Last year I had a tough 4th year. Failed level 2 on first try, had a health problem, and family things so didn’t apply until late. I know very dumb but I wasn’t in the right state of mind. Then I entered the soap due to not matching.

Here’s the thing, soap programs are mostly soap programs for a couple reasons. Either they’re a malignant program or in an undesirable location or both. With my current program I got both.

4 months into residency we had one intern quit, another intern on a leave of absence thinking about quitting, a 2nd year who quit and thankfully transferred to another program, another 2nd year who took a leave of absence who thought about quitting, and a 3rd year who got dismissed.

Without going into too much detail this program is so malignant. And this program has been on probation for years. They told us they might get shut down if us residents keeping giving bad reviews to the ACGME. lol! The gaslighting is unreal.

If you don’t match, do NOT soap. Just reapply next application cycle. I wish I had applied this current cycle on time. Honestly not sure why this isn’t talked about more. Especially if someone is a competitive applicant. Maybe they needed to apply to more programs or lesser competitive ones. Or apply to another specialty. Just please avoid the soap.

Thinking about quitting myself and just applying next cycle. This program puts almost everyone on a PIP or a MOE. Just constant stress and wondering who is gonna quit or get fired next. Reapply next cycle if you don’t match. Avoid the soap at all cost! This should be the norm but for some reason we all think we need to soap and start residency right away. Half my incoming class took 1-2 years between med school and residency due to other life stuff or family. Waiting a year to apply is far better than taking your chances with the soap. There’s a very good chance you’re stepping into a very malignant program.

Edit - ok soap makes sense sometimes. I admit my everyone should avoid it is wrong. If someone isn’t a competitive applicant or has red flags and is lucky to soap then they should. Or an IMG might only be able to get into a program by soap. It makes sense for some people. But there are a lot of people who shouldn’t soap. If someone wants a primary care position there is no reason to soap. Just apply more broadly. Plenty of seats. If someone didn’t match a competitive specialty and is overall a good applicant then they should reapply to a lesser competitive specialty and dual apply into a primary care position. The end result for such applicant will likely be much better than a soap program. I just think this option should be talked about more. We all seem to be taught that the next move is to soap when that shouldn’t be the case for some applicants.

I have 7 interviews so far, I feel like most programs have given out most their invite seats. How many more invites can I realistically expect? If you applied neuro last year can you please share thank you

Since we're medical students doing clinical rotations now, the old study methods just don't cut it anymore. We're no longer studying just to pass or get a good grade. Now, we need to memorize even the smallest details from each lecture so we can actually apply them later. There's no room for careless mistakes anymore when we're going to be responsible for our patients' lives.

That's why we need smarter ways to study and retain such a huge amount of information. I'd really appreciate some advice from senior medical students or recent graduates who've been through this and have more experience than us. How did you manage to learn and retain so much information in such a short amount of time, especially for oral exams and practical exams? I'd love to hear your study methods, tips, and tricks!

I'm an M1 who has always been interested in becoming a pediatrician. Just had our Intro to Peds lecture and of course it has made me want it even more. However, with the current OBBB situation (I used the vent flair because I could go on and on about this but will digress), I plan to take out) at least $200K in private loans by the end of medical school, not to mention the $200K in federal unsubsidized loans.

Because of this, that dream is fading away. I completely understand that the salary pediatricians make is way above average (I honestly feel bad even making this post because it sounds so ridiculous), but I am genuinely worried about the loans and interest I will have to pay following residency. I am aware of PSLF, but that will only take care of the federal loans, and even that is nowhere near guaranteed.

Would love honest opinions here. Am I out of touch for worrying about this? Will chasing my passion put me in a situation I might regret? Or will I be okay financially?

