Advice for MS3

[Azazeel]

First off, thanks very much for this wealth of information. I have read through the forums and superb Q&A from GFunk- incredibly helpful. I have tried to only ask questions that I wasn't able to find the answer for elsewhere or wanted further clarification:

I am a third year medical student, and I have just recently discovered radiation oncology. I came into medical school wanting to deal with oncology and found out I loved neuro-oncology. I completed a rotation through neurosurgery and found that I hated everything else that went with the field- the personalities, the jaded/cynical nature of even 1st and 2nd year residents. It wasn't a good fit.

I have recently made contact with my home department in radiation oncology, but I wanted to discuss my application and other practical aspects. I have completed three research projects in the neurosciences (2 in neuro-oncology). I had an abstract published for one, and the other two did not result in publications. I also have an abstract (clinical oncology case report) outside of research lab. I score ~255 on boards, and I have so far done well on clinical rotations (2 honors, 1 high pass).

The scary aspect of thinking about radiation oncology is the number of average publications that applicants have: 18! Should I be considering taking a year off? I am more than willing to spend the time between now and application busting my butt for more research- but I don't think it is at all feasible to get that number. Is this going to hold me back?

Secondly, and more succinctly, is the Hansen "Handbook of Evidence-Based Radiation Oncology" still the best intro to radiation oncology?


Thanks in advance for all of the help. I really appreciate the e-mentoring.

Cheers!

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[MedStud!]

Where did you get the number 18? I'm almost certain the average applicant does not have 18 official peer-reviewed publications, but I may be wrong... got a link or source?

This number must be including all poster and oral presentations, as well as peer-reviewed abstracts/manuscripts. Assuming this is the case, I think mine may have been around that number in total with everything included, but I also did a PhD so I presented at quite a few meetings. Your ERAS application will distinguish between "peer-reviewed abstracts/publications," "oral presentations," and "poster presentations." Charting the Outcomes states for this number most applicants have "5 or more." So if you have a published abstract and case report (peer reviewed?) you would have two in that section. How many poster and oral presentations have you done? They can be any conferences/meetings... not just large, national ones. You would add these to that number. We have an annual research day at our school I have presented at each year so I even included this. Also, your research projects themselves will listed under "experiences" as "research." Charting the Outcomes states that most applicants had approximately 4 or more. Based on what you said you have done you would have at least 3 here. Under "experiences" you will also list "volunteer" and "work" experience.

I actually think you are kind of in a sweet spot. As I mentioned in another post, having an extremely heavy science background will prevent you from getting offers at the strictly clinical places. Many, many places much prefer their residents to be seeing patients in clinic and writing notes. You killed Step 1... so by far the most important thing you can do to maintain good chances of matching is to continue to rack up honors and try to get that AOA. Some of the very top tier places demand both. Next would be to get your away rotations scheduled at places you are very interested in and get some good letters. Taking a year off for research certainly wouldn't hurt... but if you don't produce much it might not help a whole lot either. Unfortunately, that is how research goes. If you have a project in Oncology that is nearing completion and you are pretty certain you can get a first-author, peer-reviewed research manuscript in a decent journal within a years time, then I think it would add to your application. But if you spend a year and end up with nothing to show for it then it wouldn't add much at all. If you do, don't start a new basic science research project from scratch... or you could consider doing clinical research retrospective reviews that would have a better chance at getting published. If you decide not to take a year off you could probably scrounge together an abstract to submit for the 2015 annual ASTRO meeting anyway and that would add to your "peer-reviewed" count. But I think if you focus hard on clinical rotations, away rotations, good letters and apply widely you will have more interviews that you can attend.

And I don't know about the best resource for an intro... I'll be matching this year (hopefully!)

 

[Sfoglia301]

Just an MD/PhD student on the verge of MD3 here but looking at Charting Outcomes 2011 the average number of abstracts/research publications is 8.3 for matched US applicants. Boards averages for matched residents are Step1/Step 2: 240/244, and 31.2% of those matched were AOA. I am super excited, though also anxious a bit, for my turn at the application and away rotation cycle, not to mention 3rd year clerkships. Good luck!