Reapplying from TY spot/prelim year to categorical spot.

[bravotwozero]

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I did not match EM and scrambled into an internship spot. I want to know from people who were once in my shoes that were successful in matching into a categorical spot the following year.

How did you pull it off? What did you try to do during your intern year, to help you become more competitive and land a spot? Did you end up changing the specialties that you applied to? Did you apply to multiple specialties?

This is quite stressful. How am I going to not just survive intern year, but do well enough to land strong letters?

 

[peppy]

I think the best strategy to use for next year depends on why you didn't match. If you can't honestly explain it then maybe talking to a mentor in your field at your school might help explain things.
If you think the main problem is just that you underestimated the competition and didn't apply to enough programs or you had plenty of interviews but feel like you didn't shine in the interviews, then I think it's worth it to try one more time for the specialty you originally wanted, applying very broadly of course. If you feel like you did your best in terms of applying to enough programs, interview prep, etc. then it's probably time to focus on back up plans.
In my situation, I realized with hindsight that the main problem was that I didn't interview at enough places so the following year I just applied to and ranked twice as many programs in the same specialty. It all worked out.

If you can develop a good relationship with the PD and get a good LOR from him/her I think that is really the key. If you do hit it off with some of your attendings during those early months I would consider that to be a bonus. In the early months of internship, unless you're at a malignant place, they probably won't expect you to know a lot. The main thing you can do is just focus on having a good attitude, working hard and efficiently, and being willing to look up the answer if you're not sure of something.
Good luck. 🙂