VIRMP Rotating Internship Question

[medicineme]

Hello,

I am applying for an academic small animal rotating medicine/surgery internship, as I hope to pursue a residency in the future. I am very interested in going to the University of Georgia (UGA) for this purpose, and until today have felt confident that I have a fighting chance. However one of my classmates told me today that he received an email from UGA four days ago expressing interest in his application and offering contact information if he has any questions. I contacted a friend of mine who was an intern at UGA in the past, and she confirmed that she, too, received an email back when she was applying through the match. I did not receive any such email.

I am now very worried and stressed that I will not be going to UGA in June for an internship, and I have been wanting to go for over a year now. Is there anyone who can tell me, with some degree of confidence, if not receiving that email means I have no chance? Or is it possible I could still be a top candidate there, even though they have not reached out to me?

On a separate note, does anyone know how well someplace like University of Florida will prepare interns for residency interviews?

Thanks,
a disappointed and very stressed 4th year

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[VetMedSurvivalGuide]

I did not receive any interview invitations when I was applying. I went unmatched the first time I applied for residencies and matched the second time around. I did have phone and in person interviews/visits, but never received an invitation per se. I did not match to a program where these happened. So no, an interview is not required to get a position.

Having said the above, certain programs will only (or mostly) consider candidates that they offer interviews to. It is also worth noting that programs (just like applicants), have to balance how many applicants they rank to reduce the chances of ending up with open positions.

However, based on what you said above, one can infer that if you didn't get a contact from UGA, you might not be one of their top candidates. Regardless, you should still rank programs accordingly to your preference, as that will not decrease your overall chances of matching. If you're not sure what I mean by this, check some other threads on this forum regarding internship/residencies and also my blog.

As for UF, do you mean how well they prepare for residencies overall? You can check that information on the program descriptions - it tells you how many interns finished the internship and how many matched for residencies. Overall, UF has a solid program -the current interns can tell you all the details about it if you contact them.

Hope this helps. It's completely normal to be nervous, the Match is a very stressful time. That's one of the reasons the blog was created: to make it easier for candidates by knowing as much as possible about the whole process.

 

[elephantDVM]

I kinda wish we could make a list of schools that have contacted students prior to match day.
So far I hear through the grapevine that Wisconsin, Ohio, and Georgia apparently do. Colorado I hear contacted references at my school but not the students directly. I know Florida and Illinois contact students because they contacted me. But I don't know anything about the other programs and I don't know what any of it means. *shrugs*