Scramble for Prelim...need help please.

[crockpot2005]

I posted ~1 week ago re choosing gas vs. I-med....I am really moving towards ranking gas first.

My problem is this....I only have 2 prelim programs to rank...at VERY competitive places, so there is a very good chance I will have to scramble.

I DON'T want to do a surgery prelim.....I would love to do a medicine or transitional year.

Did anyone who matched last year/years before have to scramble for a prelim?
What should I do to prepare myself for this? (I.e. get a fax machine available...etc?)

Thanks so much.

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[toughlife]

I posted ~1 week ago re choosing gas vs. I-med....I am really moving towards ranking gas first.

My problem is this....I only have 2 prelim programs to rank...at VERY competitive places, so there is a very good chance I will have to scramble.

I DON'T want to do a surgery prelim.....I would love to do a medicine or transitional year.

Did anyone who matched last year/years before have to scramble for a prelim?
What should I do to prepare myself for this? (I.e. get a fax machine available...etc?)

Thanks so much.

can you use a #2 pencil to write your name? If so then you will scramble into a medicine prelim spot somewhere.

 

[ThinkFast007]

can you use a #2 pencil to write your name? If so then you will scramble into a medicine prelim spot somewhere.

goodluck w/ that.

at the interviews for Prelim I've been at this year, PDs have said theyve received a 'large increase' in the number of apps this year. I take it it's because of the increase in popularity of such specialities as anesth, ER ,etc that require prelim years.

in major cities like prelim may be 'harder' to get. you might want to try to scramble into prelim years in the 'boonies' if you can.

goodluck. lol wish luck to me too!

 

[Crash cart]

I posted ~1 week ago re choosing gas vs. I-med....I am really moving towards ranking gas first.

My problem is this....I only have 2 prelim programs to rank...at VERY competitive places, so there is a very good chance I will have to scramble.

I DON'T want to do a surgery prelim.....I would love to do a medicine or transitional year.

Did anyone who matched last year/years before have to scramble for a prelim?
What should I do to prepare myself for this? (I.e. get a fax machine available...etc?)

Thanks so much.

Man, don't stress about this one AT ALL. You have better ways to spend your time, I'm sure. Talk to your dean. I asked my dean about scrambling for prelims recently and he pulled out a book of match stats from last year. Only something like 55% of prelim medicine spots were taken by US medical grads last year and 35% were taken by FMG's. That leaves 10% of spots available and unfilled. While 10% may not sound like a lot, it is b/c there are so many friggin' spots to begin with.

Also, I've heard stories from program secretaries about programs "creating" or "finding" medicine spots at their institution for residents they matched who came up short on the prelim side of things.

Bottom line, you'll match in a prelim medicine spot. DO NOT WORRY ABOUT THIS! Good luck, and congratulations on coming to your senses and picking gas over IM.

 

[toughlife]

goodluck w/ that.

at the interviews for Prelim I've been at this year, PDs have said theyve received a 'large increase' in the number of apps this year. I take it it's because of the increase in popularity of such specialities as anesth, ER ,etc that require prelim years.

in major cities like prelim may be 'harder' to get. you might want to try to scramble into prelim years in the 'boonies' if you can.

goodluck. lol wish luck to me too!

dude you are such a stresser. Are you indian by any chance? Cuz if you are and continue to be so uptight, I will be forced to kick your tikka massala chicken ass.

 

[bullard]

Scrambling into a random prelim med: cake.

Scrambling into a relatively cush prelim med: not so cake, especially this year.

I'm doing a subI at a hospital whose prelim med rarely fills, and now I know why!

 

[MedicinePowder]

Scrambling into a random prelim med: cake.

Scrambling into a relatively cush prelim med: not so cake, especially this year.

I'm doing a subI at a hospital whose prelim med rarely fills, and now I know why!

In big cities like los angeles, getting a prelim med spot will test people's ego as it's going to be a hot tamale getting one of those spots. i'm talking about u're competing with derm, radiology, rad onc, ophthamalogy and ER kids who toiled over padding there applications since first year and who were proabably studying for step one in junior high! I'm also in the situation where I may end up scrambling for a prelim as I didn't do many prelim interviews. worst come to worst, u'll still match at a program--location-wise, however, is a different story. u never know, it might end up being a God-sent unexpected experience and u may be glad u ended up there for prelim.

 

[crockpot2005]

Thanks guys.

But what I was really wondering about was, HOW do you go about scrambling?

Do you fax your CV? Do you email it to programs? Do you just call them and say, hey I would love to be a prelim...please take me?

What do you do? Hopefully someone who has had to scramble can help me with this.

 

[Doc13]

I'm not positive, but I believe you can do an intern year in Canada, which actually may be pretty cool to see their health system and they actually may count more on PE and clinical medicine than immediately sending everyone in for a CT. I'm not sure about other countries, but spending a year in the caribean may not be so bad either.

 

[rugtrousers]

But what I was really wondering about was, HOW do you go about scrambling?

Look at the "General Residency Issues" forum for more information about scrambling. My understanding is that you resubmit through ERAS to the programs you're interested in. You can also fax your application to the open programs.

BTW, you find out which programs have open spots in one of two ways:
1. Your dean's office tells you.
2. You log on to NRMP and look at the list. You will only have access to the list of unfilled programs if you did not match into a PGY-1 or PGY-2 spot (or both).

You have to be ready to move quickly on Tuesday, Scramble day (March 14th).