What does it take?...honestly

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Sorry, to bring this into this forum, but I figured you all would be the best for this question.

I have heard many different sides to the arguement, but not from actual residents.

What does it really take to get into one of the top Gen Surg Residencies. Does one really need to attend a top med school? How much does it really help if one does?
Any other advise would be great....

For instance, one med student told me that if you attend a top 25-30 med school and are in the top 50% of your class you are almost assured the residency you want, whereas if you went to another med school you would definitely need to be AOA to get a good residency, especially surg. True? Somewhat true?

Thank you all very much.

Texas, this topic has been hashed around several times.

Briefly, everything you do in your life from birth until you file your ERAS affects your chances of getting into a top residency.

There's no real sure way to get in. You could have all the top grades in the world, the best board scores, AOA status, research out the yin yang, and still not get placed at a top program if you don't have much of a personality. Even if you did have a good personality, you might still not place because some program director might not have liked the way you parted your hair, the way you laughed, etc.

EVERY aspect about you will determine where you place.

As far as your professional education goes, just do the best you can and you'll place the best you can. There is no magical formula to guarantee you a spot in a top program. Trust me, if there was one, I'd be computing it now.

Cheers!

agree with above, but I would add that letters of recommendation seem to hold a lot of weight. If the program director, chairman, or people interviewing you know who your letter writers are, they seem to trust what they say about you more. Of course, it's always said to be more important that your letter writers know you well - so I'd recommend trying to set up opportunities to work with well known people at your school or other places on early 4th year electives so you can get good letters from these people.

Thanks guys...

about the LORs having a lot of weight..
doesnt that imply that it would be better to go to a med school where you would also like to do your residency? Then you would have more of a chance to get those key letters?

Originally posted by Texas D
Thanks guys...

about the LORs having a lot of weight..
doesnt that imply that it would be better to go to a med school where you would also like to do your residency? Then you would have more of a chance to get those key letters?

Hi there,
Some residency programs make a point of not accepting students who attended their medical school. Make sure you have investigated this before you invest four years!

Another key point is to do an elective at the program that you want to attend. You have an opportunity to show what you can do. You also have an opportunity to see if you are a good fit in the program. Being a good fit is more important than having the best scores in the world. This can also work to your disadvantage if you screw up.

Having a strong (read nationally-known) department chairman at your medical school who is willing to write a good letter to be followed up with a phone call to the residency director is not going to hurt you either. Also, make some contacts with graduates of the program that you are interested in. Do some quality networking and get your strengths out there where the faculty can make an informed decision. Residencies are always going to take a good, solid known entity over an unknown. Landing a good match is a little more of a crap shoot than getting into medical school in the first place. There are plenty of things that are totally out of your hands such as the match computer.

Good luck!
njbmd

wow... I had never heard of such a thing. I have heard that UCLA med school never accepts its own college students....

any residency programs that dont accept their own med students come to mind??

Originally posted by fourthyear
agree with above

Man do I hate seeing that on my intern/mid-level notes.

Write your own damn note!

Just kidding. It did remind me of SOAP notes though. The attendings, interns, and mid-levels are always writing "agree with above" without writing their own notes (some do). I can't wait until I get in their shoes so I can let the medical student write all the notes. Oh yea!

That's funny, Geek Medic - I didn't even realize the similarity there, the "agree with above" just came so naturally...maybe I WILL be ready for my intern year in a few months here.

Hmm, I've actually heard that some of the top programs DO like to take their own med students into residency a lot, so I guess it depends on the specific school and you should find out about the specific ones you are interested in. I personally would think it's better to do residency in a different place than med school, for the variety in your training experiences, as well as variety on your CV. You can always do those elective roations to get to know people at your top choice residencies.