I'm a 4th yr from US med school, step 1: 235/step 2: 252 & not AOA. I've only received a handful of interviews (5) and i'm starting to worry about matching. I don't think I'd be good at any other field in medicine. If i dont match, what is the best way to improve my chances for next year? Prelim surgery year or a year of ortho research? Thanks for the advice.
So this has been discussed before, and last year here's what Dr. L said:
General Surgery Internship:
Pros - 1) Does not break up your training; 2) Can be advantageous if you're in a hospital which has an orthopaedic surgery residency and someone drops out; 3) Demonstrate your clinical acumen and proficiency to your mentors in general surgery who can then support you as a "known entity" in the clinical arena
Cons: 1) If you didn't match because of your "paper" application (low boards, few honors, not AOA, etc...) then doing a general surgery internship does not really "enhance" your application; 2) Related to #1 - you will not have an opportunity to do meaningful research and therefore cannot really change your application; 3) Does not guarantee matching the 2nd time around
Dedicated Research Year:
Pros: 1) Allows you to have appropriate time to perform meaningful research; 2) Allows you to enhance your application with presentations, posters, and publications; 3) For programs where your "paper" application failed to make the cut it may boost you.
Cons: 1) Unfortunately, for programs who take a hard line on number cut-offs, doing the year of research will not change their minds; 2) Obviously, no guarantee that taking a year to perform dedicated research will be enough for you to match the 2nd time around; 3) Takes you out of the clinical arena
Sum analysis - if you have an opportunity to spend a year in a laboratory that is well-known and respected (and has a track record of productivity for its members, including students,) it probably is the best way to go for reasons outlined above. If, on the other hand, your research opportunities are less desirable then the general surgery internship in a strategically placed position (if possible a good program in which there is a good orthopaedics program; even better, a good orthpoaedics program in which there are a large number of residents where there may be a history of turn-over).
I would second the above posts.
I would also mention that the negative of being out of training for a year is a total myth. Some attendings may say that, but I don't think it's really that big of a deal.
I took a year off, and I was scared as all hell regarding this very aspect. You'll see how quickly it all comes back. Yeah, sure, of course you'll forget the prognostic factors of acute pancreatitis (ie glucose > ..whatever) but those are things you can look up in a book. Part of being a good physician/surgeon is knowing what you don't know, and knowing how to find the answer / who to ask.
