Emergency Medicine 2013-2014 Residency Cycle

[namethatsmell]

Any consensus on who the best person to try and contact is? I know it's partially program dependent but would you think it's better to email the PD or the program coordinator? My guess would be PD but I would suspect he/she gets.... oh, roughly 1000 of these emails a season, lol!

If it's a "I'll be in the area can you interview me?" I'd go coordinator.

If it's a "I love your program and would give my __(insert organ)_ for an interview at any point in the season" go with the PD and maybe cc the coordinator.

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[TooMuchResearch]

How many of you folks are planning on taking spouses/partners/SOs with to pre-interview social events?

 

[TooMuchResearch]

If it's a "I'll be in the area can you interview me?" I'd go coordinator.

If it's a "I love your program and would give my __(insert organ)_ for an interview at any point in the season" go with the PD and maybe cc the coordinator.

I don't know that you should ever bring up your "insert organ," whatever that is, with PDs.

 

[littlejuan]

My first interview is next week. Anybody stay after their interviews to check out the ED? Do you just basically shadow or do you actually work for a bit of the shift?

 

[BoardingDoc]

My first interview is next week. Anybody stay after their interviews to check out the ED? Do you just basically shadow or do you actually work for a bit of the shift?

I don't know of anywhere where you would shadow someone after an interview. Do people do that at your institution? I would honestly find that to be really weird. Also, there is no way in hell you'll be working there immediately after an interview seeing as you are not covered under their insurance.

 

[hotsoup]

I remember coming to this ridiculous website when I was applying to medical school and having all of these anonymous internet people tell me I'd never get into medical school with my 33 (I don't even remember) MCAT and 3.5 (I also don't recall) science GPA. I got into medical school (easily) and then got too busy to return to this website, thank goodness. Until now. When I suddenly have 4th year time on my hands.

So I just had to chime in on the question of interviews. If you refer to the most recent "Charting Outcomes in the Match," published by the people who actually have all the data, there were exactly TEN people who interviewed at more than 10 programs who did not match. The overwhelming, vast, vast majority of US seniors who rank fewer than 10 programs in Emergency Medicine will match. Basically everyone in EM with 10 interviews will match. There were only TEN random people who did not. My point: there is no need to spend the time, money, and effort to fly all over tarnation to interview at every which location. There is no need to hoard interviews. I am a middle to below average applicant, and I have my 10 interviews scheduled and that's it. It is going to work out for everyone!

 

[Siggy]

My first interview is next week. Anybody stay after their interviews to check out the ED? Do you just basically shadow or do you actually work for a bit of the shift?

I did it on my first interview and plan on doing it during my next interview as well. Basically it was like being a medical student sans procedures. Go in, do a H&P, present to resident who goes and confirms, then present to the attending. I think that it, like a lot of things, will benefit you more often than it will hurt, but will most often be a draw. However, considering that the place that I was interviewing at was a fairly rural program, I was presently surprised with the volume and acuity of the patients that I saw in the 6 hour shift.

 

[QuackaDO]

I remember coming to this ridiculous website when I was applying to medical school and having all of these anonymous internet people tell me I'd never get into medical school with my 33 (I don't even remember) MCAT and 3.5 (I also don't recall) science GPA. I got into medical school (easily) and then got too busy to return to this website, thank goodness. Until now. When I suddenly have 4th year time on my hands.

So I just had to chime in on the question of interviews. If you refer to the most recent "Charting Outcomes in the Match," published by the people who actually have all the data, there were exactly TEN people who interviewed at more than 10 programs who did not match. The overwhelming, vast, vast majority of US seniors who rank fewer than 10 programs in Emergency Medicine will match. Basically everyone in EM with 10 interviews will match. There were only TEN random people who did not. My point: there is no need to spend the time, money, and effort to fly all over tarnation to interview at every which location. There is no need to hoard interviews. I am a middle to below average applicant, and I have my 10 interviews scheduled and that's it. It is going to work out for everyone!

While I tend to agree with the overall sentiment you are expressing the only problem is that, unless I'm wrong, the last charting outcomes compilation was from something like 2011, right? EM has kinda blown up in the last couple of years and while that was true then it may have changed significantly now. Will it be like 500+ people... I doubt it. Also, from the match data last year, there were 1744 positions offered for 2430 applicants. Now I'm not exactly a math major but I don't think that 2430 - 1744= 10... I'm just sayin. With that said, I am on the same page with your sentiment but the comfort you got from your numbers might be a bit misguided.

