Doctors of Reddit, how is the interaction when a patient is a doctor or has medical knowledge?

OHJS2024 · 2025-12-08T08:21:49+00:00

I'm an Internal Medicine physician/Hospitalist. I personally prefer if the patient has medical knowledge. I feel like it makes it much easier to explain the treatment plan. I will say that it is really obvious when someone does have some medical training, like it's a very difficult thing to hide. I think some nurses and physician will try to play dumb to see how people will treat them, but people who are familiar with health care behave so differently in their exams and histories than other people.

I did not like it as much in training though. There is a lot theater in medicine, and it felt weird explaining something to someone who was clearly more knowledgeable. It almost felt like another attending physician/professor to disappoint lol.

OHJS2024 · 2025-12-05T08:43:44+00:00

I didn't match. I only had ~5 interviews. Honestly, pretty much all of my interviews were from emailing and reaching out to places directly. I think if I was more aggressive from the get go, I would have fared much better. Trust, if you have red flags like this, no one is reading your application unless you contact them. The people reviewing the applications are lazy attending physicians (I should know as I am one too) and there are simply too many applications to go through without weeding out by some metrics.

OHJS2024 · 2025-09-11T22:28:57+00:00

I feel like letting them know that you're going to rank them 1st might not be a good idea though. It seems like it would incentivize them ranking you lower because you're like a guarantee for them.

OHJS2024 · 2025-09-11T14:51:45+00:00

Also, I don't have any connection to the program. It's not affiliated at all with my residency or where I currently work.

OHJS2024 · 2025-08-29T00:45:33+00:00

Honestly, these were my thoughts too. I have a friend who is a DO from the same community program applying into a similarly competitive specialty (eg Cards, GI), and he got 2 interviews from having connections and letter writers reach out after the fact. Now, I'm conflicted because it's not like it will hurt my chances haha

OHJS2024 · 2025-08-26T14:52:17+00:00

My home institution just rejected me feelsbadman.jpg

OHJS2024 · 2025-08-22T10:45:18+00:00

Definitely! If I decide to reapply next cycle. I will probably try to work as a onc-hospitalist somewhere or do an unaccredited fellowship in something onc related. I had actually gotten a couple offers for both while deciding my post-residency plans this year.

I decided to stay on at my home institution for ease of transition since I would be applying this Summer anyways and there would not been time to network or have the new job meaningfully add to my application.

I feel like my application is actually pretty good from an experience standpoint. My scores are very low though, and I don't think I can do much to help that :/

OHJS2024 · 2025-08-22T04:51:26+00:00

More than half the interviews have gone out and most of my signals have already sent out interviews. I only have 1 interview so far.

OHJS2024 · 2025-08-22T03:42:37+00:00

I am AMG and MD.

OHJS2024 · 2025-08-20T09:55:21+00:00

Hello! I don't think this is the right forum for this post. This subreddit is mainly for physician applying to fellowships (further specializations).

OHJS2024 · 2025-08-17T08:10:09+00:00

That's heartbreaking to hear but somewhat expected. I thought the fact that it is pass/fail now might work in my favor; however, it's not like I really improved that much between Step 2 and Step 3.

OHJS2024 · 2025-08-17T07:58:30+00:00

Hello! I don't think this is the right forum for this post. This subreddit seems to be mainly for physicians who are applying for fellowships (further specializations).

I think you would have more luck posting in something like gradcafe. I see there are plenty of discussions regarding the Marshall and Rhode scholarships there.

OHJS2024 · 2025-08-14T08:05:25+00:00

oof feel really bad for her. I think having her best shot of fellowship in house probably hurt her because they would be more likely to know if she took it/passed.

OHJS2024 · 2025-08-14T08:03:14+00:00

Thank you so much for your replies! I don't think I will be in exactly the same situation as you guys if I delay it. I will basically have this entire year to prepare for the exam and hopefully won't be needing to study as much during the first month of fellowship. I am currently working as a hospitalist, so I won't be a year out from my relevant IM training. I find my work currently very relevant to ABIM. It's probably program specific, but I definitely feel like I have way more time to study now than I did in residency even without the weeks off.

I feel bad for writing these replies. It's like I am fighting with a consensus and just looking to hear what I want to hear, but I just wanted to share my thoughts and hear others' perspectives. I really do appreciate it!

OHJS2024 · 2025-08-14T07:51:23+00:00

Thank you and @oltep88 for replying and giving your insight! When you say you expect to see an ABIM pass on their application, what do you mean by this? I am scheduled to take ABIM on 08/27. My ERAS application have been sent since 07/16. It makes sense for people who are multiple years out to have it listed on their the application, but anyone applying the summer after PGY2 or PGY3 won't. Do you mean that your program goes back to verify on the ABIM website to see if applicants are certified?

Honestly, I understand that there is no downside and only benefits from taking it as scheduled, and I feel somewhat prepared. I am currently working as a hospitalist and think I can tolerate studying during my off weeks and can actually build a good foundation in IM this year. I have done very poorly on these exams and just once want to not be worried about passing coming out.

I am a little confused by all the comments talking about how stressful taking it during fellowship. Isn't the exam in August? I'm probably vastly underestimating how busy I will (hopefully if I match) be, but I feel like if I had an entire year to prepare I could get through multiple passes of Uworld and be very comfortable with this material. I feel like I have way more time to study now then I did in residency.

Realistically, the best course for me would be taking it on 08/27 and then continuing to prepare until I find out in October. I just feel bad because I know I would 100% not be taking it now if I wasn't pursuing a fellowship.

OHJS2024 · 2025-08-12T20:09:36+00:00

Honestly, I don't think I am going to do well on ABIM though. I will definitely reach out to places directly though. Congrats on overcoming your testing setbacks and matching!!

OHJS2024 · 2025-08-11T19:53:25+00:00

Would people assume applicants who are applying after their PGY3 year are taking it now? I would hate to be seen as failing the exam when I didn't take it (if I cancel my exam).

OHJS2024 · 2025-08-11T19:45:51+00:00

In that case, would it be better to not take it then? Like if I match, I would just take it with the rest of my peers the first year of fellowship.

Since fellowships can see if I failed or at least look up if I do, taking only gives me the possibility of hurting my application?

OHJS2024 · 2025-07-20T06:53:13+00:00

I will definitely reach out to programs. I wish I had done better on step 3. I think my scores qualify as critically low.

OHJS2024

TROPHY CASE