#residency application

so i’ve been very m.i.a. after i said that i’d post more often to track my final year of medical school, but it’s been a busy month.

i finally wrapped up my audition rotation last week and i absolutely loved the program. at the moment, it’s probably my top pick esp since i haven’t been able to think of major cons to the program right now.

and after spending the last 4 days obsessing over my personal statement, my experience descriptions and my app in general for every possible mistake - i submitted my apps this morning (procrastinating until the last minute as always 😬)

i probs applied to more places that necessary but this is a weird year and i’d rather decline interviews than not get enough.

for anyone in the same boat, i wish you luck on interviews this application cycle! we’ve gone through so much as the class of 2021 and we’re finally almost there!!

FREAKING OUT

gonna be about $1500 more in debt too 

WHOOOOOO

As a Canadian medical grad, my heart goes out to all the final-year med students whose residency applications are due in November. I’m not sure when residency applications are due outside of Canada nor am I well-versed in the processes/requirements for these applications, but after editing quite a few personal letters for the Canadian residency match application I hope these tips come in handy for someone! (Disclaimer: I am just a resident. I am not on any selection committees, I have no idea what kinds of criteria are used to evaluate these letters, and I do not determine what happens in the residency match at my--or any other--institution. Also, I understand there are some differences between specialties for the expectation of the general tone of letters, and that as a pediatrics resident I have been told repeatedly that my letters had seemed “too light-hearted” or “touchy-feely” by career counsellors and peers).

Start early, if you can. You don’t need to know what the actual prompts/questions are for the most part. Just know what your programs of choice are, and be able to explain a) why you want that specialty, b) why you would be a good fit for that specialty, c) what you could offer to that specialty, and d) why you want to pursue that specialty at each school you are applying for. You can answer a-c without even opening the residency match system.

Know your word limits and aim to draft two main skeleton letters, one for the shortest word limit for all your programs and one for the next-to-longest (usually a ballpark of a 500-word and 1000-word letter works well). Then you can use these general skeletons to add or trim as needed to fulfill any word requirements in between.

When writing about patient encounters, my personal recommendation would be to flesh out ONE strong patient encounter that highlights many of your qualities and actions that would make you a good fit for the specialty/inspire you to pursue the specialty. This typically reads better than a bajillion different patient encounters that illustrate one point at a time. (Remember to adhere to anonymity and patient health information policies.) One complex, in-depth story is more compelling than several that are only "impactful" because you literally say "This was really impactful because ___.”

Try not to over- or under-explain things from your past experiences. Keep in mind that your audience is usually a group of physicians, though they may or may not practice in the specialty of the program to which you are applying. A general rule of thumb is that acronyms are usually not clear, so avoid using them if possible. There is no need to be overly specific about pathophysiology/diagnoses unless it is very important to the qualities you exhibited/stood out to you in the clinical encounter; if anything, it’s usually safer NOT to include specific diagnoses for patient privacy.

Make sure your first and last paragraphs are hella compelling, because the committee is reading a LOT of letters, and yours needs to stand out from the get-go. Don’t wait until halfway through the letter to really draw peoples’ attention.

A big pitfall I often see is in answering, “Why do you want this specialty?” These paragraphs often read very similarly to: “So kids are cool, and pediatrics is cool, so I want to do pediatrics.” Or, “I like looking at eyes because slit lamps are really neat, so I want to do that and be an ophthalmologist”. Note that you could pretty much replace all the bolded words with any patient population/organ/procedure/tool and specialty and it would read pretty much the same, with the same meh amount of impact. As a touchy-feely, artsy-fartsy person who had zero interest in applying for ophthalmology, I would still have written an opening paragraph more like:

Vision is a powerful modality for experiencing the world around us. When I first glimpsed the anterior chamber through a slit lamp I was infinitely grateful for my own vision, as this was an experience beyond my imagination. Ophthalmologists have the unique opportunities to change the way our patients can experience the world, and thereby directly impact how they can live their lives.

Anyway, my intention was not to stress anyone out or get really preachy. I hope that this might be helpful to anyone applying for residency this year and beyond, and maybe some of these suggestions could translate to other professions/applications, too. I wish you all the best in your journeys, wherever they may take you!

Happy writings,

Hey everyone!

Interview season is quickly approaching, and I know many of you are embarking on planes around the country to try to convince medical schools, law schools, residencies, and fellowships that you are the person for the job. I can’t tell you what they’ll ask you and I cant tell you how to answer, but I can give you my girls guide to packing for interview season: