rmorelan Posted November 26, 2012 Report Share Posted November 26, 2012 Ok so let's say you're applying to a super competitive residency and you don't match. What happens next? What do you do for the next year? well there are two rounds to carms - if you don't match you get to scramble with the others that didn't match and the introduced IMGs. If you don't match in the second round you will still get a list of the spots left in the country and you can try to manually call them to try and work something out. You can also of course wait around for a year and try again in the first round. That can work but the odds of getting matched the second time around often are terrible as well. Some specialties it doesn't work at all. Basically - match in the first round Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rmorelan Posted November 26, 2012 Report Share Posted November 26, 2012 Urology does this. Everybody I know (med students, urology residents, staff) all think it's a great idea. While it may be hard for large specialties to do this, smaller programs could easily do it (ENT, genetics, PMR etc.). Only trouble is you don't get to meet all the residents and see the site of places you didn't do electives. I guess for urology that doesn't matter though - usually you are very happy just to get anything at all in that field Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rmorelan Posted November 26, 2012 Report Share Posted November 26, 2012 I didn't find CaRMS that stressful - then again, I'm applying for family medicine. I don't expect to spend major $ on it, either, as only one of the programs I applied to would require me to fly out. But it's shocking to see how outrageous some other people's costs are. Programs really need to get it together and start offering centralized interviews so people don't drop 10 grand on the process. Yeah you bleed money like crazy if you want something requiring interviews all over the place. I am sure it is going to hurt the pocketbook a lot Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NLengr Posted November 26, 2012 Report Share Posted November 26, 2012 Only trouble is you don't get to meet all the residents and see the site of places you didn't do electives. I guess for urology that doesn't matter though - usually you are very happy just to get anything at all in that field Honestly though, you are probably gonna have done an elective at the sites you are really interested in. If you don't match to those, like you said, you will probably be happy matching anywhere. You don't get a really good impression of a city or program based on a 24-48 hour exposure for an interview. Especially when all the staff and residents know to be on their best behavior anyway. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rmorelan Posted November 26, 2012 Report Share Posted November 26, 2012 Honestly though, you are probably gonna have done an elective at the sites you are really interested in. If you don't match to those, like you said, you will probably be happy matching anywhere. You don't get a really good impression of a city or program based on a 24-48 hour exposure for an interview. Especially when all the staff and residents know to be on their best behavior anyway. Yeah I am not strongly pro on site interviews. I figure we end up going there just because it is more convenient for them. On other draw back from the programs point of view I suppose - if they are all in one site there is not way you are going to be able to interview them as long as you could on site. Plus there is fewer people potentially contributing to the review. Side note - I bet in part urology does it just so all the urology people can do a get together at the same time Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tooty Posted November 26, 2012 Author Report Share Posted November 26, 2012 Side note - I bet in part urology does it just so all the urology people can do a get together at the same time haha to bordeaux's question, i hear about that devastating scenario for ophtho gunners more than any other specialty. i heard about a popular 1 year research program for those unmatched kids, who do pretty well in the match the year after. in general, what i'd do would depend on why i think i went unmatched. if i got no interviews, i'd look for ways to improve my application. if i got plenty but still didn't match, i might think about another specialty. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rmorelan Posted November 26, 2012 Report Share Posted November 26, 2012 haha to bordeaux's question, i hear about that devastating scenario for ophtho gunners more than any other specialty. i heard about a popular 1 year research program for those unmatched kids, who do pretty well in the match the year after. in general, what i'd do would depend on why i think i went unmatched. if i got no interviews, i'd look for ways to improve my application. if i got plenty but still didn't match, i might think about another specialty. absolutely - you are treated like a research slave for that year - I hear it is all kinds of brutal, but if you can get through it your odds are good for the following year. Of course it isn't easy even getting into that research spot either Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cardiomegaly Posted November 26, 2012 Report Share Posted November 26, 2012 in general, what i'd do would depend on why i think i went unmatched. if i got no interviews, i'd look for ways to improve my application. if i got plenty but still didn't match, i might think about another specialty. I don't know what's worse. No interviews = you're competitive on paper and your references didn't cut it. Tons of interviews + unmatched = personality issue? Not as likeable in person? Plain old SOL? Horrible bubble year? And in hindsight, the reality of CaRMs hasn't hit me quite yet but I am confident it will be more stressful than application to medical school. At least if you didn't get in, you could try again. No scarlet letter like having gone unmatched. Or if you were lucky to get multiple admissions, you had a choice. Even if you only got one acceptance you still have the freedom to turn it down. CaRMs is a BINDING contract. No changes, no take backs (at least for a year, and then lord help you if you try to switch). Move your life for 5 years!! I'm not a non-trad, so I feel like I stand to lose a lot more now by being somewhere else than I did right after being fresh out of undergrad. Relationships, family, friends... a lot more is on the line. Imagine if you had kids!!! On a side note, I'm glad I'm not in the urology match this year... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NLengr Posted November 26, 2012 Report Share Posted November 26, 2012 I don't know what's worse. No interviews = you're competitive on paper and your references didn't cut it. Tons of interviews + unmatched = personality issue? Not as likeable in person? Plain old SOL? Horrible bubble year? And in hindsight, the reality of CaRMs hasn't hit me quite yet but I am confident it will be more stressful than application to medical school. At least if you didn't get in, you could try again. No scarlet letter like having gone unmatched. Or if you were lucky to get multiple admissions, you had a choice. Even if you only got one acceptance you still have the freedom to turn it down. CaRMs is a BINDING contract. No changes, no take backs (at least for a year, and then lord help you if you try to switch). Move your life for 5 years!! I'm not a non-trad, so I feel like I stand to lose a lot more now by being somewhere else than I did right after being fresh out of undergrad. Relationships, family, friends... a lot more is on the line. Imagine if you had kids!!! On a side note, I'm glad I'm not in the urology match this year... Every time I see the urology guys rounding at my center, they seem to have 3-5 elective students with them. And this is at our smaller hospital site where they only have 3 uro residents anyway. Looks like a brutal match could be in store for uro this year. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jerkstore Posted November 26, 2012 Report Share Posted November 26, 2012 I thought there was a borderline surplus of residencies in the states, why don't you guys who are really gunning on a particular specialty go there? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rmorelan Posted November 27, 2012 Report Share Posted November 27, 2012 Hey guys, Quick question. I go to Mac, and never applied to carms last year with my year, I instead took an Enrichment research year which is an official part of the mac program for people who are interested in research. the program started in february, and now i’m afraid schools will think I went unmatched and am applying a second time when i never submitted an application last year. any thoughts on this? standardized program - wouldn't that officially make you graduate one year later anyway? That sort of thing I wouldn't be as worried about - first off makes your references say exactly what you did in the LOR so it is obvious. You can also put it in your letter etc. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
A-Stark Posted November 27, 2012 Report Share Posted November 27, 2012 I don't think taking an extra year is really *that* unusual. When it's not for academic reasons (i.e. failures), it shouldn't have much of any effect. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rmorelan Posted November 27, 2012 Report Share Posted November 27, 2012 I don't think taking an extra year is really *that* unusual. When it's not for academic reasons (i.e. failures), it shouldn't have much of any effect. and if it was a failure it would be on the transcript. In a pass fail system fails are one of the first things they look for - one of those red flags. Not good. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
leviathan Posted November 27, 2012 Report Share Posted November 27, 2012 I have to say that the US match site (ERAS) was much more user-friendly and logical than CaRMS. I had to call the CaRMS help desk several times to figure things out, and even they couldn't give me a consistent answer on some things. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Archived
This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.