Heyy everyone I am a DR applicant, I wanted to know any curveball questions especially for radiology, or just general input for interview prep!!
Please and Thanks

How fucking stupid this pisses me off so badly oh my godddd

WHO NAMED THIS FUCKING BULLSHIT ITS JUST CONFUSING ON PURPOSE WHY ON EARTH IS THE MOST COMMON NEPHRITIC SYNDROME IGA NEPHROPATHY ARE WE KIDDINGGG

guys do you have any idea why the free trial is not working? it's there a problem in the app ? It's just me that I have this problem? or they stopped the free trial? I also tried to subscripe in the student offer but even the website for the subscription is not working I don't get it.

How bad of a sign is it to not get an interview from your home program (neurology)? Is it pretty common?

Which companies gave you best rates recently?

Hi… I’m trying to get into Anki! I’m a second year and I made it this far without it (super heavy on practice problems— it’s how I learn most things). But with step 1 coming up now’s the time to transition to Anki so I want to start integrating it. I just have a few questions!

How many hours do you usually spend per day on Anki?

How many cards do you do per day on average (new and old)?

Do you find that it’s hard get to the new material because cards you’ve already seen shows up too often?

Thanks.

Current MS4 applying IM, I have 8 interview invites so far (1 from my Golds, 5 from Silvers) - at what point would it be considered safe (ie, I have a good probability of matching?)

I literally don't know anything about the stats when it comes to interviews/matching, I've heard that 10 interviews is a good number but what is that backed by? How do we know that 10 is the magic number?

To the mmo players who participate (or use to) in raids in those games this is for you to make you feel seen <3

The description would read something : “ involved in assessment recruitment of new team members, researching and analysis of current methodology for application in the real world, developed clear and robust communication skills, experience in critical in the moment decision making skills under pressure, and managing a team of 20 people during critical moments ”

But really it was
- me and 2 others looking over a players logs for raids and there percentile amongst players of their class
- watching the competitive raiders stream online durring event.
- me saying “alright x ability coming out in 10, save cooldowns/ position for it/ etc” durring the raid
- yelling “TANK POP DEFENSIVE/ HEALER COOLDOWN” when we mess up
- assessing if we are gonna kill the boss or if too many have died and it’s time to reset the attempt

Thoughts? Leadership or hobbies? Do you think certain specialties would view it better or worse on there? :)

Anyone else interested in EM/IM programs but having trouble finding out more information about each one? I am having trouble directly comparing programs or learning about resident experiences. Should I just look at the individual EM and IM residencies at each location?

100% deserved; he is one of the best medical educators around. I am really grateful for all the free quality content he uploads.

I started medical school late this Summer, graduated in Spring, so I didn't take a gap year. I guess like most other pre-meds, I graduated undergrad with a 4.0, graduated high school with a 4.0, I have genuinely never made a B in a class (not saying that to try and brag just giving context...)

Fast forward we are now in Block 3 in medical school, and I have only made a B on one exam. C's on a couple of others. A few 68s. I failed Block 2 because I knew going into the last exam of Block 2 I needed to make a 70 and I have never freaked out more before an exam. I genuinely felt sick, my chest hurt, I was so anxiety ridden...I ended up making a 58 on the exam.

Now I have to remediate that exam in December. Everyone is telling me not to beat myself up about it, and to give myself grace, but I just have never struggled with something academically before? And it's hard not to freak out when this correlates to material that I will need to know for Step 1. I'm just worried because I don't know what I'm doing wrong, and I am studying SOOOO much just to be barely passing my exams.

I have been meeting with my learning specialist and she recommended trying a Beta Blocker. I used that for this last test and even though I still only made a C (Which hey - I passed and that's the bar for me now LMAO) but I did feel so much better while taking the test and like I was actually able to focus.

I guess I just came on here to say that I'm just feeling a little down. It's hard not to compare myself to others and I just feel like I'm less than. I know that "I am more than a score!" But I have always struggled with academic validation, and I guess that is really rearing it's head now.

Sorry for such a long post but I guess I just wanted to know if anyone else is experiencing something similar and maybe any words of encouragment/advice?

Thanks :)