Getting off on the right foot to land a fellowship

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Hey guys!
I was fortunate enough to match ophtho this cycle. Thanks for all the help and support over the year!
I'm about to start intern year but I was just curious... I realize that fellowships are a lot about your program and who you know...but what are some things that you as a resident can do to make yourself look competitive for fellowships?

Also, when is the best time during intern year to start studying for ophtho ( totally not being a gunner I promise...but after 4 months of basically doing nothing type A is starting to rear its ugly head again!!!! )

Originally Posted by docdoc2012

Also, when is the best time during intern year to start studying for ophtho ( totally not being a gunner I promise...but after 4 months of basically doing nothing type A is starting to rear its ugly head again!!!! )

Congrats on matching! You picked an excellent specialty and won't be disappointed.

Reading a month or so before you start ophtho should be sufficient. Having said that, I went into intern year with good intentions of studying up on my ophthalmology, but it never materialized. Got too busy/lazy doing other stuff. Everything ended up fine though. Most of what you learn and keep in your brain will come from the patients you see in clinic, so I wouldn't stress too much about showing up on day 1 knowing everything.

I never did a fellowship, so can't comment on that other than just make sure you don't piss anyone off during your time in residency.

Search for this because I think it has been gone over before

Regardless, don't study an ophtho during intern year, unless maybe you have a super cush one and actually have time. Well maybe do a little reading on how to do the exam or look at an atlas 1-2mths prior.

As far as fellowship goes, connections and how you do during residency is everything. Also depends on what fellowship you are interested in. If you want plastics or retina, you need to do more. If you have an idea of the fellowship already, identify an attending in that sub-speciality that is known in the field, is nice, and publishes. Hopefully they are all 3, good luck there. Get to know them early, when they write you a LOR you want it to be personal the most amazing LOR ever. Start research with them day 1 with the goal of getting an abstract at AAO or ARVO, then publishing. All this takes time so you have to start early.

To get a competitive good fellowship you are going to have to bust your rear harder than every other resident.

OKAPS matter to some places, but not much.

Where you train matters alot, but you can't change that now. So who knows you and can vouch for you and write great LOR is what matters most.