unmatched in obgyn

This forum made possible through the generous support of SDN members, donors, and sponsors. Thank you.
T

tia_obgynFTW

New Member
7+ Year Member
Joined
Mar 18, 2015
Messages
6
Reaction score
2
Members don't see this ad.
Hi,
I am unmatched and wondering about the options to best improve my chances of placing next year. I really want to get into an OB residency and will be reapplying this fall.
I am an AMG
Female
Step 1 score= 235
Step 2 CK score=241
Clinical grades: some honors (honors in OB & sub I), mostly excellent
not AOA
Applied to 10 programs, ranked only 4
What was your biggest weakness on your application: unsure?

What are options to remain competitive for next?
Appreciate it very much!
 
Thanks for your response. I appreciate it.

Honestly, I had no idea how competitive it was and I was getting very positive signals from the program I am at. Maybe I was too vulnerable and fell for it. How many programs should I aim for this fall? And will I have only 40% chance of matching (based on stats I've read)?
 
I think you need to rehash how the match works. By only ranking 4 programs you told the match via your list that you would prefer going unmatched to those other 6 programs.

I am not sure the 40% 2nd round stat really holds much weight given the reason why you are in your situation.
 
Thanks for your responses.

I am trying for a spot in SOAP in family medicine but I have always wanted to do OB. I hope taking a year off won't put me at a great disadvantage.
 
Thanks for your responses above...

I honestly had no idea that I should have applied to more programs and gone to more interviews...it was my fault entirely as to why I am in this situation.
Unfortunately I did not match in SOAP either.
Are there other unmatched students who reapplied? How was the process and how did you get your documents onto ERAS? Was it difficult to get letters of rec again?
 
the nrmp releases data every year about how many consecutive ranks people had, how many people matched or didnt match at each number, and what the percent likelihood you have of matching at each number and they break it down for every specialty.
 
tia_obgynFTW said:
Hi,
I am unmatched and wondering about the options to best improve my chances of placing next year. I really want to get into an OB residency and will be reapplying this fall.
I am an AMG
Female
Step 1 score= 235
Step 2 CK score=241
Clinical grades: some honors (honors in OB & sub I), mostly excellent
not AOA
Applied to 10 programs, ranked only 4
What was your biggest weakness on your application: unsure?

What are options to remain competitive for next?
Appreciate it very much!
Click to expand...

Just apply to more programs. You should have ranked all 10 since you applied to so few. Make sure to rank all programs you interview at. I don't think you will have the chance to interview at more than five places during intern year thoug.
 
You really shot yourself in the foot this cycle OP. Do you not have a specialty advisor or does your school not provide any guidance at all about the match? I'm sensing some serious lack of knowledge here about the whole process or something else weird going on here if you aren't getting any offers in FM in SOAP either.

Your biggest weakness next cycle is that you won't be a US senior. Can you see if your school will let you delay graduation or something at this point?
 
Brigade4Radiant said:
Just apply to more programs. You should have ranked all 10 since you applied to so few. Make sure to rank all programs you interview at. I don't think you will have the chance to interview at more than five places during intern year thoug.
Click to expand...

thanks for your response. I appreciate it.

I did not match and will not be doing an intern year. Do you have any recs regarding what I should do during this time off to remain competitive for the next application cycle?
 
Have you talked with your med school - deans, faculty in OB-Gyn, your LOR writers, advising office? They would be the best bet to go over your application, discuss where you applied and why, and if there were reasons you didn't match beyond the statistically obvious reason of four ranks. They can also let you know if there are better options available "in house": delaying graduation for a year, getting another degree (MS, MBA, MPH), doing a research year...
 
tia_obgynFTW said:
Thanks for your responses above...

I honestly had no idea that I should have applied to more programs and gone to more interviews...it was my fault entirely as to why I am in this situation.
Unfortunately I did not match in SOAP either.
Are there other unmatched students who reapplied? How was the process and how did you get your documents onto ERAS? Was it difficult to get letters of rec again?
Click to expand...

SOAP is very stressful because the few amount of spots available last year there were 17 OBGYN SOAP spots and 123 US seniors did not match into OBGYN making it moderately competitive.

