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I recommend that if you have not heard from medical school, residency or fellowship programs to which you've applied, that you contact the institutions to inquire about your status.

After offering that advice to a client recently, she emailed me this week to say she obtained an interview in a competitive specialty with a call. Another said she received two preliminary interviews with simple emails. (I recommend calls over emails, however, because it's hard to ignore someone on the other end of a phone line.
Still, if you simply can't bring yourself to call, an email can be effective.) In years' past I've seen this phone call strategy work for fellowship and medical school interviews as well.

Of course, if the school or program explicitly asks in written materials that you don't contact them about your status, then calling is not a good idea.

Understanding the Admissions Game

In the most recent Stanford Magazine, I encountered a piece called "What It Takes: How Does Stanford'sUndergraduate Admissions Staff Decide Who Gets Accepted? Short Answer: It'sComplicated." Although the article focuses on college admissions, it's instructive for medical school and residency applicants as well.

A take home point is uncovered when Stanford Dean of Admission Richard Shaw says he is seeking "intellectual vitality" and "passion." He remarks, "We want to hear a 'voice' - that's a critical component."

These comments directly support the point I drill into those I mentor: Make sure your candidacy is distinctive by showcasing your accomplishments. Make sure you can be distinguished from all of the competing applicants.

Take a look at the piece. It's worth the short read.

FREIDA Rocks

If you're applying for residency, make sure to check out FREIDA, which has a lot of improvements. As a reminder, FREIDA Online® is a database with over 9,400 graduate medical education programs accredited by the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education (ACGME), plus 100 combined specialty programs.

General information about programs - percentage of residents who are international medical graduates (IMGs), percentage who are doctors of osteopathy (DOs), and minimum Step scores (to name a few) - are all useful in deciding where to assign your application in September. But now that we're into November, you can search the system for other factors that might affect how you rank programs - work schedule, salary, whether a night float system exists, etc.

FREIDA is an amazing, free resource that you should not overlook.

Can't Get Enough of that Med School and Residency Interview Help

For more useful medical school and residency interview tips, check out my latest Varsity Tutors guest blog here.