"Settling" for a residency.

[Hard24Get]

So, as the time draws near to apply for residency, I remember an upperclassman who didn't match in a certain field 3 times in a row. He said he was going to keep trying until he matched, however. At the time, I thought he was insane, but now I'm wondering - if one doesn't match in their chosen specialty, at which point do they just let their dreams die? It just seems crazy to settle after all those years of investment, yet horrible to keep trying.

Anyone have success stories of repeated attempts to match in a certain specialty?

Anyone settle and regret/not regret it?

Please discuss.

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[funkless]

If, after three years of trying, you're still locked out of any give field, then you're getting some SERIOUSLY worthless career guidance.

It's like getting into medical school--you apply and take your chances. If you get in, great. If not, you use the year ahead to make yourself more attractive to the gatekeepers: do research, work in the field (for med school, volunteer in a hospital; for an integrated plastics residency, rock out on a surgical internship). Meanwhile, you network your ass off and pray for rain.

If after three years, you haven't been able to refine your resume enough to impress the gods of dermatology/plastics/family medicine (sorry--couldn't resist), then you just haven't tried hard enough in the off-season (which undoubtedly works against you, turning every new application cycle into another smudge on your profile).

 

[marsupial]

VictorKoMD, one of the users, tried 3 times for ophtho and got it I think.