I'm sure your school can help you find a prelim spot outside of the match get whatever you can take. I would suggest doing a research spot or anything clinical related. Not doing anything clinical makes you a weaker candidate.

Apply to at least 40 programs (be smart aim for places in your geographical and places that you have a reasonable shot region do not waste money and apply to 80+ programs). When they ask you why you didn't match state that you ranked to few places because you thought you had an amazing chance at those places and that you were ignorant of match statistics.

SOAPing is difficult unless you are going into radiology. FM programs have a lot of people who want to SOAP who do a lot of electives in FM showing their dedications. Also there is such and overwhelming amount of applications during SOAP people get looked over all the time with stellar stats.
 
Last edited:
calvnandhobbs68 said:
Can you see if your school will let you delay graduation or something at this point?
Click to expand...

Best advice on this thread!!!! You should delay graduation, and do tons of away rotation, especially at the one programs you have great interest on!!!
 
tia_obgynFTW said:
Honestly, I had no idea how competitive it was and I was getting very positive signals from the program I am at. Maybe I was too vulnerable and fell for it. How many programs should I aim for this fall? And will I have only 40% chance of matching (based on stats I've read)?
Click to expand...

I can't help but still wonder, even if you got positive signals from one or more of the 4 you ranked, why did you still decide not rank the other 6? Just extremely curious.
 
tia_obgynFTW said:
Thanks for your response. I appreciate it.

Honestly, I had no idea how competitive it was and I was getting very positive signals from the program I am at. Maybe I was too vulnerable and fell for it. How many programs should I aim for this fall? And will I have only 40% chance of matching (based on stats I've read)?
Click to expand...

So your own home program didn't rank you high enough? You go to that school and honored their rotation?? Can't image there are a ton of students at your place who wanna go into OB. Just surprised they didn't rank a student who was A.) so interested in their program AND from their home institution. B.) good scores C.) Honored rotation.

don't you just love OB
 
Wait wait wait....Let get this straight for future applicants. The biggest mistake made was not applying to more programs right? We don't know how many interviews she received b/c she said she applied to 10 not interviewed at 10. I can't imagine not applying to at least 20 programs no matter how competitive I was and/or how uncompetitive the specialty was. Some advisor or mentor definitely should have at 😵 only 10 programs!
 
cbrons said:
So your own home program didn't rank you high enough? You go to that school and honored their rotation?? Can't image there are a ton of students at your place who wanna go into OB. Just surprised they didn't rank a student who was A.) so interested in their program AND from their home institution. B.) good scores C.) Honored rotation.

don't you just love OB
Click to expand...
Residents can be very catty my friends state that they have some good applicants but they rank them low if they don't fit in.
 
Brigade4Radiant said:
Residents can be very catty my friends state that they have some good applicants but they rank them low if they don't fit in.
Click to expand...

This is very true especially in surgical programs. I think a lot of match failures are due to "poor fit." Everything is SO subjective at the interview stage. Unfortunately, not a lot of people realize when/if they rub people the wrong way.
 
Did your school do no counseling on how the match works or did you ignore them?
 
tia_obgynFTW said:
How was the process and how did you get your documents onto ERAS? Was it difficult to get letters of rec again?
Click to expand...

I personally didn't have to do this but I know someone who did. LORs are kept in ERAS for 2 years (i.e. can be used for 2 consecutive cycles without having to re-upload them). This is definitely the case for FMGs, would assume it would be the same for AMGs. This is from the ECFMG ERAS 2015 faq section. You are only considered a repeat applicant if you apply in consecutive cycles.

"Repeat Applicants are not required to resubmit:

  • Medical Student Performance Evaluations (MSPEs)
  • medical school transcripts
  • photographs
  • letters of recommendation (LoRs) that were transmitted to the ERAS PostOffice during ERAS 2014"

You should definitely confirm this with ERAS when the 2016 cycle opens up.
 
xffan624 said:
Now, you do get an e-mail on Monday that confirms you matched. Some 4th years on my facebook posted theirs.
Click to expand...
Does it just inform you that you've matched or does it specify what type of program you've matched into? i.e. IM, gen surg, derm, etc
 
Mine just said you have matched and didn't say what specialty. I only applied to one specialty though so I knew.
 
