Mid-Year Tips (Virtual Edition)

As excited as I was for ASHP Midyear, I was so nervous about the months ahead & how my pursuit of residency would turn out. For the most part, the previous four years were planned out & not knowing what the next year would bring was not easy to deal with.

I know many of you are probably going through the same thing. I’ve attended one in-person midyear and one virtual midyear. Here are some tips for virtual midyear!

Here we Go!
💼 Be aware that times for Midyear are in EST
💼Use Firefox or GoogleChrome on a laptop/computer
💼Warm-up -first go to a booth you may not apply to but have genuine questions for, use it to work out any tech kinks and get the nervous jitters out
💼Have a schedule with each program & what times they will be showcasing in the order you want to visit them. Make it systematic

📝Have program-specific questions ready for the residents and RPD
📝Be VERY aware of your facial expressions and body language – keep your game face on!
📝Don’t look distracted – tape your papers/post its at eye level if need be
📝Turn off your notifications – email, phone, news, etc

📝Have program-specific questions ready for the residents and RPD
📝Be VERY aware of your facial expressions and body language – keep your game face on!
📝Don’t look distracted – tape your papers/post-its at eye level if need be
📝Turn off your notifications – email, phone, news, etc. My best method was to put my phone on do not disturb and/or airplane mode

💼Dress business professional – suit jacket, slacks, dress shoes etc.
💼Know which program you’re talking to – don’t ask about pediatrics if they don’t have it. Please, sis.
💼When you leave a programs booth, breathe, drink some water, & write down everything you remember about the answers they gave
💼Test out your lighting & virtual setup ASAP. Make sure there is nothing distracting that can draw attention away from you

📝If technology goes haywire, just laugh it off, make a joke & keep pushing – this is new for all of us
📝If you’re in a booth/zoom room with other candidates, don’t dominate the entire conversation
📝Don’t linger in a room if you’re done speaking with a program
📝If you went to an info session for a program outside of midyear, & you’re still interested, visit them again
📝Although this showcase is for you to find out about programs – do not underestimate that programs can also be evaluating you

💼 I sent thank you emails the Monday following midyear – I know there are two schools of thought on this. Do what you feel is best.
🙏🏾 Breathe – this is for you to get your questions answered & meet programs so that you can narrow down your list

I wish you all the best in your search! For more Residency content, check out the rest of my residency blog posts on here and on Instagram. I have created guides and have an Instagram highlight called ‘Rx Resi Help.’