As the match week draws near, everyone's getting a bit more nervous. The numbers of unfilled rad onc spots are nortoriously low traditionally. In case one needs to scramble for a rad onc spot, what advice do you have?
Scrambling into Rad Onc
- Thread starter keforce
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The scramble is difficult for the reasons you've mentioned. What may be a better bet is keeping in touch with programs throughout your internship.
There are many anectdotal reports of people getting a spot in the beginning/middle/end of internship due to a multitude of factors. Over the past few years, several programs have opened up and taken residents outside of the match. Many existing programs are also expanding.
The only people eligible for these spots are the ones who will be finishing their internship before the summer of starting rad onc, or who have finished an internship previously. When a program has an open spot, often they are as eager to fill it as you are to get it.
People also drop out for whatever reason. Not common, but it happens.
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My experience in the scramble a couple of years ago was that the unfilled programs were not really eager to fill within those 48-72 hours (as medicine and surgery programs typically do). One program decided to interview a few of the scramblers about 1 month later, and another program just decided not to fill the spot at all that year.
Also, many of the spots that were supposedly open (I heard it is "12" for this year) were actually from programs that inadvertently were signed up for the match (such as: they were not matching anyone that year, but they accidently (?) left their spots on).
Also, I am continually amazed by how many spots open up during the year. I haven't counted for 2009, but I know of at least 4.
Also, many of the spots that were supposedly open (I heard it is "12" for this year) were actually from programs that inadvertently were signed up for the match (such as: they were not matching anyone that year, but they accidently (?) left their spots on).
Also, I am continually amazed by how many spots open up during the year. I haven't counted for 2009, but I know of at least 4.
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From my personal experience in the scramble.
If your chairman told you that you shouldn't rank any intern or transitional years at the end of your rank list, b/c if you didn't match you would need to go to a top school prelim year in order to get into a program if the scramble didn't work out:
{I had four papers (one 1st author, two Rad Onc red journal articles none of them 1st author) and five radiology abstracts}. Don't Buy it!!! After no matching, I didn't have a prelim or transitional after interviewing at 10 programs b/c I took questionable advice. Two of my friends failed to match in derm for the 2nd time one did a prelim, another did a transitional both missed.
I didn't know any better and couldn't get the Stanford, Mayo Clinic, UPenn pre-lim IM programs to call me and when I got a prelim IM at a satellite hospital of my home program {where I didn't interview} I was told not to accept it by my Chairman. He had no idea what he was talking about! My Boards were in the 220's, not enough for the big names of the very few that had open spots {Duke and their short white coats}.
I met a guy at two of my interviews who was in a surgery prelim program at a small program in Florida--not at all useful in my mind for Rad Onc, but still he was considered a valid applicant, though I have no idea what happened to him. I often hear from residents and an occasional attending that many residents who did a transitional year had no idea how to manage a medical oncology emergency..I always thought this was nonsense. Many foreign medical students are equal if not more passionate/competent/harder workers than my former classmates. If you're a good candidate no one will care what intern year you went to.
If your chairman told you that you shouldn't rank any intern or transitional years at the end of your rank list, b/c if you didn't match you would need to go to a top school prelim year in order to get into a program if the scramble didn't work out:
{I had four papers (one 1st author, two Rad Onc red journal articles none of them 1st author) and five radiology abstracts}. Don't Buy it!!! After no matching, I didn't have a prelim or transitional after interviewing at 10 programs b/c I took questionable advice. Two of my friends failed to match in derm for the 2nd time one did a prelim, another did a transitional both missed.
I didn't know any better and couldn't get the Stanford, Mayo Clinic, UPenn pre-lim IM programs to call me and when I got a prelim IM at a satellite hospital of my home program {where I didn't interview} I was told not to accept it by my Chairman. He had no idea what he was talking about! My Boards were in the 220's, not enough for the big names of the very few that had open spots {Duke and their short white coats}.
I met a guy at two of my interviews who was in a surgery prelim program at a small program in Florida--not at all useful in my mind for Rad Onc, but still he was considered a valid applicant, though I have no idea what happened to him. I often hear from residents and an occasional attending that many residents who did a transitional year had no idea how to manage a medical oncology emergency..I always thought this was nonsense. Many foreign medical students are equal if not more passionate/competent/harder workers than my former classmates. If you're a good candidate no one will care what intern year you went to.