Jabbed said:
Does it just inform you that you've matched or does it specify what type of program you've matched into? i.e. IM, gen surg, derm, etc
Click to expand...

I think for people applying to prelim and advanced programs they are informed of they matched both or just one type. Example neurology or anesthesia.

I think if you apply prelim and categorical it just says you matched or not. I'm not sure if it specifies categorical vs. prelim.
 
SouthernSurgeon said:
It specifies.

The NRMP website says what the possible email contents are. The email on Monday will tell you:

A) congrats you matched (I.e. Categorical or advanced+prelim)
B) congrats you matched to a one year position (I.e. Prelim only)
C) congrats you matched to an advanced position (I.e advanced but no prelim)
D) you didn't match
Click to expand...

That makes sense, especially if you need to soap for a prelim or advanced position (ie you only got one or the other).
 
Yeah the only way you don't know is if you applied to multiple categorical programs (ex. plastics and gen surg) or applied to different advanced specialties + prelim/TY or somehow applied to advanced + prelim/TY and categorical (I guess its possible but would be a real pain to do). Thats all assuming you only get the email that says you matched.
 
tia_obgynFTW said:
thanks for your response. I appreciate it.

I did not match and will not be doing an intern year. Do you have any recs regarding what I should do during this time off to remain competitive for the next application cycle?
Click to expand...
A few years ago a friend of mine did not match OB and she did not SOAP into a spot as she did not want to give up OB to pursue another specialty. She did a prelim surgery year, applied the next cycle more broadly, ranked every program at which she interviewed and matched. She is now beginning a fetal maternal medicine fellowship. There's hope.
 
Last edited:
cbrons said:
Sorry I understand this is tough but I also blame your school. Do they not doing any advising over there???
Click to expand...

Exactly. The very first thing my advisor told me at our first meeting about 4th year/applications was that the #1 factor in not matching is not ranking enough programs. It's also pretty obvious in Charting the Outcomes, which everyone should look at regardless of if you have good advising or not.
 
Brigade4Radiant said:
Residents can be very catty my friends state that they have some good applicants but they rank them low if they don't fit in.
Click to expand...

Let's get this straight. Residents don't rank anyone. Program directors do. At best, your chiefs and seniors may help interview. Your group of residents may sit and meet with the PD and discuss your perception of applicants during the meet and greets and interview days, but it's the PD and chair who make and submit the rank lists. At best, residents can shaft someone by saying they don't like you. Even then, PDs routinely ignore residents.

She failed to match simply because she ranked only 4 programs.

I think the magic number for a 90% match was 12 or 11 in my year. Who knows how it has changed.
 
caffeinemia said:
Let's get this straight. Residents don't rank anyone. Program directors do. At best, your chiefs and seniors may help interview. Your group of residents may sit and meet with the PD and discuss your perception of applicants during the meet and greets and interview days, but it's the PD and chair who make and submit the rank lists. At best, residents can shaft someone by saying they don't like you. Even then, PDs routinely ignore residents.

She failed to match simply because she ranked only 4 programs.

I think the magic number for a 90% match was 12 or 11 in my year. Who knows how it has changed.
Click to expand...

Resident's play a role. Also if the residents don't like someone it is not like the PD will ignore them and cause morale at their program to be low. Most PD have good relationships with their residents since they are PDs. Resident input is very important especially in small programs like obgyn, medicine is a different story.
 
cher25 said:
A few years ago a friend of mine did not match OB and she did not SOAP into a spot as she did not want to give up OB to pursue another specialty. She did a prelim surgery year, applied the next cycle more broadly, ranked every program at which she interviewed and matched. She is now beginning a fetal maternal medicine fellowship. There's hope.
Click to expand...

sounds like she is delusional. at some point you give up your dreams to put food on the table
 
caffeinemia said:
Let's get this straight. Residents don't rank anyone. Program directors do. At best, your chiefs and seniors may help interview. Your group of residents may sit and meet with the PD and discuss your perception of applicants during the meet and greets and interview days, but it's the PD and chair who make and submit the rank lists. At best, residents can shaft someone by saying they don't like you. Even then, PDs routinely ignore residents.

