What's The Consensus On This?

[clement]

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Where in the timeline of sending out invites are prelims? Do IM programs invite people for categorical interviews before prelim positions? I wouldn't imagine prelim positions are a priorty for most places...
I applied to 31+ prelims, lots of smaller "no-names" within that figure, and it just seems like either it's still early or I've been massively rejected... and these places are more competitive than one thinks.

 

[IMChief]

Each program views prelim candidates slightly different; overall, though, they actually are important. No program wants to recruit a prelim who will cause problems, not get along with house staff or administration, be a poor physician or have other problems. The point is simple: prelim applicants are just as important as categorical for the program to select. With this said, most programs will use a "rolling" interview process. Programs must interview a select number of both categoricals and prelims in order to fill their spots. As competitive prelim applications come in, they are usually looked at and judged (just like a categorical). There are some programs, though, that do issue interviews differently between categoricals and prelims, so do not be disheartened, yet!