It's official: I've fallen in love with general surgery. How can I make myself competitive?

[SKaminski]

3rd year DO student
Step 1 Score: 216 (below average)
COMLEX Score: 546 (above average)
Research Experience: None
Volunteer Experience: Two medical missions. 36 hours voluteering to provide medical care to homeless pts.
Club Experience, Second Year: Vice President of AMA, Volunteer Coordinator for DOCare.
Clinicals: All "passes".

I know i'm not the definition of a highly competitive candidate. I'm probably not the type of candidate who has the best shot at GS. But every single other rotation of mine has been a huge let down. A huge disappointment. I get home early from family med and it's nearly impossible to force myself to read (yet again) about USPSTF guidelines and diabetes management. But surgery? I've been volunteering to watch extra cases. I've been rushing home at 8 pm open my books and review anatomy/Dr. Pestana's Surgery Notes. I've never been this motivated, this driven, and while I know it's a long (medium?) shot, I havent come this hard to "settle".

How can I make myself a more competitive applicant? Does it seem like I even have a shot?

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[WinslowPringle]

Well, you could definitely get a paper or two published. You can try to get higher clinical grades. You should blow Step 2 out of the water.
You should apply to both DO and MD programs. With MD programs, apply to ones that have a history of taking DO students. Are there any recent DO grads from your school going to an MD GS program? Do some networking. Get stellar LORs.

 

[SKaminski]

I'm not sure how to go about getting involved in research. I'll email some professors and see what I can do. I will apply broadly. Thank you for the advice so far.

 

[AlteredScale]

I'm not sure how to go about getting involved in research. I'll email some professors and see what I can do. I will apply broadly. Thank you for the advice so far.

If you are coming from a smaller DO school or a DO school without clinical departments you will def need to shotgun out to many hospitals. Try focusing on ones with GME in surgery as they may have a better understanding of the research process and /or are actually conducting research as supposed to a hospital without GME.


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[SKaminski]

If you are coming from a smaller DO school or a DO school without clinical departments you will def need to shotgun out to many hospitals. Try focusing on ones with GME in surgery as they may have a better understanding of the research process and /or are actually conducting research as supposed to a hospital without GME.


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My major issue is that my didactics are located away from my home university. I spent my first two years studying in one city and then my rotations (where I now live) are in a city about 3 hours away. This was done because our DO school has too many students (~250) for all of us to rotate in hospitals around our home university. So even if my professors were doing research, i would have difficulty contributing to it. Hmm...

 

[SKaminski]

Here's a question that I'm not too sure of.

Is it easier to match into "preliminary" spots than it is to match into "categorical" positions? Since students commonly (about 25%) drop out of general surgery residencies, could I, theoretically, match into a programs preliminary spot, and then once students have dropped out of the 'categorical' positions, transition over? Is... is that a thing?

 

[ACSurgeon]

Here's a question that I'm not too sure of.

Is it easier to match into "preliminary" spots than it is to match into "categorical" positions? Since students commonly (about 25%) drop out of general surgery residencies, could I, theoretically, match into a programs preliminary spot, and then once students have dropped out of the 'categorical' positions, transition over? Is... is that a thing?

It's a back door way into general surgery. It's a last resort not anyone's first choice.

 

[SKaminski]

It's a back door way into general surgery. It's a last resort not anyone's first choice.

Gotcha. Thank you. Any other advice on how to make myself more competitive, outside of Step 2/Level 2 and Research?

 

[Bobcat18]

Honestly, with less than 1 year till you have to submit your application for residency Step 2 and research (prob at this point limited to case reports, etc given the limited time you have left) are the best things you can do to improve your chances. I wouldn't try to do too much in the way of extracurriculars at this point since most of your time should be devoted to studying and preparing to blow step 2 out of the water. Good luck.

Gotcha. Thank you. Any other advice on how to make myself more competitive, outside of Step 2/Level 2 and Research?

 

[SKaminski]

Honestly, with less than 1 year till you have to submit your application for residency Step 2 and research (prob at this point limited to case reports, etc given the limited time you have left) are the best things you can do to improve your chances. I wouldn't try to do too much in the way of extracurriculars at this point since most of your time should be devoted to studying and preparing to blow step 2 out of the water. Good luck.

Thank you. I'll admit that I slumped a bit in my studying post Step 1. Half way through my study period i was scoring 230 on NBME practice tests, and uWorld diagnostics placed me at ~242 before my test. Not sure what happened on my test day, but it totally killed some of my motivation. Time to pick myself back up. Any advice on what worked for you studying for Step 2?