Program not accepting failures offered me a sub-i. I have 1 failure.

[musiconcerto]

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[tux4]

I mean, it never hurts to try and make an impression and who knows maybe they have changed that policy and just forgot to update their website. Maybe try contacting them about it? It is a risk though because that elective spot could be taking the place of another program that would take you regardless of your red flag.


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[WheezyBaby]

It's entirely program dependent. I would email the program coordinator and express your concern. Most you can harm yourself there is if (a) they didn't notice your failure when offering the subi and otherwise would have rejected you and (b) you stunned them so much on the subi they would have then at that point said "the failure be damned". Much more likely possibilities imo (in my perceived order of decreasing likelihood) - (a) they didn't notice the failure and will tell you your chances are either slim (and you can still do the subi) or nil, in which case you save yourself an entire wasted rotation 4th year or (b) they noticed the failure but decided to offer you the subi and consider you for rank pending performance on subi (in which case they can ease your concern that the subi was offered mistakenly)

 

[Phloston]

I love School X and want to go there for residency. I was given an offer to do a Sub-I at School X.
But the residency I'm interested in at School X says "they will not consider applicants with USMLE failures". I had one failed attempt on Step 1.

Do programs normally offer an interview if the applicant does well on the sub-i despite this criteria? Or should I not bother? I really want to go here, but I don't want to waste 4 weeks if they're going to flat out deny me.

Many programs have objective "checks" irrespective of everything else you have that's stellar. If they say they only accept those with first-time passes, they're probably not lying; there are just too many applicants out there.

I would focus on doing the sub-I for the experience and on the basis that it's a privilege to do it period. If your main objective is to do the sub-I, not because you're fully interested, but because it's supposed to be a boost to get you into that program, it might be beneficial to ask yourself what your goals are, and what you're really hoping to achieve.

 

[Ismet]

I love School X and want to go there for residency. I was given an offer to do a Sub-I at School X.
But the residency I'm interested in at School X says "they will not consider applicants with USMLE failures". I had one failed attempt on Step 1.

Do programs normally offer an interview if the applicant does well on the sub-i despite this criteria? Or should I not bother? I really want to go here, but I don't want to waste 4 weeks if they're going to flat out deny me.

It doesn't hurt to talk with the PD to clarify what the outcomes might be, but there's definitely a possibility that you're being offered this away for the experience and won't be getting an interview out of it. There was an away student rotating with me during 4th year and she had a characteristic on her app that would be denied an interview by the program she was rotating at. She met with the PD during her rotation, got glowing feedback, but was told she would not be offered an interview. At that point she was crushed that she "wasted" the away, had fallen in love with the program, and had zero shot at matching there. Better to clarify before you go.

I would focus on doing the sub-I for the experience and on the basis that it's a privilege to do it period. If your main objective is to do the sub-I, not because you're fully interested, but because it's supposed to be a boost to get you into that program, it might be beneficial to ask yourself what your goals are, and what you're really hoping to achieve.

When you only have a couple months to do aways, they should really be done at programs that you have a chance of matching at. The away serves as an audition of sorts and also lets you see if you would actually want to match there.

 

[musiconcerto]

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[Ismet]

Appreciate all the feedback here, thanks. I spoke with the program coordinator. Their policy allows students with failures to do a sub-i despite the no-failure rule when it comes to applying for residency. Interestingly, he mentioned that the no-failure rule does not automatically rule applicants out. If the student does an amazing job, they're willing to consider him/her. I guess it doesn't hurt to try. I'll be prepared in the event that I don't get an interview.

Best of luck! Knock that rotation out of the park!