Question about prelims

[okayplayer]

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Congrats to all for matching and best of luck in the scramble for those who didn't.

Quick question for you guys, for someone who will be going through this next year. I am planning on going for anesthesia. The majority of the spots are categorical, but there are still some programs and some spots that are advanced. I am doing couples match, so I'd like to be with my GF for both of our PGY-1 years. If I am applying to 30-40 programs all over the country, should I really be applying to and interviewing at prelims for each city (seems crazy cost-wise and time-wise)? Or do people just plan on scrambling into a prelim spot? Of course, ranking the categoricals > advanced would help, but I probably would still rank the advanced spot too to increase my odds. Not sure how this works.

Thanks for your time.

 

[SaintFrances]

Playa-
MSIV here who just matched into Anesthesiology. I have several friends who just worked through the exact situation you described. --You should also PM "Fakin'theFunk" over in the Anesth forum as he is couples matching right now.--

There is no clear-cut correct answer. Its all about playing the odds and trying to maximize your chances at spending your years (all of them hopefully) together. I would not necessarily try and do prelims at each and every city, but if you can group some of them together it will be worth your time. Also, I found that many of the ADVANCED Anesth programs actually work with the prelim med and surg programs in the hospital to schedule your interviews on the same day. Meaning you might have an Anesth interview in the morning and a prelim medicine interview in the afternoon. Also, if you are both gung-ho on couples matching - the bigger cities (Chicago, NYC, Philly) are going to be the best bet at maximizing these odds as there are so many programs. Feel free to PM me if you have any more specific Anesth Q's.

Congrats to all for matching and best of luck in the scramble for those who didn't.

Quick question for you guys, for someone who will be going through this next year. I am planning on going for anesthesia. The majority of the spots are categorical, but there are still some programs and some spots that are advanced. I am doing couples match, so I'd like to be with my GF for both of our PGY-1 years. If I am applying to 30-40 programs all over the country, should I really be applying to and interviewing at prelims for each city (seems crazy cost-wise and time-wise)? Or do people just plan on scrambling into a prelim spot? Of course, ranking the categoricals > advanced would help, but I probably would still rank the advanced spot too to increase my odds. Not sure how this works.

Thanks for your time.

 

[Ludicolo]

Agree with the above. The most widely recommended strategy is to limit your search to big cities, where there is a greater concentration of both advanced and prelim programs. If you schedule/coordinate your interviews right, this could limit the amount and cost of travel as well.

Try not to plan on scrambling…no guarantees there. You would undoubtedly get a prelim spot somewhere, but because of self-imposed geographical restrictions this may prove to be more challenging.

 

[pdiddy4EM]

I just couple's matched with my fiancee. I'm doing Emergency and she is doing Anesthesiology. We ended up not applying to any programs in New York or Cali (cause of cost of living). As a matter of fact the only big city where we each had multiple interviews was Detroit area. Now when you guys are applying you need to be very liberal with your where you apply. My fiancee applied to 70+ programs and I applied to 59. We both got over 30+ interviews. Obviously categorical anesthesiology is the ideal thing. Many programs will have just categorical, or just advanced or both. With the exception of 1 program, my fiancee only ranked categorical. Since I'm doing EM i only did 3 year programs. For the one program (we ranked it kinda high at 4) that she ranked advanced, after her interview with the anesthesiology program she walked into the medicine PD's office and told him our situation and that I really liked the EM progam at the school. PD was like yea that's fine (mind you we were way past the deadline for applying when she did this). PD's want couples to be together and not separated. My fiancee ended up going on like 3 prelim med/transitional year interviwes. The one thing that is nice about couple's match is that you get to re-rank programs.

I interviewed at three detroit programs and she did 2.
Mine: Henry Ford Fiancee: UMichigan
Mine: Henry Ford Fiancee: Wayne St
Mine: William Beaumont Fiancee: UMichigan
Mine: William Beaumont FIancee: Wayne
Mine: Wayne St Fiancee: Wayne

Those were all categorical for anesth. Furthermore, whenever one of you guys gets an interview, its not inappropiate at all for you to contact the other person's program to say hey my SO just got an interview at X program and we are excited, and I would like to come express my interest in your program. Be liberal when applying and everything works out. Always always always tell the person how you truly feel about the program you interviewed at ASAP. If you love a program, I guarantee your gf will have a positive outlook on her particular program at that specific school's interview. Good luck!