialties by going into neuro. Turns out I needed that 250 on step I after all, dammit.

 

[dragonfly99]

Is it really that heinously hard to get a medicine prelim year? I know transitional years are notoriously hard to get, but I didn't think the prelim medicine years were so hard to get. Maybe you just need to apply to a few more places, ones that would be easier to get?

 

[soulofmpatel]

prelim is way harder than neuro. We have rads, derm, ophtho to contend with. And here I was thinkin I was avoiding the headache of competitive specialties by going into neuro. Turns out I needed that 250 on step I after all, dammit.

I actually do have >260 on my step I (haven't yet taken step II), and I've still seen rejections from some prelim programs which I am very interested in. It's very disappointing. Worse yet, there are many prelim programs which have not yet responded to my application which will likely reject me (because it's now so late in the process).

 

[soulofmpatel]

Is it really that heinously hard to get a medicine prelim year? I know transitional years are notoriously hard to get, but I didn't think the prelim medicine years were so hard to get. Maybe you just need to apply to a few more places, ones that would be easier to get?

I have enough interviews to match somewhere, but I wanted to do my prelim in California (preferably at the same place where I match into neurology). I have a few interviews out there...but not enough to feel comfortable. It's very disconcerning that I might spend another year away from my friends and family and be forced to move twice

 

[Acherona]

I have enough interviews to match somewhere, but I wanted to do my prelim in California (preferably at the same place where I match into neurology). I have a few interviews out there...but not enough to feel comfortable. It's very disconcerning that I might spend another year away from my friends and family and be forced to move twice

If a "few" means 3-4 then I would think the chances of you matching in California are pretty good anyway. Don't 85% of people get one of their top 3 choices? I'd think this applies to prelim as well. Sounds like you are just being a med student worry-wart.

Dragonfly, I think prelims are pretty competitive. I applied to twice as many prelims as neuro and got half the number of interviews. A number of people I've met on neuro interviews are worried about their prelim as well.

 

[dragonfly99]

Hmmm... I don't really get why the neuro departments at these hospitals don't just fix it so that you can (or maybe have to?) just do your medicine prelim year at the same hospital where you do your neuro residency.

 

[Acherona]

Hmmm... I don't really get why the neuro departments at these hospitals don't just fix it so that you can (or maybe have to?) just do your medicine prelim year at the same hospital where you do your neuro residency.

Yea, it's very annoying. I suspect the reason is that if you add up the number of people who match to an advanced position at that hospital requiring a prelim, it will be much greater than the number of prelim spots. Therefore they leave it up to the internal med dept to choose the applicants they want. It seems every program is different, with some working very hard with medicine to get you a prelim spot, and others leaving it up to you completely. The top applicants suck up the university and cush community spots, leaving the remainder at some malignant community hospital doing q3 overnight call and blood draws

 

[goodies]

lol. i got an email with the subject: "Sorry...from Stanford Medicine"

 

[Law2Doc]

I suspect the reason is that if you add up the number of people who match to an advanced position at that hospital requiring a prelim, it will be much greater than the number of prelim spots. Therefore they leave it up to the internal med dept to choose the applicants they want.

This is certainly the case. Any hospital with a large number of prelim spots also has a larger number of advanced programs. You also have to factor in all those people who don't want to leave the city they did med school for a year who also want prelim spots without subsequent local advanced programs. But compared to transitional programs or advanced programs, prelims should be easy to land, because there are so many of them. All those little community programs with 4-5 spots add up. The transitional year programs offer a cushy lifestyle the prelim spots don't. During the scramble, far more prelim program slots will be open than advanced programs. So as a group they aren't competitive. But if you are targeting a specific program or popular location, they might be.

 

[ginger60]

During the scramble, far more prelim program slots will be open than advanced programs. So as a group they aren't competitive. But if you are targeting a specific program or popular location, they might be.

So if you are a strong applicant targeting a competitive location, how many prelim/transitional programs should you aim to interview at and consequently rank? I want to withdraw from surgery prelims but am unsure of how many medicine prelim interviews (3? 4? 8?), especially in a competitive location, would be enough to make me feel pretty sure about matching (and the NRMP data doesn't really help for prelims).

 

[docdaname]

to go along with the OP, i am also freaking about the prelim situ. But i think i am just being a worry-wart med student. I got PLENTY of interviews for my advanced position, but i only have 3 prelims! i added a few more prelims and transitionals yesterday, they say their deadlines arent until january. But im sure its too late. hopefully one of those three will have me! i dont want to scramble into a surgery prelim!!!