 

[littlejuan]

I don't know of anywhere where you would shadow someone after an interview. Do people do that at your institution? I would honestly find that to be really weird. Also, there is no way in hell you'll be working there immediately after an interview seeing as you are not covered under their insurance.

Pretty much all of my interviews invite the candidates to spend some time in the ED after the interview day is over.

 

[swamprat]

Pretty much all of my interviews invite the candidates to spend some time in the ED after the interview day is over.

Yeah that kinda would suck/who has the time to work random shifts at diff hospitals on top of interviews. I guess if ur really not sure about a place or something idk?

 

[EMapplicant14]

Regarding the 2013 Match for EM, according to the numbers I have:

1,744 EM positions in the match
1,580 US grads ranked at least one EM program (but only 1,392 ranked EM programs only)
1,640 US grads matched (94% match rate)
90 US seniors who only ranked EM went unmatched (90/1,392 US seniors = 6.5%)



So clearly a significant number didn't match, that said it certainly wasn't abysmal.

 

[red10]

Yeah that kinda would suck/who has the time to work random shifts at diff hospitals on top of interviews. I guess if ur really not sure about a place or something idk?

One of the places I interviewed said if later in the season we were having a hard time deciding we could come back and spend some time in the ED to help us decide but we definitely didn't have to. So I'm not sure it'd really change your place on their list.

Admittedly it's a bit hard to tell what a program is like just from interview day. When I interviewed at my home program the ED was the quietest I've seen it in 3 years when usually it's mass choas. It's hard to see how a place runs day to day when you get a 5 minute walk through

 

[Phosphorus Ylide]

While I tend to agree with the overall sentiment you are expressing the only problem is that, unless I'm wrong, the last charting outcomes compilation was from something like 2011, right? EM has kinda blown up in the last couple of years and while that was true then it may have changed significantly now. Will it be like 500+ people... I doubt it. Also, from the match data last year, there were 1744 positions offered for 2430 applicants. Now I'm not exactly a math major but I don't think that 2430 - 1744= 10... I'm just sayin. With that said, I am on the same page with your sentiment but the comfort you got from your numbers might be a bit misguided.

Your 2430 people applied and 1744 positions available data includes all applicants. If you look at US senior numbers for 2013 Match, 1428 applied and 1650 matched (87%). Compare that to the Charting Outcomes 2011 data and it was ~90% match rate (137/1396) for US seniors, so although it is becoming more competitive, it's still pretty high. The 1o (actually 11) # quoted for people not matching in 2011 was for those who ranked >10 programs, ~0.8% out of 1396 total, and a significant # of people from the 2011 Charting Outcomes data did rank less than 10 programs,.

 

[Makati2008]

Your 2430 people applied and 1744 positions available data includes all applicants. If you look at US senior numbers for 2013 Match, 1428 applied and 1650 matched (87%). Compare that to the Charting Outcomes 2011 data and it was ~90% match rate (137/1396) for US seniors, so although it is becoming more competitive, it's still pretty high. The 1o (actually 11) # quoted for people not matching in 2011 was for those who ranked >10 programs, ~0.8% out of 1396 total, and a significant # of people from the 2011 Charting Outcomes data did rank less than 10 programs,.

Are DOs included in this state or only MD applicants?

 

[hotsoup]

The numbers haven't varied that much year to year. In 2011, there were 137 people (US seniors) who didn't match in EM. The vast, overwhelming majority of these people only had 1, 2, 3, or 4 interviews. Basically everyone who had 10 interviews matched. In 2013, there were 212 people who didn't match. The interview distribution of those 200 people has not been published but it is very likely the same distribution -- the numbers just aren't that different.

 

[MSmentor018]

I don't know of anywhere where you would shadow someone after an interview. Do people do that at your institution? I would honestly find that to be really weird. Also, there is no way in hell you'll be working there immediately after an interview seeing as you are not covered under their insurance.

yes it's very common. I did 22 interviews, about 8 of them someone would ask for scrubs and stayed for a bit. if you were really smart you'd have it set up already and bring scrubs. you've flown/drove a long way. mind as well put in a few hrs which could change the next 3 yrs of your life. when you come back at a later time, its called a 2nd look. I highly recommend it if you've never rotated at your #1 choice. it shows the program you have a given interest

insurance? i m not sure how that's relevant. if you're a student, then you shadow. if you're looking for attending employment, it's customary to spend the day checking the place out

 

[MSmentor018]

Right but that in no way restricts you to an area of the country.

