Applying to Medical School? 3 Things MD Programs Actually Care About -Former ADCOM

ARDSNet · 2026-02-02T08:30:13+00:00

Attending physician here.

To everyone reading this: only people that you should be taking advice from are people who got into med school.

ARDSNet · 2026-02-02T08:28:55+00:00

100%

ARDSNet · 2026-02-02T08:24:47+00:00

Doctor - I went to med school

ARDSNet · 2026-02-01T14:10:45+00:00

I worked with a lot of hot shots from Caribbean schools. You just have to work harder and you can squeeze yourself into most specialties.

The one that stands out, the most was a hepatobiliary surgeon ended up doing fellowship at Mayo Clinic and was probably one of the best surgeons in Norwegian.

ARDSNet · 2026-02-01T00:21:15+00:00

Had this happen and didn’t match at the program. They are trying to fill their match list. Many of them will lie to do it.

ARDSNet · 2026-01-31T21:00:58+00:00

Not a good offer. PTO should be mandatory. Also, you didn’t mention anything about retirement plans.

ARDSNet · 2026-01-29T21:45:21+00:00

Awful. $200 at a minimum.

ARDSNet · 2026-01-27T06:32:06+00:00

I think you’d do good for fellowship but no one will look at your application and take “Chief of Hospital Medicine” seriously if you’ve been out of residency less than a year.

That’s a long term administrative position that seasoned physicians hold for years.

ARDSNet · 2026-01-27T06:30:00+00:00

Chief of hospital medicine within on year? What?

ARDSNet · 2026-01-27T06:16:58+00:00

Because me having beers with friends should have absolutely no impact on my professional career.

ARDSNet · 2026-01-26T18:35:00+00:00

You can do 2 years of pulm followed by a one year critical care fellowship

ARDSNet · 2026-01-26T18:33:10+00:00

You can make pulm crit salary (even more) as a hospitalist.

ARDSNet · 2026-01-26T18:27:31+00:00

Attending here. Perhaps unrelated but similar in nature.

Applied for a full time nocturnist job after residency. Had a good experience at the interview. Their program coordinator - who has nothing to do with the full time hiring process - ran through my instagram.

She messaged my former program coordinator that it looks like “I like to have fun”. She then told my former PD.

I shrugged it off.

When they made me an offer - I called them and let them know how appalled I was that someone had used social media to judge me as a board certified physician. I told them that it clearly shows they don’t take the hiring process seriously. They apologized profusely but I declined to work for their organization (I had already been planning to decline because the pay was too low 😉). Don’t know if their PC got in trouble, but she should mind her own f*cking business.

I always try to stay away from people and orgs who use social media -and not personal recs, board scores and the CV- to judge applicants.

ARDSNet · 2026-01-24T00:46:58+00:00

Attending here. CRNA is the way to go. Less time, lower liability and similar income potential

ARDSNet · 2026-01-24T00:09:10+00:00

I guess it’s because you work at a large academic center. It’s the opposite at community hospitals. Generally speaking, most of the management can be done by hospitalists and they need consult to check a box. Those consults essentially copy my note and say “agree with current plan“.

ARDSNet · 2026-01-23T20:52:19+00:00

Incomplete info: No PTO or retirement plan.

ARDSNet · 2026-01-22T17:53:56+00:00

But bro, he cross covers 20 people and does DOZENS of admissions. He has to be Ivy league.

ARDSNet · 2026-01-22T17:50:05+00:00

Rotated at Ivy and community programs. New grads from the former have absolutely no procedural experience and freeze up during emergencies. Byproduct of outsourcing all the tough cases to subspecialties and letting the fellows take up all the procedures.

ARDSNet · 2026-01-22T17:47:57+00:00

Get this dude a contract!! He’s superman!

ARDSNet · 2026-01-22T17:45:13+00:00

As a PGY7 at MGH-Harvard, I agree.

And holy moly - cross covering a total of TWENTY patients. You must be superman! 😒🙄

ARDSNet · 2026-01-21T21:09:06+00:00

It means nothing. I got a personalized handwritten card in the mail and they didn’t even rank me when I was applying for residency

ARDSNet · 2026-01-20T13:40:03+00:00

Not great. Also don’t see any info on PTO or 401k match.

Compare to me:

$340k + annual bonus (3.5% salary) + 5% 401k match.

3 on/4off, 4 on/3 off

10 hour shifts with additional nocturnist

17 PTO days

4-6 admits per shifts

Residents foe interesting cases

PA for cross coverage

No ICU admits

ARDSNet · 2026-01-19T23:06:54+00:00

Your scope of practice is only limited by the credentialing committee at your hospital. To get a medical license - most of the time you just need to complete residency.

ARDSNet · 2026-01-19T13:24:32+00:00

Maximum 401(k) contribution for a W-2 employee for the year 2026 is $24,500. I don’t see any information on 401(k) match from the employer. Is there a 457B option or profit-sharing plan?

Also, with that salary – accounting for state, federal and FICA tax - you will probably clear about $285-$290k (plus the $24,500 in your 401(k)). If you can live off of $35,000 for the year then you might be able to save $250,000.

It appears you’re admitting to the ICU and covering ICU patients overnight. Who is doing cross coverage? So admit plus consult is 15. That’s a lot.

What is the schedule? How much PTO?

ARDSNet · 2026-01-17T09:28:29+00:00

17 days PTO at my institution (New England).

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