She failed to match simply because she ranked only 4 programs.

I think the magic number for a 90% match was 12 or 11 in my year. Who knows how it has changed.
Click to expand...
I really think it's a different world for specialties where the programs are small, particularly surgical subspecialties and OB/Gyn. In giant IM programs, you can afford to take a few socially awkward but brilliant residents because you won't have to interact with them on a daily basis. In programs with 5-10 residents, you'll have to see them a lot, and sometimes you'll be locked in the OR with them for 12 hours straight. What the residents say about you can be very important at those places.

That being said, I fundamentally agree with what you are saying--the main issue was ranking only 4 programs. The good news is that this is a much easier problem to fix than a low step score or some other fixed part of their application. Applying more broadly, interviewing at more places and ranking more places, with her step scores, should produce a match next year. As others have said, if she can push back graduation by a year and stay hooked in at her school, even better.
 
See if you can get into a non-categorical OB-GYN spot. Girl from my school did then matched to a great program this year. That or always check the CREOG clearinghouse this year. There might be some spots that open up sooner rather than later.

For some perspective on numbers, I was a male, moderate Steps, moderately high grades, top 5 med school. Applied to 20 programs, offers at 18, interviewed at 16, ranked them all, matched at #5. It's a tough field out there. In hindsight 16 was WAY too many interviews, but 10-12 seems more reasonable.

At our residency, we have veto and push power. Not absolute control, but we're not ignored either. For instance, our match this year had an applicant we weren't thrilled with, and another who we fought for who was previously overlooked and matched.
 
Get some clinical experience in the meantime. Try to work at a physician office, medical group, urgent care facility, etc. Do some volunteer service (I mean respectable ones).

The application re-opens sooner than you think. You will need to have a good explanation for the next cycle as to "what happened?"

Your grades aren't bad. They are actually very respectable in my opinion.

I would apply to broader like everyone said. Consider applying to ALL the OBGYN programs. Don't be penny wise, pound foolish. 1 year of time gone is time that you can NEVER get back. You can always make money. Then you can decide if you want to go for interviews or not.

Goodluck!
 
Hey OP, I was in your exact same position last year, but I matched into Ob/Gyn this year. After going through SOAP last year, I tried to delay graduation so I could keep getting clinical experience and new letters. However, that wasn't an option offered by my school, so I graduated on-time. I originally applied for Ob/Gyn and received over 35 interview offers (went on and ranked 16), so I felt like I had another shot at it. I also knew that too make this shot count, I would need to apply to a lot of places (I wound up applying to 130+ Ob programs). I also had an interest in family medicine, especially being able to practice some peds and ob within the specialty, so I applied to 35 family medicine programs as well. In the months before applications opened, I was able to get a research job with a local urology practice, as well as a job writing questions for a question bank. I also enrolled in a local MPH program; I won't finish before residency, but I plan on going back later. I also met with a program director at one of the places I interviewed in order to get a better idea of what happened. They said I looked great on paper, but the interview didn't go well. This was great feedback, and I worked with one of my school's counselors to improve my interview skills. During this cycle, I received 40 interviews, with a split proportional to the number of Ob and Family Med programs to which I applied. I attended 30 and ranked 29 (one program pulled out of the match). I wound up matching near the top of my list. I know it sucks now, but you can get through it. Feel free to PM me for more details.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

H
  • Question Question
UTSW vs Baylor OBGYN
Replies
1
Views
1K
Med Ed
Med Ed
T
MD Honoring OBGYN shelf :Uwise vs amboss
Replies
3
Views
5K
ChordaEpiphany
C
M
2023 Unmatched programs
Replies
3
Views
3K
NotAProgDirector
NotAProgDirector
Rachel Brooks
Unmatched MDs and DOs
Replies
1
Views
1K
WildWing
WildWing
Rapsidy
Thoughts about OBGYN using their own application platform?
Replies
4
Views
1K
Rapsidy
Rapsidy
Top