Recent interest in PM&R, beginning my rotations, what can I do?

[PieceOfGum1]

I came into med school completely unsure what to do. My extracurriculars are abysmal and I've never done anything for any field. After taking neurology, however, I fell in love with the brain and I really love the neuro side of things. Right now, I'm thinking of doing either Neuro or PM&R.

What are some things I can do to help get my foot in the door for PM&R? As a third year, it's too late for me to show interest via things like leadership in the club, that's reserved for M1's and M2's. I can't even do a PM&R Career Exploratory rotation, since I had to spend my career exploratory time getting extra study time for Step 1. So as of now, I have no formal experience with PM&R at ALL besides going to specialty talks.

I don't really know what to do, I'm already at a huge disadvantage because I failed 2 preclinical classes and had to remediate them. So those are some big fat red flags against me. I'll obviously try my best during my rotations and Step 2, but is there anything else I can do to look appealing for PM&R?

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[JBM16BYU]

Very generally, the things you can do for PM&R are the same you can do for any field: leadership (whether school or national in organizations like AAP and AOCPMR), research + presentations/publications (case reports, reviews, retrospective chart reviews, etc.), volunteering (adaptive sports, sports coverage, Special Olympics, wheelchair sports, various walks for different PM&R-esque organizations), rotations in the desired subspecialty (both during 3rd year and during 4th year as Sub-I's or auditions), good letters of recommendation by those in the desired field. Also, performing well in pre-clinicals, on rotations, on shelfs, and on your board examinations go a long way and usually help translate into a good class rank. Honor societies (AOA if you're an MD student, Sigma Sigma Phi if you're a DO student, and Gold Humanism for either). You do whatever you can with the time that you have until you submit an application. PM&R typically likes longitudinal commitment, showing an interest in the field for a while, so you'll need to find a way to demonstrate that if even if your actual time is lower. PM&R is also becoming more competitive, as all fields are, so you will be working against the 2 failed preclinical classes. Get a good mentor who can advocate for you and hopefully write you a good letter.

 

[PieceOfGum1]

Very generally, the things you can do for PM&R are the same you can do for any field: leadership (whether school or national in organizations like AAP and AOCPMR), research + presentations/publications (case reports, reviews, retrospective chart reviews, etc.), volunteering (adaptive sports, sports coverage, Special Olympics, wheelchair sports, various walks for different PM&R-esque organizations), rotations in the desired subspecialty (both during 3rd year and during 4th year as Sub-I's or auditions), good letters of recommendation by those in the desired field. Also, performing well in pre-clinicals, on rotations, on shelfs, and on your board examinations go a long way and usually help translate into a good class rank. Honor societies (AOA if you're an MD student, Sigma Sigma Phi if you're a DO student, and Gold Humanism for either). You do whatever you can with the time that you have until you submit an application. PM&R typically likes longitudinal commitment, showing an interest in the field for a while, so you'll need to find a way to demonstrate that if even if your actual time is lower. PM&R is also becoming more competitive, as all fields are, so you will be working against the 2 failed preclinical classes. Get a good mentor who can advocate for you and hopefully write you a good letter.

Would you say it's not out of the question I can do PM&R then, even with the red flags and the relatively late discovery?

 

[JBM16BYU]

It'll depend on a lot of things, particularly your letters of recommendation, networking, board exam scores, and how well you perform on audition rotations. Those things can make up for the timing and red flags. But, there is never a guarantee for anyone. Just do your best. If you don't match the first time around, and you still want it, it is possible to match during a second time. Happened to multiple people this year in the match. Totally just depends...