Unofficial WAMC Thread Psychiatry Residency 2019

[PsychMDPhD]

Most places, even if they do have a cutoff, won't advertise it because said cutoffs are fairly fluid and vary from year to year. Plus, I bet there are probably like 1000 ways to get around cutoffs anyway.

Ways to get around cutoffs... interesting.
I feel like if they just check the whole app I have good chances... but being an IMG ~5years out of med school plus lows scores is a dangerous combination no PhD/research can weight.

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[phonyreal98]

Ways to get around cutoffs... interesting.
I feel like if they just check the whole app I have good chances... but being an IMG ~5years out of med school plus lows scores is a dangerous combination no PhD/research can weight.

Talk to your mentors to see if they might be willing to go to bat for you or if they have recommendations about where to apply. If you have personal connections to programs- use them. Any contacts that you've made at conferences over the past few years? Also if you are interested in doing research, then sell your PhD- what I mean by this is that it's not just that you have a bunch of research, but that your next step is to leverage the unique skills you got during your PhD with the clinical training you'll receive in residency and that institution's unique strengths in order to build a clinically oriented program of psychiatry research (starting as a resident and continuing when you transition into a junior faculty member).

To be sure, yes it does seem that IMG+being 5 years out of school is probably a dangerous combination- even if you get around a "cutoff", a PD could look at your application anyway and be like "Nope" and there would be no way to know.

 

[PsychMDPhD]

Talk to your mentors to see if they might be willing to go to bat for you or if they have recommendations about where to apply. If you have personal connections to programs- use them. Any contacts that you've made at conferences over the past few years? Also if you are interested in doing research, then sell your PhD- what I mean by this is that it's not just that you have a bunch of research, but that your next step is to leverage the unique skills you got during your PhD with the clinical training you'll receive in residency and that institution's unique strengths in order to build a clinically oriented program of psychiatry research (starting as a resident and continuing when you transition into a junior faculty member).

To be sure, yes it does seem that IMG+being 5 years out of school is probably a dangerous combination- even if you get around a "cutoff", a PD could look at your application anyway and be like "Nope" and there would be no way to know.

Thanks so much for taking the time to reply.
YES! I am trying to knock every possible door. I am also trying to "sell" my PhD training as a valuable resource for their program. Indeed, my training in Neuroimaging/computational neuroscience would be a wild card (positively speaking) to any program, specially those with a research track. Hopefully they can appreciate that. Additionally, I think my CV and career speaks of my deep interest in psychiatry and perhaps that is something to advertise; psychiatry for me is not just a "back up" plan as it has typically been for low scores applicants.
Thanks again! I hope I can share a positive outcome from this experience. Hopefully I am just overthinking. :$

 

[BearsBeetsBattlestar]

Anyone got invitations already?

 

[kewlboy88]

Most places, even if they do have a cutoff, won't advertise it because said cutoffs are fairly fluid and vary from year to year. Plus, I bet there are probably like 1000 ways to get around cutoffs anyway.

But arent cutoffs there for a reason so that they can just focus on the apps that meet the cutoffs?

I agree that cutoffs can vary year to year. Given the increase competitiveness in psychiatry I would not be surprised if the cutoffs increased this year. Aka higher step 1 cutoffs, honors in psychiatry clerkship.

 

[OldPsychDoc]

Thanks so much for taking the time to reply.
YES! I am trying to knock every possible door. I am also trying to "sell" my PhD training as a valuable resource for their program. Indeed, my training in Neuroimaging/computational neuroscience would be a wild card (positively speaking) to any program, specially those with a research track. Hopefully they can appreciate that. Additionally, I think my CV and career speaks of my deep interest in psychiatry and perhaps that is something to advertise; psychiatry for me is not just a "back up" plan as it has typically been for low scores applicants.
Thanks again! I hope I can share a positive outcome from this experience. Hopefully I am just overthinking. :$

As I said in the PM--target specific programs with research tracks and get someone at your current institution to help you reach out to those programs.
With bona fide research credentials, you will be able to overcome the "IMG-five-years-out" stigma.

 

[uhmocksuhsillen]

Hello all,

I hope this is the correct place to post this. I did search around and it seems this is the best thread for this type of thing.
I am a third year DO student.
Comlex: 51*
step 1: 20*
some ECs in school leadership (including psych club leadership role), volunteering but no research.
No red flags. Psychology undergraduate degree (not sure if this matters at all). Lifelong, sustained personal interest in psychology and psychiatry (not really sure how to communicate this)

I have some friends applying to psychiatry currently and they are not getting what seems to be a sufficient number of iis. Because of this, I am getting stressed out about my own relatively low-tier stats. My primary question is, what would be the most important things I can do from this point forward to maximize my impressions on PDs and increase my chances at matching? Also (because I have been struggling with this internally and could use a dose of external reality), do I even have hope to match psychiatry? It seems so competitive now from what I have read on SDN and have heard from my peers.

So far my shelf grades have been above average and I have received a LOR from my psychiatry rotation as well as connections through my psychiatry rotation for 2-3 sub-internships. My current goals are to continue to study hard and get good shelf grades, take step 2 and level 2 and improve my scores, and to obtain another LOR during a psychiatry rotation. I have asked advisors for advice but my sense is that their advice is outdated and just slightly inapplicable, considering the merger and the increasing level of competition in psych.

So do I have a shot? What should I focus most on improving for the rest of this year? Thanks.

Apply broadly and you'll have a great shot. On the psych reddit excel sheet theres plenty of DOs with lower boards with loads of interviews. I have solid boards, but am also a DO, and have close to 20 interviews at this point. I attribute my good fortune to a well written personal statement, very good letters all talking about my desire for psychiatry, great 3rd year evals, and a solid early sub-I where another great eval and LOR came from (highly recommend this).

Don't sweat it, just keep working hard and you'll be good to go.

 

[raisinbrain]

hello everyone, I'm currently an M3. thank you very much for any insight.

Step 1: 257
Step 2 CK/ CS: haven't taken yet
School: unranked US MD, southeast
Class Rank: top 10% (M1-2, unknown for M3)
Clerkship Grades: so far 95%+ (school doesn't do honors, don't know ranking info)
Research/ Publications: 1 unpublished neuro, 1 poster presentation in the same... weak point
Extracurriculars: smattering of various, including psych-related (though not necessarily labeled "psych.") some mild leadership positions. overall nothing too impressive.
Quality of LORs if known: unknown, probably average?
Red flags: brief interest in derm after seeing step score (lol), made connections --> technically VP of derm interest group; being pressured to finish a derm case report currently (bad idea?). don't intend to apply to derm, however (no longer interested). have always been interested in psych, but worried there's not necessarily a robust paper trail of that.
Where you would like to end up: no location preference. planning to apply very broadly, would be thankful for help knowing where I stand. not particularly interested in research. have many anxieties about my chances.

thanks again!

Don't worry about that period with interest in derm. Darn near every med student goes through phases of indecision about residency/career options, as they should!

Biggest thing here out is starting to establish your "paper trail" of interest in psychiatry, as you call it. Be able to show your interest, not just in conversation, but on paper. That could be as basic as taking an extra elective/AI before september, getting related LORs that are personable and who can specifically state your interest in and aptitude for psychiatry.

 

[Thelonious Chunk]

Edit - moved to new 2020 thread

 

[kopftonmd]

@Thelonious Chunk you should make the new thread for this cycle!

 

[Thelonious Chunk]

@Thelonious Chunk you should make the new thread for this cycle!

Great idea