- Joined
- Jun 23, 2016
- Messages
- 3
- Reaction score
- 0
Hey all, I’m in a bit of a tough situation and would really appreciate some advice. My medical school has not been particularly helpful and we don’t have a home EM residency program. I’m a soon to be MS4 at a “low tier” (whatever that means) allopathic school in the Midwest. I’m a strong candidate on paper, 260+ Step 1, good MS3 grades, likely AOA, some abstracts/posters. Until recently, I was set to apply to a competitive surgical specialty but have been having strong doubts about it for the past few months. I kept trying to convince myself that my doubts were just last-minute jitters but I can’t ignore them anymore. After rotating in the ED, I realized that EM would be a much better fit for me. I love that I’d be able to use almost everything I learned in medical school and then some, I love the mix of quick thinking and procedures, better lifestyle and shift work, etc. I’m well aware of the drawbacks of EM and to me they aren’t nearly as much of an issue as the drawbacks of the surgical specialty.
So basically, I want to apply EM this cycle. I have 3 aways lined up in the surgical specialty but I’d cancel them if I could get EM aways for August/September and get SLOEs. The problem is it’s late and I’ve already called 20-25 programs and no away slots are available so far, which I unfortunately expected. Does anyone have any word on programs that have available slots for August/September? If I can’t get an away or two lined up, what should I do? IM is my backup specialty as of now for what it’s worth.
TL;DR: was originally going into surgical specialty, now want to do EM. Not having any luck getting aways for August/September this late in the game. No home EM program. Does anyone know any of any away openings for this time? If not, what should I do to get into EM? IM is my backup.
Thanks!
So basically, I want to apply EM this cycle. I have 3 aways lined up in the surgical specialty but I’d cancel them if I could get EM aways for August/September and get SLOEs. The problem is it’s late and I’ve already called 20-25 programs and no away slots are available so far, which I unfortunately expected. Does anyone have any word on programs that have available slots for August/September? If I can’t get an away or two lined up, what should I do? IM is my backup specialty as of now for what it’s worth.
TL;DR: was originally going into surgical specialty, now want to do EM. Not having any luck getting aways for August/September this late in the game. No home EM program. Does anyone know any of any away openings for this time? If not, what should I do to get into EM? IM is my backup.
Thanks!