Do residency program coordinators talk to each other?

[pinthetailonthemedstudent]

Hi there,
Quick question because I am freaking out a little...
I called the registrar at a school whose VSAS application I'm waiting to hear back from. I ended up getting transferred to someone else in the Ob/Gyn department and they said they didn't have any spots until January even though my application was for August. I told her I couldn't do January, we exchanged sorrys and good lucks, and as she was about to hang up I mentioned "Next time, could you please email me a rejection letter a little earlier? I was waiting to apply to some other locations because I hadn't yet heard back from you guys yet."
Well whoever was on the other line did not appreciate that one bit. She started saying that I was criticizing her program and that the system was new and she was getting quite agitated. She ended up hanging up on me. I just asked for a quicker rejection, I have been waiting on one for almost 2 months. Within 5 minutes of the call, I received my rejection.
I got scared though because I wondered if she would talk to other people at different schools about an ungrateful medical student she came across...
I ended up writing apologies to 3 different people including the actual residency coordinator because I could not find this lady's email anywhere on the Ob/Gyn department page. Apparently she was the Ob/Gyn department "contact" according to the registrar.
So my question is...do people at different residency programs talk to each other about this kind of stuff? I've heard horror stories about med students getting blacklisted in areas because they were rude to a coordinator. I don't think I was rude in asking, and either way I apologized profusely since she was so upset!
Please ease my worries...

---

Members don't see this ad.

 

[Animalcules]

Sounds like a horrible program.

 

[Moose A Moose]

Sounds like a horrible program.

They do, but no one is going to give a damn about that story. She sounds like some overworked secretary.

 

[evilbooyaa]

Lesson learned - never not apply somewhere else because you're waiting to hear back from a place.

If you have an offer available to you, that's when you make the phone call you made. If you get a rejection then your backup plan is already in place.

There is no downside of applying somewhere, getting an offer, then turning down that offer, at any point in life.

This applies to VSAS, residency, looking for attending jobs, etc.



As a final thought, Of course the program is Ob-Gyn. Something about those departments just breeds responses like the one you got. Even if it is a secretary or program coordinator and not a doctor.

 

[DBV]

Get used to it and grow thicker skin. You're applying to the cattiest most *itchy specialty.

 

[pinthetailonthemedstudent]

I am really enjoying the humor on SDN. First it was Goro’s comment wrt Brown University as inbred as an Alabama trailer park and now this.

Keep up the funnies! They are cheaper than the copay I get charged for my therapist and psych meds!



Were you having a TIA when you said that? What was your thinking about one upping the program by lecturing them about “next time”? You burned a bridge. Never ever ever burn bridges.

We as Medical Students, Residents, Fellows and junior Faculty “Lecturers / Asst Professors” all have to decrease and let the other increase just to let them feel better about themselves. If we want to get ahead in this industry, we have to play the game, and it is all a game. Once you own your business practice, clinic or medical organization, you can call the shots. Until then, even the Deans of our medical schools have to suck up to the regulators, the Feds and every other snot below.

No one is in charge but we have to let our superiors think they are. Focus on getting ahead instead. Play the game....and dont burn bridges. You will need them to cross that turbulent river.

Ugh, you're right. Idk what came over me. I had been making calls all day because the scheduling person at my school said to call and ask about places I hadn't heard back from yet. I was just angry because every school I called had said no on the phone but never let me know otherwise. I actually was waiting on 5 different places. I guess it was just the straw that broke my back because this place was the last one I called. Lesson learned, I need to act at the level I'm at and that level is rock bottom.

Do you guys think I should forget about applying there for residency this year?

 

[evilbooyaa]

Ugh, you're right. Idk what came over me. I had been making calls all day because the scheduling person at my school said to call and ask about places I hadn't heard back from yet. I was just angry because every school I called had said no on the phone but never let me know otherwise. I actually was waiting on 5 different places. I guess it was just the straw that broke my back because this place was the last one I called. Lesson learned, I need to act at the level I'm at and that level is rock bottom.

Do you guys think I should forget about applying there for residency this year?

You should still apply there for residency. Frequently, the person who handles medical student stuff has no knowledge or say in residency application decisions and vice-versa. I doubt the person you spoke to even remembers your name right now, and definitely won't in over a year when it's time for residency applications and interviews.

 

[pinthetailonthemedstudent]

You should still apply there for residency. Frequently, the person who handles medical student stuff has no knowledge or say in residency application decisions and vice-versa. I doubt the person you spoke to even remembers your name right now, and definitely won't in over a year when it's time for residency applications and interviews.

Okay thanks! I'm actually applying this fall. Hopefully that doesn't make too much of a difference.