Need advice as I start Med school

[h23]

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[doctorsharukhan]

Neurology is relatively non-competitive. Radiology is becoming very competitive (and DO unfriendly). I believe the pandemic has also played a role in this since people are fed up with certain patients and the idea of minimal patient interaction/working from home (and great pay of radiology) has made it even more popular. Radiology is also used as a backup for many surgical subspecialty applicants. Rad applications are up 21% this year vs EM down 21%

The other problem is that you're from the midwest which is DO-friendly but you're attending medical school far away. I'm assuming east/west coast since you said it's a newer school. Most residency programs have regional bias and prefer to interview students from the surrounding area since they can only interview so many.

 

[h23]

Neurology is relatively non-competitive. Radiology is becoming very competitive (and DO unfriendly). I believe the pandemic has also played a role in this since people are fed up with certain patients and the idea of minimal patient interaction/working from home (and great pay of radiology) has made it even more popular. Radiology is also used as a backup for many surgical subspecialty applicants. Rad applications are up 21% this year vs EM down 21%

The other problem is that you're from the midwest which is DO-friendly but you're attending medical school far away. I'm assuming east/west coast since you said it's a newer school. Most residency programs have regional bias and prefer to interview students from the surrounding area since they can only interview so many.

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[DOVinciRobot]

Should I start reaching out to radiology PDs at programs that I'm interested in to hopefully get an opportunity to shadow and build connections?

No, don’t do this. The time for reaching out will be in the form of away rotations or during end of third year.

For now the formula is simple: be as academically competitive as possible and publish some research. Easy to say, much harder to do, but it is the formula to success in any specialty for those just starting out.

 

[h23]

No, don’t do this. The time for reaching out will be in the form of away rotations or during end of third year.

For now the formula is simple: be as academically competitive as possible and publish some research. Easy to say, much harder to do, but it is the formula to success in any specialty for those just starting out.

Would you think its a good idea to speak to my radiology chair at my medical school as soon as I get on campus just to get any contacts that way or do whatever else to prepare myself to be the best applicant I can be? Also are preclinical grades and clinical grades both emphasized in radiology applications as well as research?

 

[doctorsharukhan]

Would you think its a good idea to speak to my radiology chair at my medical school as soon as I get on campus just to get any contacts that way or do whatever else to prepare myself to be the best applicant I can be? Also are preclinical grades and clinical grades both emphasized in radiology applications as well as research?

Wait till third year. People change their minds all the time and no one would really take you seriously. The vast majority of med students do everything in their power to get out of radiology rotations early. The only specialties you need to start working on from day 1 are subsurgical (ENT, ophtho, ortho, nsg) and derm

Most radiology programs of your future caliber don't expect early interest. The best you can do is hope the landscape changes by then

 

[DOVinciRobot]

Would you think its a good idea to speak to my radiology chair at my medical school as soon as I get on campus just to get any contacts that way or do whatever else to prepare myself to be the best applicant I can be? Also are preclinical grades and clinical grades both emphasized in radiology applications as well as research?

I would at least get a year under your belt first.