DO student who decided to just do the ACGME match for EM. Only have 2 interviews plus the 2 I had from away rotations. Applied 42 places have 3 rejections. I am starting to worry that I won't match. I have no interest in IM but don't want to be without a spot should I not match EM. Any thought as to when and how many backup prelim medicine and/or prelim surgery spots to apply to? Or do you just wait and if you don't match do SOAP...
When to start applying to backup prelim spots
- Thread starter looktme
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Doing SOAP might be risky as EM usually fills up every year, so no spots usually end up available for SOAP. Are you a competitive applicant. WHat were your scores like? Did you take the USMLE Step 1 or 2?
252 step 1. step 2 should be back next wk. In 1st quartile, but a DO. I applied to 42. At this point I only have 4 interviews, plus the 2 I received while on away rotations. Trying to stay positive, but thinking I may need to apply to prelim spots as backup.
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I'd definitely throw some in at this point. If you're worried, it'll help ease the anxiety and it never hurts to try. It'll also give you another 2 months or so (before you submit a rank list), to see if you get any more interviews and come up with a some solid backup plans if 4 interviews is what you're left with.
Start by talking with your dean/assistant admin person, etc, whoever it is that helps students with residency applications. Tell them to help you come up with a plan.
Another good place to start, is by looking at your own institution. If it has prelim surgery or prelim IM programs or has ties to one, definitely reach out to them and ask them for a chance to interview. Most are willing to help or favor their own med students.
Bottom line is, that with 4 interviews, you're in a precarious spot. There's just too many outside/uncontrollable factors and EM has gotten so competitive that its impossible to feel safe even if you had 8-10 interviews. The SOAP/Scramble thing is unpredictable and unreliable. You won't know what's left over and where they're located until that day, you won't know what kinda program you're going into (ie. malignant) and whether they'd actually help you get in to a program the following year. And there were only 5-6 EM spots left after Match last year, so its next to impossible to get one of those unless you have an "in" at that unfilled program.
So focus on the things you can control. Like having a backup plan in place. Seriously considering what you'd if you didn't match. By planning ahead of time, you'll leave yourself more options (prelim vs research vs switching all together).
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There are going to be unmatched spots this year, and a lot of the upper tier programs are going to go way further down their lists than they intended to because essentially all the top programs are interviewing the same people as a result of changes in the SLOR/SLOE. I would be prepared but not give up hope. I would also start calling places and letting them know your interest, I imagine a bunch of interviews will open up as people start getting fatigued and start cancelling stuff, and you need to be there to snag those.
Would you mind expanding on this? Specifically what changes there are in the SLOE that would make a difference here
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Always have a back up plan. If you haven't already ranked DO EM programs, do that. It's game on. We're already interviewing applicants. If you only have 4 interviews, that's not enough to count on.
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Geez, a DO with a 252 is worrying about not matching EM? Is it really that competitive? Thought the field was relatively DO-friendly.
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It's not that competitive that a 252 isn't good enough to match into an ACGME program. Something else has gone wrong here. What were the OP's grades on his EM rotations? Did he rotate at ACGME programs, and if so, were they realistic places that would provide favorable SLOEs?
You are not your USMLE scores. You're also not your effin' khakis.
Unfortunately, I don't have any real advice here, since I'm also just a student trying to match. But on a maybe more positive note, how did you feel your rotations went, looktme? If they went well and you felt like they wanted you, I wouldn't downplay the interviews you received with those sites. It might not be nearly as much of a safety net if you only rotated at the biggest names in EM, but I have to believe a lot of places would be happy to take someone who they saw doing a good job for a month despite maybe having some weakness in their application over a guy they only met for a few hours while he was on his best behavior.
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They've basically been pushing rotations to provide a truly honest assessment of candidates, and there seems to be variations in who are doing it, leading to a whole bunch of people with mediocre uninflated assessments that are being hurt by them, not getting so many interviews, and further amplifying the "same people taking all the interviews" problem
Thanks for the response. I didnt realize SLOEs were that new. Also seems like the exact sort of issues they were designed to mitigate.
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That isn't a bad thing. If you really excel in the ED you WILL receive excellent comments. I have a fairly mediocre application, but I honored all my aways and my SLOEs are reportedly amazing. I ended up with my "magic number" in interviews
Why rule out DO programs, at this point I'd apply DO too, you can always withdraw or not rank but better to have that option, esp with upcoming merger. Good luck
QUOTE="looktme, post: 15822603, member: 341550"]DO student who decided to just do the ACGME match for EM. Only have 2 interviews plus the 2 I had from away rotations. Applied 42 places have 3 rejections. I am starting to worry that I won't match. I have no interest in IM but don't want to be without a spot should I not match EM. Any thought as to when and how many backup prelim medicine and/or prelim surgery spots to apply to? Or do you just wait and if you don't match do SOAP...[/QUOTE]
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QUOTE="looktme, post: 15822603, member: 341550"]DO student who decided to just do the ACGME match for EM. Only have 2 interviews plus the 2 I had from away rotations. Applied 42 places have 3 rejections. I am starting to worry that I won't match. I have no interest in IM but don't want to be without a spot should I not match EM. Any thought as to when and how many backup prelim medicine and/or prelim surgery spots to apply to? Or do you just wait and if you don't match do SOAP...[/QUOTE]
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Is it possible that het wanted step 2 before iterviewingn? That is contrary to what I heard but a 252 with 4 interviews is worryinging. Did you apply early?
