How would you guys maneuver yourselves into a gen surg residency?

[Chiroptile]

Hey fellow med students. Have a question that I thought maybe some of you could weigh in on. I've always been a "take it one step at a time" kind of person. Didn't start thinking about med school until I was done with my undergrad, didn't start thinking about the MCAT until I was done with my post-bacc premed stuff. Didn't start thinking about school apps until I was done with the MCAT, and so on and so forth.. Definitely haven't been thinking about residencies other than vaguely focusing in on EM. That is until now..

Started my third year in July with surgery as my first rotation and was hooked from the first day. Doing IM now and it's interesting stuff, but surg is calling in a major way. I know that there is still plenty of time to get exposed to other fields in medicine and change my mind. Still, I have a feeling that I'm onto something here and that this is no longer the time to be taking things step by step. I'm not thinking ortho or cardiothoracic or neuro or any of that stuff. Just gen surg with a fellowship in something (Oncology or trauma)

My question is this..
I am an older student (31) with no research experience, no publications, no medical mission trips, none of that. Decent class rank (top 3rd scratching on top .25)
STEP 1 scores are okay, but could have been better.. Not that stuff of legends that the SDN is known for: USMLE 219, COMLEX 553

Going off of that, what steps would those of you guys in the know take to become competitive for a decent gen surg residency? I don't really care about ACGME vs AOA as long as the training is good.

Much appreciated, thank you.

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[Dr.Surgeon]

If I were you, I would mostly stick to AOA programs because I doubt you will be very competitive for acgme categorical spots. Try to do really well on rotations, get good letters from surgeons, do well on step 2 and apply to every AOA program...that's what I am planning to do at least. Oh, and do away rotations at as many programs as you can/want so you can show them how awesome you are

 

[Chiroptile]

Thank you, surgeon, I appreciate your input. I wasn't sure if I would need to start jumping on extracurricular pursuits. I'm planning to take USMLE step 2 as well to try and pull away from that 219.

 

[DopaDO]

Thank you, surgeon, I appreciate your input. I wasn't sure if I would need to start jumping on extracurricular pursuits. I'm planning to take USMLE step 2 as well to try and pull away from that 219.

I wouldn't even bother with step 2 honestly. That 219 all but kills you for ACGME, just focus on AOA residencies. Learn which ones are good and rotate at those.

 

[Petypet]

Thank you, surgeon, I appreciate your input. I wasn't sure if I would need to start jumping on extracurricular pursuits. I'm planning to take USMLE step 2 as well to try and pull away from that 219.

Rotate through as many AOA programs as possible. Many don't care too much about extracurriculars, but rather they focus on you as a person. Further, eliminate those programs with comlex level requirements (Doctor's with a 600 comes to mind).