Scrambling for Prelim or TY ??

[medsRus]

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Seriously, I am very afraid to scramble for a Prelim or TY position. But, I want to be prepared and want to know how easy it is if one has no geographic restrictions, above average board scores, solid recs, but just made the mistake of applying to too few programs? BTW, advanced position is neuro... Thank you.

 

[clayito]

From what I've heard from my advisory dean, it's becoming more difficult to scramble into a spot each year. You probably wouldn't find a TY spot, and prelim medicine years are also becoming harder to find. Best bet is usually a prelim surgery year, but a prelim medicine year is not impossible to find. I'm also hoping I don't end up scrambling, so here's to us both matching and this being a moot point!

 

[medsRus]

From what I've heard from my advisory dean, it's becoming more difficult to scramble into a spot each year. You probably wouldn't find a TY spot, and prelim medicine years are also becoming harder to find. Best bet is usually a prelim surgery year, but a prelim medicine year is not impossible to find. I'm also hoping I don't end up scrambling, so here's to us both matching and this being a moot point!

Can't use prelim surg for neuro... Well, I am certainly hoping for us to match for all positions, but need to prepare for the worst.

 

[5twilight5]

Can't use prelim surg for neuro... Well, I am certainly hoping for us to match for all positions, but need to prepare for the worst.

How many TY programs should you rank to be safe?😕

 

[gutonc]

How many TY programs should you rank to be safe?😕

All of them. Even the Satan General Hospital TY located in the 9th Circle of Hell.

It's just a year and matching to a crap program for 1y beats not matching or scrambling into anything and having to give up your advanced position.

 

[soonermd]

You do NOT want to scramble...for anything. I go to a top 10 M.D. med school and had friends last year who cancelled prelim & TY interviews because they were certain they would match (for rads & ophtho). Both had Step 1 & 2 > 230. In fact, the Dean's office told them it would "be no problem" to scramble for an internal medicine year if need be. They did match for their advanced spots, but they did not match for an intern year. They both wound up in prelim surg...because nothing else was left. One of them says he works 100+ hours per week and is forced to lie about his hours. The other is at 80+ for almost the entire year. I think nationwide there were about 60-70 internal med and 15-25 TY spots. I am not 100% on those because it has been a while since I talked to them, but you DO NOT want to rely on those positions. You may get lucky, but it is also equally (or more) likely that you will not. Those positions are mostly gone within the first 30-60 minutes. And mostly not based on the best applicant, but just a first come first serve type thing. Someday I hope the scramble will be eliminated! Good luck.

 

[5twilight5]

All of them. Even the Satan General Hospital TY located in the 9th Circle of Hell.

It's just a year and matching to a crap program for 1y beats not matching or scrambling into anything and having to give up your advanced position.

Is 5 interviews enough, 8, 10?

THANKS😀

 

[gutonc]

Is 5 interviews enough, 8, 10?

THANKS😀

Maybe. As with all WAMC questions, the answer is, "it depends."

My point was that you should go on as many interviews as you can (10 is probably a good number) and have a backup plan if you don't get that many interviews.

 

[N-Surge]

In fact, the Dean's office told them it would "be no problem" to scramble for an internal medicine year if need be.

Could be true... if you are willing to give up the option to try to go geographically where you want to be and instead go anywhere, to any program that is still open. I really hope that this clarification was made for your friends.