My understanding is apart from academics, if you are board certified you can get a decent job in almost any location.

I'd guess people stay in the area of their residency because they have other ties to the area (i.e. family, a home, etc).

all correct and most will change jobs after 1 yr

 

[EsTxDr]

I think that it, like a lot of things, will benefit you more often than it will hurt, but will most often be a draw

I disagree with this.

Agree that it probably is a draw and wont change a thing. However, if it does anything its more likely to hurt than help. Think about the best case scenario ... you present well, impress the attending, and you look like every other 4th year interested in EM (to an attending that probably has nothing to do with the acceptance process). While the positive benefit is slight if any, the risk is real. An attending is much more common to communicate problems or concerns than comments that place you on the same level as all other qualified applicants.

That being said, thats in the vein of the shift affecting your acceptance. On the idea of helping you make a decision I would agree its got a lot more benefit, but realistically still pretty low yield. But to each his/her own. I'll take the time to go have a beer with the residents and fly home to see my family.

 

[JediZero]

I disagree with this.

Agree that it probably is a draw and wont change a thing. However, if it does anything its more likely to hurt than help. Think about the best case scenario ... you present well, impress the attending, and you look like every other 4th year interested in EM (to an attending that probably has nothing to do with the acceptance process). While the positive benefit is slight if any, the risk is real. An attending is much more common to communicate problems or concerns than comments that place you on the same level as all other qualified applicants.

That being said, thats in the vein of the shift affecting your acceptance. On the idea of helping you make a decision I would agree its got a lot more benefit, but realistically still pretty low yield. But to each his/her own. I'll take the time to go have a beer with the residents and fly home to see my family.

I don't necessarily view it as having an effect on my application- I do this at every interview where I'm not also rotating, just to get a feel for what the department is like, how the flow is, what the charting is like, how work gets divided between nurses/residents/attendings/techs/whoever. Very helpful, wound up being very surprised at a couple of places when I did this.

 

[le loup]

staying after interviews to do part of a shift seems weird. anyone else think so?

 

[secants]

it's weird but sounds more like a second look without having to make the second trip to me. I would just shadow but not actual go see pts on my own

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[EsTxDr]

I don't necessarily view it as having an effect on my application- I do this at every interview where I'm not also rotating, just to get a feel for what the department is like, how the flow is, what the charting is like, how work gets divided between nurses/residents/attendings/techs/whoever. Very helpful, wound up being very surprised at a couple of places when I did this.

Yeah I just dont know that I would/could gain any information useful in making a program ranking decision. I think anything gained from a few hours one day is extremely low yield in knowing "how the Ed runs" and you are working with one person out of many that are employed there (be it physician, resident, nurse, PA, PT, LVN, EMS, etc). For me I think its just not enough return on my time, but I certainly dont think its something thats going to hurt you. Everyone goes about this a different way. If it helps you make a decision by all means. I dont think its weird or out of the ordinary, just not beneficial to my own personal decision making.

 

[QuackaDO]

I disagree with this.

Agree that it probably is a draw and wont change a thing. However, if it does anything its more likely to hurt than help. Think about the best case scenario ... you present well, impress the attending, and you look like every other 4th year interested in EM (to an attending that probably has nothing to do with the acceptance process). While the positive benefit is slight if any, the risk is real. An attending is much more common to communicate problems or concerns than comments that place you on the same level as all other qualified applicants.

That being said, thats in the vein of the shift affecting your acceptance. On the idea of helping you make a decision I would agree its got a lot more benefit, but realistically still pretty low yield. But to each his/her own. I'll take the time to go have a beer with the residents and fly home to see my family.

