More time to get a SLOE or two this year

[gamerEMdoc]

If anyone hasn’t seen, ERAS won’t open for programs to view applications until Oct 21st. So students will have an extra month to get a SLOE or two, if they can this year. Also, this means that interviews won’t start until November at the earliest.

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[Oligodinero]

I was able to acquire 3 EM auditions this coming year.....one June, one July, and the last mid-November through mid-December. I had read previously that CORD had recommended programs consider only requiring one SLOE. Should I cancel my last audition/do you still think doing more than 1 or 2 auditions will be viewed negatively still?

As an osteopathic student, do you think I should also take Step 2 to be considered competitive? I take level 1 and step 1 this month. (in case you're wondering, I'm an OMS-II about to start my 3rd and last year.....in an accelerated PA-to-DO bridge program...2 years preclinical, 1 year clinical)

Lastly, if you don't mind my asking.......how do you feel the lack of in-person interviews will affect the match process? Do you think there will be a bigger than usual trend of programs preferentially ranking those students who auditioned with them since gauging a candidate's personality via zoom will be harder than if they spent a whole day in person?

 

[gamerEMdoc]

I was able to acquire 3 EM auditions this coming year.....one June, one July, and the last mid-November through mid-December. I had read previously that CORD had recommended programs consider only requiring one SLOE. Should I cancel my last audition/do you still think doing more than 1 or 2 auditions will be viewed negatively still?

I think doing too many rotations very well may be considered a negative. If I'm interpreting the recommendations I've seen correctly, it's being recommended to not have any aways unless your school doesn't have your specialty of interest. Which would mean people really shouldn't be having more than 1 rotation in EM (home rotation only, or one away if you don't have a home). That being said, I don't know if anyone will abide by this recommendation. And I don't know if the recommendation will still stand if this virus rapidly goes away (unlikely). There's still some unknowns. But I probably wouldn't schedule more than 2 rotations. If you don't want to cancel your third now since its not until Nov, that's probably fine. Afterall, you can always cancel it later.

As an osteopathic student, do you think I should also take Step 2 to be considered competitive? I take level 1 and step 1 this month. (in case you're wondering, I'm an OMS-II about to start my 3rd and last year.....in an accelerated PA-to-DO bridge program...2 years preclinical, 1 year clinical)

Depends on where you are looking to match. If you are fine matching at DO friendly programs, former AOA programs, etc, then you probably don't need to take step 2 ck. If you have your sites on other programs that are less DO friendly, you absolutely should take it.

Lastly, if you don't mind my asking.......how do you feel the lack of in-person interviews will affect the match process? Do you think there will be a bigger than usual trend of programs preferentially ranking those students who auditioned with them since gauging a candidate's personality via zoom will be harder than if they spent a whole day in person?

I think this year match lists will be very heavily influenced by in person rotations, because I think both students AND programs will be biased by not having in person interviews. Students will be more likely to rank a known program highly than a program they never visited, maybe never got to talk to the residents, see the facilities, etc. Programs weigh the interview, personality, and fit with the residents very heavily. That's going to be harder to assess by video. So I think they will consider they will have bias in favor of those that rotate as well. Does that mean that programs will rank their rotators above all others? No. Does that mean that students will always rank their two rotation sites as their top 2? No. There are no absolutes. But I definitely think that the rank lists on both sides will tilt in the direction of the known over the unknown, and you'll see rank lists tilt heavier in the direction of matching people that rotated there more than in the past.