@somemom
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Wow, I just realized, it’s time to talk fellowships, they apply for those an entire year before they finish residency, and need to put together a nice application, etc. It never ends!
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Funny you should say this because I was just thinking…how does the whole fellowship process work? Is there a match for that? Or is it handled like applying for grad school or a job?
(I remember about 4 years ago and being relieved that son had just begun med school and seeing this thread and thinking, whew, don’t have to think about THAT for awhile! Lol…time flies! )
Dd met with her college advisor today to discuss her senior year classes. She will be registering next week. It’s been three years but each semester I would ask her “are you sure?” (premed/engineering) I keep telling her you know it is a long road. Med school is just the beginning of this journey. When she was in high school I would have never imagined that she would have picked engineering and premed. I have always told her take it one semester at a time and somehow the last three years flew by so fast. I don’t know what the future holds but I have faith that whatever she decides to do she will be fine. Next year she has a senior design project that spans two semesters and her advisor recommended a new bioengineering class which partners with the local hospital on research that is being done.
Just trying to learn the application process with her and help her assess all her options. I’m just there for moral support and guidance but she is the one actually going through the process
When my DD was in junior year it became obvious that she could not study abroad and still go directly to med school, so she planned for a gap year. Now, ten years after she began that plan her advice to herself would be to take 2 years of gap & have a bit more fun before life gets so real
The advice we parents give to other parents about the application cycle—stock up on the adult beverage of your choice. The process is a long, frustrating and exhausting roller coaster ride.
As for residency--D2 is gearing up to apply for residency at the end of summer. I've looked over her CV. Her PS is mostly written and has a great story to tell. And she's scheduled to do a sub-I in her specialty in June so she'll have all her LORs ready.
D1 will start her R3 in June--two years down and 2 to go. D1 has decided to do a fellowship--probably in critical care or toxicology-- but she will be doing her fellowship after she emigrates as part the mandatory "practicing under supervision" she has to do to qualify for a medical license in her new country.
Fellowships are gradually being phased into the Match process. In some cases, at this point, some specialties will actually have some fellowships in the match and some not. Fellowships that aren’t in the match are much more akin to a job search - each program with their own application, you don’t know if they have filled with internal candidates, and you may not hear back in any way…
Going to ERAS and the Match for many programs is a positive thing - easier to manage applicants and places that are perhaps less geographically desirable end up with greater number of applicants because it’s now one application and several clicks as opposed to whole different paper application. It’s probably a positive thing for applicants as well as they are exposed to more programs, take more interviews and rank more programs - increasing the odds they find a program that’s the best fit for them
I have an appreciation for the parents that made it up to residency. I can’t even imagine the journey you experienced with your children. The whole process seems like walking on eggshells. The drink of choice is yet to be determined.
I agree with @somemom about taking a gap year. I want her to take a break from studies and finally go on vacation. Every summer she has been doing research internships fulltime and also working on Saturday’s at the hospital. I want her to have an identity outside being a medical student.
D2 took 2 planned gap years. She worked and saved up money so after she had acceptances in hand she could do “fun stuff”. She quit her job, packed up her stuff and shipped it home, then spent the next 4 months doing fun stuff-- visiting vineyards and coastal towns in Oregon, backpacking the Appalachian Trail, hiking the Inca Trail to Machu Picchu, traveling extensively throughout Central American/southern Mexico, attending a wedding in upstate Michigan of a friend she’d met while working at Yellowstone during college.
That’s one thing I am very proud of in both my kidlets. They were never “just” med students. They led interesting lives outside of class. Both were/are very active in outdoor sports (rock & ice climbing, participating in marathons/half marathons/triathlons, snowboarding/skiing, backpacking/hiking, white water rafting, canyoneering or just running in the bosque with their dogs several afternoons each week) and both were/are engaged extensively in volunteer activities because they wanted to, not needed to. They dated interesting individuals, none of whom they met thru med school–a firefighter/paramedic, an executive from the state’s film office, a computer engineer at LANL, an experiential ed teacher.
@WayOutWestMom I completely agree. She has fun and participates in things outside of class but I remind her that taking time out for herself should always be a priority.
I remember PMing you when my son was a frosh or soph in college! Thank you again for your advice and words of support!
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Going to ERAS and the Match for many programs is a positive thing - easier to manage applicants and places that are perhaps less geographically desirable end up with greater number of applicants because it's now one application and several clicks as opposed to whole different paper application. It's probably a positive thing for applicants as well as they are exposed to more programs, take more interviews and rank more programs - increasing the odds they find a program that's the best fit for them
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That’s one thing I am very proud of in both my kidlets. They were never “just” med students. They led interesting lives outside of class. Both were/are very active in outdoor sports (rock & ice climbing, participating in marathons/half marathons/triathlons, snowboarding/skiing, backpacking/hiking, white water rafting, canyoneering or just running in the bosque with their dogs several afternoons each week) and both were/are engaged extensively in volunteer activities because they wanted to, not needed to. They dated interesting individuals, none of whom they met thru med school–a firefighter/paramedic, an executive from the state’s film office, a computer engineer at LANL, an experiential ed teacher.