I agree with this. In a few hours you are most likely (like 999/1000 times) going to do NOTHING to impress someone so much that they go out of their way to let someone know just how awesome you are and help your case. Just about all the applicants can form a decent presentation and good differentials (at least I hope they can). One or two instances of proving you aren't a complete fool won't impress much, BUT, you make one mistake, say one thing that you wish you can take back, blow an easy diagnosis, whatever and you can bet that the attending or resident you're with will make sure that they find a way to let it be known. You have MAYBE 4-6 hrs at most to be there so if ANYTHING goes wrong or not perfectly well then expect it to be reflected. On the flipside, if everything goes well the attending or resident will likely not hunt anyone down to advocate for you (hell, they just met you) and if asked they will probably say "Yeah, he/she did well, I was impressed" which is what the residency committee would expect anyways. I can't see the positive of actually WORKING a shift. Now shadowing afterwards and just silently observing the flow and maybe picking a few more brains while not getting involved... yeah, I can definitely see the benefit of that. Just for Gods sake don't work... you can only hurt your self with VERY little upside to it.

 

[namethatsmell]

Spending a few hours in the ED at a place you're really interested does have value.

It's true that you only get a brief snapshot, but what you're really trying to answer is: "is this a place I'd want to work?" Are the residents constantly fighting to get pts admitted? How much scut are residents really doing? How competent, normal, and friendly does the majority of the nursing/ancillary staff seem? You get the picture...

You may be paired up with one resident, but you can still constantly survey the department and glean a lot of information to help confirm (or go against) whatever gut feelings you may have with a place. Some info in this regard is better than no info.

 

[EsTxDr]

It's true that you only get a brief snapshot, but what you're really trying to answer is: "is this a place I'd want to work?" Are the residents constantly fighting to get pts admitted? How much scut are residents really doing? How competent, normal, and friendly does the majority of the nursing/ancillary staff seem? You get the picture...

You may be paired up with one resident, but you can still constantly survey the department and glean a lot of information to help confirm (or go against) whatever gut feelings you may have with a place. Some info in this regard is better than no info.

Obviously we are all going to have different opinions on this, but I would disagree that its possible to gain a quantifiable amount of real data to answer any of the questions you posted. In a few hours you aren't going to to answer any of the long term answers (see bolded text above) you guys are posting. It may make you feel better, give you some kind of placebo effect to those questions, but I would still maintain honest answers to those questions are simply unanswerable in a 4 hour shift. I would say in a weeks worth of shifts. I think your last sentence tells the tale here. You may in fact gain enough anecdotal evidence to confirm your preconceived notions, but true answers I just dont see it.

The other side to this is are these questions even important in your rank decision? Do not all residents do scut work? Are there not unhappy nurses at every institution? Do not all residents fight to get pts admitted at every hospital? Sure I'm oversimplifying it, obviously there are more/less at differing programs, but given the statistically insignificant data one could gain from a 4 hour shift, those questions dont seem to really be answered.

Again though, this is just my own personal opinion on it. I have a completely different personality and approach to this decision and obviously look at different things. I'm not criticizing anyone or putting you down, just voicing my opinions.

 

[namethatsmell]

Obviously we are all going to have different opinions on this, but I would disagree that its possible to gain a quantifiable amount of real data to answer any of the questions you posted. In a few hours you aren't going to to answer any of the long term answers (see bolded text above) you guys are posting. It may make you feel better, give you some kind of placebo effect to those questions, but I would still maintain honest answers to those questions are simply unanswerable in a 4 hour shift. I would say in a weeks worth of shifts. I think your last sentence tells the tale here. You may in fact gain enough anecdotal evidence to confirm your preconceived notions, but true answers I just dont see it.

The other side to this is are these questions even important in your rank decision? Do not all residents do scut work? Are there not unhappy nurses at every institution? Do not all residents fight to get pts admitted at every hospital? Sure I'm oversimplifying it, obviously there are more/less at differing programs, but given the statistically insignificant data one could gain from a 4 hour shift, those questions dont seem to really be answered.

Again though, this is just my own personal opinion on it. I have a completely different personality and approach to this decision and obviously look at different things. I'm not criticizing anyone or putting you down, just voicing my opinions.

If you want to hear about the car you're about to lease for 3-4 years from a group of other people who drive it that's fine but if you want to take a brief look under the hood you might learn an additional thing or two.

Picking a residency is not a science and you may never get all the "quantifiable data" you seek. Good luck.

 

[EsTxDr]

If you want to hear about the car you're about to lease for 3-4 years from a group of other people who drive it that's fine but if you want to take a brief look under the hood you might learn an additional thing or two.

Picking a residency is not a science and you may never get all the "quantifiable data" you seek. Good luck.

I would be hearing about the car from people who "peek under the hood" for a living everyday of their lives. An after interview shift is more like peeking at a picture of under the hood.

Picking a residency may not be a science but gathering limited data is the same regardless of what that data is about. My point isn't that its impossible to get "quantifiable data" but that the 4 hour shift after the interview isn't the way to do it. You spoke of what the residents are "constantly" doing which is not something you could address in 4 hours. You spoke of the "majority of the house staff" which is not something you would be exposed to in 4 hours. You are still basing your decision on hearing about the car from people. In which case I find the shift hasn't added much of anything to the decision process.

Again, I'm not saying you guys shouldn't be doing it, or that your wrong for doing it, etc. For me though I find that if the main questions I want to answer are still being answered by others at the end of the shift, I haven't gained much. Its a great way to establish a "feel" for yourself I guess, but as a former business person, I just take a different approach. If it makes you feel better to have spent more time in the ED you might be working at for 3 years, by all means do it. Lets just be honest about what you are gaining from doing so.

Everyone does this differently. There is no one right way. Good luck to you too man.

 

[EsTxDr]

Here's hoping this week sees some action!

 

[MSmentor018]

Spending a few hours in the ED at a place you're really interested does have value.

It's true that you only get a brief snapshot, but what you're really trying to answer is: "is this a place I'd want to work?" Are the residents constantly fighting to get pts admitted? How much scut are residents really doing? How competent, normal, and friendly does the majority of the nursing/ancillary staff seem? You get the picture...

You may be paired up with one resident, but you can still constantly survey the department and glean a lot of information to help confirm (or go against) whatever gut feelings you may have with a place. Some info in this regard is better than no info.

seeing is believing. everyone will at least say "yeah my residency's fine" but you may not really know why they are there. is it b/c no one else gave them a chance, couldn't match, first or second choice, family lives nearby...etc. you may get some hints that there's better places but no one in their right mind would trash their own residency entirely. I went to places for a 2nd look and thought "there's no f@#$king way i am going to suck up 3 yrs here if I don't have to" so they got ranked way further down or off my list. just remember no matter where you rank it, if you rank it, it's always possible

 

[JediZero]

Glad for the lively debate about shadowing, and I think there are good points on both sides. I think the problem boils down to, as my baseball nerd friends say, SSS- small sample size. Were you there when it was unusually busy/quiet/understaffed? Did you just get paired with the one resident who was sane/insane/friendly/awful/Pollyanna/negative/dorky/critical/awkward/hated by everyone in the department? You really can't know for sure. I will say that you will probably at least find out about the things that DON'T work in the department- even if you somehow come in on the one day where the radiology reading system is working fine, you better believe someone is going to take the opportunity to complain to you about how it never does.

Still, I have to say, I've found them all to be valuable. Culture is very important to me, and it's the best way to get a feel for that. Had one place where everyone was working to keep up the pace, very high-strung, no-nonsense, no time for questions, get **** DONE. Had another that was loose, friendly, residents and attendings joking around with nurses and techs, everyone knew each other's names. Again, could have just been a good or bad day, but unless you've got a reason to expect some extreme stress or happiness in the group, I feel comfortable saying that was somewhere close to a normal environment. I also learn a lot about the attending-resident relationships; I had one experience where I saw the attending basically kicking back and letting the Resident and Intern handle everything (and aside from coming to him with a couple questions, they did have it handled), while other places had more of a back-and-forth conversation. Just learning about the role you'll be expected to fill. Finally, it may seem a little silly, but I want to know how much of a pain in the ass the charting system is. I am very happy to see a smooth, fully integrated EMR, and I am irritated to see a system that everyone hates, or token EMRs that are there to meet government requirements while all the real work grinds along in paper charts.

 

[deleted547339]

I never stuck around for the potential shadowing. I didn't see any utility to it.

You're going to see a 2 hour clip. Say there are 30 residents in a program and another 20 attendings, you'll spend a short amount of time with 1 resident and 1 attending. It's totally possible you get stuck with the 1 d-bag in the program. Let's say there's one service in the hospital that sucks to deal with; what happens when you're there for 2 hours and you have to admit 2 patients to the awful service? What if you have amazing nurses, but when you're shadowing you end up seeing a couple patients with a brand new nurse?

