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July 27, 2026
In this Season 5 premiere of Psychiatry Boot Camp, Dr. Mark Mullen welcomes Dr. Lia Thomas, Associate Program Director at UT Southwestern, co-lead psychiatry specialty advisor for medical students at UTSW, and co-chair of the Psychiatry Residency Application Advisor Group for ADMSEP, for a comprehensive, practical review of the psychiatry residency match process.
Speaking from both the program director's and specialty advisor's perspectives, Dr. Thomas addresses the questions medical students and their advisors most frequently encounter: how many programs to apply to, how to strategically deploy the 10 available program signals, what program directors actually weigh when screening applications, and what can silently sink a candidacy even after a strong application earns an interview.
The conversation proceeds systematically through each major component of the ERAS application, including clerkship grades, board scores, the personal statement, meaningful experiences, research, awa…