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I agree. My son’s outside life wasn’t as spectacular as above, but the did spend his four years in med school playing on two intramural teams (and was captain for both teams). He did go hiking, biking and boating as well. When he could, he went to some football games.
All work and no play just leads to burnout.
That said, I’ve never asked my son if he wished he’d done a gap year. He did spend the summer between undergrad and med school working as a bartender at a new nicer restaurant. He learned a lot that summer…he can make any drink! Lol
Interesting thing I learned today. One of the residency directors at my institution (specialty overall not competitive but our program is) said that they get about 60/40 AMG/FMG applicants. They make an effort to review almost every AMG’s application in full. The FMGs are largely automatically culled to a select few and only “exceptional FMGs” get a full AMG style read.
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And ERAS has a checkbox on its software for PDs to automatically filter out IMGs/FMGs when downloading residency applications.
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FMGs are largely automatically culled to a select few and only "exceptional FMGs" get a full AMG style read.
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just to make sure that I’m clear…the FMGs are Americans who went to med school abroad, right? AMGs are Americans who went to American Meds? right? And IMGs are Internationals who went to med schools abroad?
What are the few int’ls who went to med school in the US called? And is there a diffentiation between the Canadians and all others?
The Caribbean meds like to highlight their (rare) student who gets a big name residency, but I really wonder who those folks are…are they students who should have been in US med schools, but had some negative (like some bad grades pulling down an otherwise good GPA) and therefore they had what it takes to spank the Step exams and do very well at their foreign SOM?
I was recently kind of shocked to learn that a friend’s child CHOSE a Caribbean med over a DO school (she was accepted) because she wanted the MD. That just seems crazy. Luckily, she lives in an area that has a ton of residencies, and was able to match into a private hospital (now can live at home to pay down big debt!!)
I know that DO schools like having their DO designation, but really, why can’t they all just be MD so people won’t do stupid things like go abroad just to get the MD name?
FMG and IMG aren’t used consistently and often used interchangeably.
For me, IMG is any person (citizen or not) who has graduated from a medical school not in the US. I’ve seen US-IMG to designate US citizens who attended medical school abroad.
I have no idea what internationals who graduated from American med schools are called. I’ve seen Canadian grads of US med schools called Canadian AMGs.
The DO designation is part of their history and they're proud of it. At the time of its founding, osteopathy was rebellion against the quackery and unsanitary practices that were part of traditional (allopathic) medicine. You have to remember that the idea of science/evidence-based medical practice didn't develop until the early1920s (30+ years after osteopathy was founded) and the concept wasn't accepted widely at first by most medical practitioners and medical schools. Also historically, DO programs were more accepting of women and people of color than MD programs were--and they are proud of that too.
It does appear that a full merger of MD-DO is glimmering on the horizon--the residencies merger, using the same application processor, the end of grade replacement in DO admissions, and, I'm guessing, soon a single application for both MD and DO-- but I doubt the DO designation will ever completely disappear.
It probably depends on the program how citizenship is treated. This particular program director never mentioned citizenship or visa status, only what country the school was in.
I definitely remember my canadian classmate who also did undergrad in the US having to scratch off certain programs because of how they handled visas.
I am still not clear about the 2021 MD and DO residency program merge after read all the things on the net. In terms of the tests each candidate will take. There is no question that MD students should only take the USMLE and will be accessing DO residency positions in 2021. But how about DO students? Right now, DO students must take COMLEX and USMLE to be considered by both sides of the programs, what will happen in 2021 is what I am confused. Do they still have to take both tests? or COMLEX will be sufficient? I understand the prejudice part, but in reality is what makes me baffle.
DD is in DO class of 2019, so she is taking COMLEX and USMLE to increase her chances.
Here is some thing more concrete and I have not found previously:
Looks like that MD student will need to supplement their education to apply for DO positions as well.
"What does this mean for current medical students, MD and DO alike?
– The inevitability of a common match: Given all residency programs will fall under a single unification banner by 2020, a single match process is the next logical step. The current system, which forces DO students to choose between the AOA match in February and ACGME match in March, will be streamlined to allow medical students to apply to all US-based residencies at the same time. There is no exact date for the implementation of the common match, but discussions I’ve had with AOA leadership indicate a common match could be implemented in anywhere between two to five years.
– MD students will be able to apply to DO residency programs: With all residency programs under the ACGME banner, current osteopathic residency programs (which will become residencies with an osteopathic focus) will open their doors to applications from allopathic medical students. Discussions are still underway on how MD students can supplement their current medical education with osteopathic principles to prepare for these residencies.
– COMLEX and USMLE are to remain separate exams: In talks between the AOA and ACGME, maintenance of the COMLEX as a separate and independent licensing exam remained a non-negotiable item. While a growing number of allopathic-based residency programs are accepting COMLEX (77% according to a 2012 Program Director’s Survey), it’s still in the best interests of most osteopathic medical students to take both COMLEX Level 1 and USMLE Step 1 to keep their options open. "
I bet MD students won’t have to do anything extra. They say “discussions are underway” because they don’t want to acknowledge that this merger is really just the final step(s) in acknowledging that there is no longer a meaningful difference between MD and DO training. The really interesting question is will we reach a point where there is no longer a meaningful difference in the academic achievements of MD and DO matriculants.