I think the sample size from just a portion of one shift is way too short to give you a view into a program. You could get a very skewed view of the program. Beyond that, you certainly could damage your application. You don't want to rub the resident or attending the wrong way. You don't want to get pimped on something dumb and blank.

If you have legitimate, specific questions about a program, be it interactions with other services, ancillary staff, interaction between residents and attendings, resident morale, life outside of the hospital, etc., you ask the residents about it in private at the pre-interview dinner or you can ask during your interviews. The way I see it, if you get the vibe that you can't trust the persons answers concerning those issues, you don't want to be there anyway.

 

[LaCasta]

For one of my SLOEs I did NOT waive my right to see it and it has been uploaded to ERAS cause I wanted to check that one out. I assumed that I could then see the letter on ERAS, but it doesn't look like I can. Do I have to get the letter from the letter writer, or is there a way to see it on ERAS?

 

[swamprat]

For thank yous are you guys writing one to every person that interviews you? Also, if that's the case is it ok to just write the same one and cut paste it to each individual or would that be looked upon negatively. I've heard thank yous don't change where you r ranked anyway but I think it's prob a good gesture to do. I am writing individualized thank yous with info specific to the programs but I feel like it's sometimes impossible (and very time consuming) to always highlight aspects specific to the interview.

 

[kkinase]

For thank yous are you guys writing one to every person that interviews you? Also, if that's the case is it ok to just write the same one and cut paste it to each individual or would that be looked upon negatively. I've heard thank yous don't change where you r ranked anyway but I think it's prob a good gesture to do. I am writing individualized thank yous with info specific to the programs but I feel like it's sometimes impossible (and very time consuming) to always highlight aspects specific to the interview.

I've also heard no change in ranking numerous times already so I'm only going to send my top 3-5 special emails of thanks.

 

[gutonc]

For one of my SLOEs I did NOT waive my right to see it and it has been uploaded to ERAS cause I wanted to check that one out. I assumed that I could then see the letter on ERAS, but it doesn't look like I can. Do I have to get the letter from the letter writer, or is there a way to see it on ERAS?

Correct. You can't see it on ERAS, you have to get it from them.

 

[deleted547339]

For thank yous are you guys writing one to every person that interviews you? Also, if that's the case is it ok to just write the same one and cut paste it to each individual or would that be looked upon negatively. I've heard thank yous don't change where you r ranked anyway but I think it's prob a good gesture to do. I am writing individualized thank yous with info specific to the programs but I feel like it's sometimes impossible (and very time consuming) to always highlight aspects specific to the interview.

You should. It's the polite thing to do. I know it's old school, and it probably won't change anything, but it's a very nice gesture.

And, even if it doesn't mean you change your rank location, remember that EM is a small world. Maybe you end up wanting to do a fellowship or get a job with someone who interviewed you a few years back. They may remember you.

 

[TooMuchResearch]

You should. It's the polite thing to do. I know it's old school, and it probably won't change anything, but it's a very nice gesture.

And, even if it doesn't mean you change your rank location, remember that EM is a small world. Maybe you end up wanting to do a fellowship or get a job with someone who interviewed you a few years back. They may remember you.

I agree it is the polite thing to do, but I'm not sure anyone will remember down the line. A PD recently told me "I don't even remember if any of our current residents sent a thank you."

 

[Dr.CCM]

I agree it is the polite thing to do, but I'm not sure anyone will remember down the line. A PD recently told me "I don't even remember if any of our current residents sent a thank you."

You guys emailing thank yous or handwriting?

 

[Siggy]

Similarly, do you send the thank you immediately after the interview, or... say... closer to match list time?

 

[QuackaDO]

You guys emailing thank yous or handwriting?

I'm handwriting but I'm a bit more old fashioned than most when it comes to things like that... think it shows a little more to get a handwritten note than an email that can simply be copy/paste with name changes. I don't think it "matters" so much in terms of changing a rank or anything like that as much as it may solidify in someone's mind your interest level or that you were a genuine person if they had that impression when you were there. I know it does for me... if I leave an interview and get a feeling that the PD/APD or whoever is a stand up person and then I get a personalized email or possibly even letter (latter hasn't happened yet) then I really put a lot more stock into that than I do just someone who seems great in person and I never hear from again. Again, just me and maybe that's old fashioned but as someone said above... it's also the right thing to do.
As for timing... I was going to do mine right after the interviews but got tied up on the first several and just sent out a batch ranging from 1-2 weeks post interview. I don't think I'd wait til around ranking time but that's just me... seems phony and see through as to what your intent was. That's the time for the so called "love letter" I think...

