When are interviews for EM?

[energy_girl]

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hey, I was wondering when interviews tend to be for EM programs. Do they all tend to be the same Friday/Mondays? Mainly in December, January, or February? Is it possible to schedule, say, all the NY and Boston for the same week, and then LA the next week?

Thanks!

 

[chuck deli]

Not all programs operate the same way. Some programs will offer only Monday and Friday options. Some will offer some weekend options. Some will offer random dates through November, December, and January with no apparent pattern to the dates offered. Some will have a set pattern for which they interview (every Tuesday). Some will start interviewing in early November, some will not start interviewing under December. Some will offer you dozens of options, other will offer you three options. Some will have a dinner the night before, some will not. Some will pay for a hotel room, others will not.

While it is possible to schedule all your interviews in one region, it can be challenging. The way it works is you will receive emails through the ERAS software, or occasionally emails directly from the programs inviting you for an interview. These emails usually contain the available dates to interview. These emails will trickle in during Sept through October (sometimes even into November if you were "waitlisted"). Therefore it is difficult because you may schedule one interview in NYC with "Program A" on November 18, and then get an interview invitation several weeks later from "Program B", also in NYC, but they only interview once a week, and that happens to be also on November 18th as well, or they don't start interviewing until December, or their November dates are already full because you did not reply to their email ASAP. Then you're faced with the difficult task of deciding do you a) call back Program A and ask to reschedule to accomidate Program B and your traveling plans or b) Make 2 trips to NYC or c) Not interview at Program B or d) as to be waitlisted for an interview spot at Program B in November, etc.

You need to be very flexible during interview season. That is why I recommend taking December or January off of clinical duties if possible. Realize also that interviewing is a tiring process. It's constant shaking hands, being asked "what questions do you have for me", listening to presentations about programs. Also many programs will have you interview with anywhere from 2-6 people. You need to always be "on your game", scheduling too many interviews close together may get to be too tiring.

 

[energy_girl]

Thanks, Chuck, this is really helpful.

How open are programs to accommodating travel schedules? I won't be living in the US in fall 08-winter 09 so it's pretty difficult (and expensive!) to schedule trips back. From your experience are programs fairly good about accommodating situations like that in terms of being able to schedule interviews even during off-times? I know it's not ideal.... but is this something I should even try to ask for or is it never done?

 

[SoCuteMD]

Thanks, Chuck, this is really helpful.

How open are programs to accommodating travel schedules? I won't be living in the US in fall 08-winter 09 so it's pretty difficult (and expensive!) to schedule trips back. From your experience are programs fairly good about accommodating situations like that in terms of being able to schedule interviews even during off-times? I know it's not ideal.... but is this something I should even try to ask for or is it never done?

I'm just applying this year, but my guess is that they will not be terribly willing to accommodate special requests like this. One of the program directors I've interacted with was telling us exactly how much WORK the interview process is.

If I were you I'd consider coming to the States for the months of December and January in order to interview. All of the international students I know who are applying seriously to US residencies are doing this.

 

[chuck deli]

Agree with above. Some programs may be willing to work with you, but there is a lot of planning involved on the program's behalf. For example, to "just add one more person" to an interview date means they need another interviewer. That means the PD needs to bring a resident or attending in during a day off. I did see at one program last year that their email said "we're willing to work completely with your schedule", but I remember that because it was such a rare statement.

Bottom line, interviewing is a difficult and frustrating season. There was a girl last year that went to U of Hawaii for medical school. She ended up taking December and January completely off and staying with a friend in Chicago for 2 straight months (because it was in the middle of the country), and renting a car to drive to all her interviews.

 

[erin682]

I just went through interviews last year and couldn't imagine trying to do it from overseas. That would be a nightmare. Its not like you get all the interview invites at the same time. You will have to schedule interviews without having all the information about where you will get interviews and when those programs will have interviews available. You have to respond fairly quickly to schedule interview invites or they will fill up and you will have even less options, if any, to schedule interviews. I took all of December off and had a light schedule in January and still had a difficult time organizing trips to the same region at the same time.

 

[energy_girl]

Thanks for the helpful comments, everyone.

I'm not an IMG, but have been doing a lot of work internationally and it's going to be very difficult for me to be in the US for a whole month. If I did have to take a month off, though, would you recommend that I be in the US for:

1) First three weeks of December
2) First three weeks of January
3) Last week of Jan/first two weeks of Feb?

Option 2 and 3 would work the best for me if it's feasible, but is waiting until Jan too late to being interviewing? I assume that programs are not going to be interviewing Dec 24th-Jan 1st; other than that, what's the most "high yield" time for being in the US? Specifically I'd like to hear from those who know interview dates for NYC and Boston programs--is it possible to schedule those during 3 weeks in any of the time blocks above?

Thanks a lot!

 

[cabruen]

Limiting yourself to only three weeks for interviews is going to be a big handicap. Unless you are absolutely confident in your profile as an applicant, I would highly recommend making yourself more available. You only get one shot at this in your life. If you are really truly only limited to oone option though, #2 would probably be best.

 

[nymbarra]

Thanks for the helpful comments, everyone.

I'm not an IMG, but have been doing a lot of work internationally and it's going to be very difficult for me to be in the US for a whole month. If I did have to take a month off, though, would you recommend that I be in the US for:

1) First three weeks of December
2) First three weeks of January
3) Last week of Jan/first two weeks of Feb?

Option 2 and 3 would work the best for me if it's feasible, but is waiting until Jan too late to being interviewing? I assume that programs are not going to be interviewing Dec 24th-Jan 1st; other than that, what's the most "high yield" time for being in the US? Specifically I'd like to hear from those who know interview dates for NYC and Boston programs--is it possible to schedule those during 3 weeks in any of the time blocks above?

Thanks a lot!

I agree with the above posters. A lot of programs like to interview one day a week, on their conference day. So even if there are open slots, your flexibility will be limited by the three weeks and the conference day.

Also, you don't want to shortchange your visit either. Hang out with some residents the night before. Spend a few hours in the main ED. Have time to reflect on your visit and interview day so that when all the programs start looking the same (and trust me, they will) you'll be able to remember what is unique about each program. You're going to spend 3-4 years of your life in residency so it's worth the extra time to do that.

With that said, I stayed with a friend in NYC and was able to do 7 or 8 interviews in the Northeast in January, mainly in NYC. I was able to schedule and reschedule interviews by calling coordinators (not the PDs), explaining my situation, asking about open dates, and scheduling. If you haven't received an official invite, you can still call and ask about interview days of the week so that you can schedule other interviews around those days. It was a lot less nerve-racking than emailing and waiting for a reply.

Good luck!