Scramble vs TY vs Research

[YogiDO]

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I am trying to come up with a backup plan in case I don't match and was hoping for some feedback. I interviewed at 6 programs but only ranked 2. I know that taking more interviews and ranking more places will help the most, and I will do that next year if need be. But of the 3 options, scrambling into Psych, scrambling into medicine, or taking a year and doing research, what will give me the best chance of matching when I reapply? Will I have a chance at the places that denied me this go around? If I do research it will be at one of the places that I ranked. Is it a good idea to contact PDs to ask them what will best help my chances into matching into their programs? If I scramble into Psych, I'm stuck with the place I scramble into. But if I do medicine for a year, could I sign outside the match as a PGY2, or should I go back into the match? Any feedback would be appreciated. Thanks for your help.

 

[Fermata]

Scrambling into psych will be difficult because, at least recently, there are so few spots available in the scramble.

If it were me, I'd focus on getting in at the PGY-2 level if I didn't match.

 

[TexasPhysician]

I am trying to come up with a backup plan in case I don't match and was hoping for some feedback. I interviewed at 6 programs but only ranked 2. I know that taking more interviews and ranking more places will help the most, and I will do that next year if need be. But of the 3 options, scrambling into Psych, scrambling into medicine, or taking a year and doing research, what will give me the best chance of matching when I reapply? Will I have a chance at the places that denied me this go around? If I do research it will be at one of the places that I ranked. Is it a good idea to contact PDs to ask them what will best help my chances into matching into their programs? If I scramble into Psych, I'm stuck with the place I scramble into. But if I do medicine for a year, could I sign outside the match as a PGY2, or should I go back into the match? Any feedback would be appreciated. Thanks for your help.

Maybe its the psychiatrist in me, but I'm wondering why you are so concerned now vs when you applied. You interviewed at only six places and still only chose to rank 2? I don't understand the logic.

You are MOST competitive straight out of medical school. If you don't get a spot at Program X now, you likely won't get one next year (holds true with most programs that don't have dedicated pgy-2 spots).

If I were you, I would consider scrambling into anywhere that sounds decent or do a year of medicine in hopes of getting into somewhere with dedicated pgy-2 spots. I think Yale saves a couple. Otherwise few psych residents drop out to leave pgy-2 spots available - at least not in my region of the country. Psych residents are generally more happy than others. More people are after those pgy-2 spots than you would think because others "see the light" later on.

Due to a hurricane, my program took 2 fewer residents a few years back. When the rebuilding began and they needed two pgy-2's, there were ample applicants. Both new residents had Step scores 230+ and I don't consider my program to be as competitive as many others.

This is all just my opinion (other people may know better), but if I were you, I'd just be happy to find myself doing psych somewhere in the continental US next year. I don't mean to sound harsh, but you possibly got yourself into a big pickle.

I hope the match works out well for you and that my post eventually becomes pointless.

 

[peppy]

Why didn't you rank most of the programs you interviewed at?
The scrambling being the way it is, you're not likely to get a flood of offers so your best bet is to accept whoever does make the first offer. Generally though I'd say the order of preference would be Psych Pgy 1 > transitional year > prelim year > osteopathic TRI
Allo TYs and prelims will allow you to slide into a PGY-2 opening at a psych program. On the other hand, you can't get credit for the osteoathic internship from the ABPN so you'd have to start over from scratch if you wanted to enter an allopathic psych residency the next year - but it's still a job for the year).
If a program has a PGY-2 opening, often it's only one spot per year, so they aren't exactly abundant but I don't get the impression we're talking about derm levels of competition. You may not be able to get a spot at your first choice program or even region of the country, but if you inquire at many programs there will probably be places that are receptive. I know FMGs who were able to get PGY-2 spots without being superstars (but no, not at particularly competitive programs).
I wouldn't bother with research. The programs likely to care about research would be the really competitive places that would probably turn up their noses at someone who had problems matching. On the other hand, while I have heard others comment that it's harder to match if you don't match the first time, my experience has been that matching after med school isn't necessarily hard if you have a good explanation for why you didn't match originally. There may be programs that do hold it against people, but I think in general, if (for example) you're a good applicant who just didn't apply widely you'll probably be okay next year. If you have a red flag on your application, time isn't going to change that. In either case, apply broadly!

 

[YogiDO]

Peppy,

You make a lot of sense. Thanks for your insight. Another thing I have heard of people doing is getting an MPH and reappplying. A friend of mine got a Harvard MPH after medical school and got great interviews even though he had some serious red flags. Speaking of which, could you please give me some examples of red flags. What I think of are the egregious ones, such as failing a step or a course, or having a disciplinary action taken against you. Are there some more borderline red flags, such as a step 1 score of 200 for example? I'd prefer to match this cycle, but a year of medicine would actually be really good for me. Would it be a problem going into the match again looking for a pgy1 spot? Thanks all of you for your help and not telling me how stupid I am for only ranking 2 places. Peace.