 

[EsTxDr]

Dropped an interview the past couple days, hope it goes to one of you guys. (I'm still a little sick to my stomach after clicking decline)

Stupid question. Dont make fun of me.
So people who receive these "you made a great impression on us" or "selection committee has a great impression of you" emails. Are these emails everyone receives or does it actually hold some weight come decision time?

 

[BoardingDoc]

What I've heard from PDs is that it means that they liked you, but not to draw conclusions from that. E.g. just because they like you, doesn't mean that they don't like 40 other people more than you.

 

[turkeyjerky]

Dropped an interview the past couple days, hope it goes to one of you guys. (I'm still a little sick to my stomach after clicking decline)

Stupid question. Dont make fun of me.
So people who receive these "you made a great impression on us" or "selection committee has a great impression of you" emails. Are these emails everyone receives or does it actually hold some weight come decision time?

You should operate on the assumption that everyone gets them and it doesn't mean jack.

Regarding the thank you note questions above, I sent out an email to the PDs of each program I liked around the end of Jan reinstating my interest in the program and thanking them for the interview. At my program, we do keep qualitative track of people who've shown interest outside of the interview day itself, but it really doesn't have much of an effect on where people end up ranking (it certainly doesn't hurt though, whereas seeming uninterested at the interview or the socials can and does hurt).

 

[Belleza156]

For one of my SLOEs I did NOT waive my right to see it and it has been uploaded to ERAS cause I wanted to check that one out. I assumed that I could then see the letter on ERAS, but it doesn't look like I can. Do I have to get the letter from the letter writer, or is there a way to see it on ERAS?

Your school has access to the letter through the ERAS letter uploading program. If you didn't waive your right tell your school, they should print it out for you so you can see it.

 

[deleted547339]

Dropped an interview the past couple days, hope it goes to one of you guys. (I'm still a little sick to my stomach after clicking decline)

Stupid question. Dont make fun of me.
So people who receive these "you made a great impression on us" or "selection committee has a great impression of you" emails. Are these emails everyone receives or does it actually hold some weight come decision time?

It's entirely program specific. Some programs send them to everyone; others to only the people they like; others only send "love letters" to the very top. The only real way to know is to talk to other people with whom you are friends and interviewed at the same place. This is kinda awkward though....might end up finding out you got a letter and your buddy didn't.

 

[deleted547339]

You guys emailing thank yous or handwriting?

I sent hand written for the first half of my interviews til I got behind. For my second half, I sent about half and half.....the one's I didn't really like ended up getting emails; but also a couple I couldn't get good addresses for.

 

[littlejuan]

It's entirely program specific. Some programs send them to everyone; others to only the people they like; others only send "love letters" to the very top. The only real way to know is to talk to other people with whom you are friends and interviewed at the same place. This is kinda awkward though....might end up finding out you got a letter and your buddy didn't.

So do all programs send at least some sort if email to the candidates they like? Can I use it as some sort of barometer to guage if a program liked me, or at least did not like me (if I didn't receive an email)?

 

[red10]

So do all programs send at least some sort if email to the candidates they like? Can I use it as some sort of barometer to guage if a program liked me, or at least did not like me (if I didn't receive an email)?

I know of one that says zero contact after interviews (they'll answer Qs if you get in touch with them but they'll never send you anything unprompted)

 

[EMdoc10]

I can see matching into a "Big-name"/highly-academic program imp for IM since fellowships (esp. Cards, GI, etc.) can be fairly competitive and you need reputation + tons of publications to get through. Does it matter so much for EM? Would you rank a Big-name academic center not too "fitting" to your personality over a community EM prog w/o many fellowships where you mesh well w everyone?

 

[EsTxDr]

This place! lol

Its frustrating sometimes just to ask a simple question. So the consensus is ... nobody knows then? haha
Obviously I'm not asking should I opporate on the idea that they are ranking me number one and I should cancel all other interviews. Just curious if anyone had insight into if it had any value at all. Sounds like it does since not everyone gets them. lol thanks guys.