Could I match plastics with a failure on MS2????

drseanlive said:

so i messed up one test due to a horrible circumstance and failed one test (and thus a block) during my second year....i am probably in the top 1/2 of my class otherwise....if i were to kill the boards, lets say a rockstar 250 as well as 3rd year, while getting in good with some big names, do i have a shot?

Do you think plastics PDs care about a slip up in 2nd year if everything else is top notch?? i appreciate any advice....this is all i want to do

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Okay.

By my count, this is the 4th or 5th thread that you've posted on this topic. Each thread that you've started has been a variation on the theme of "I failed a class in 2nd year; can I become a surgeon despite this"?

Some things to please keep in mind.

• You haven't taken Step 1 yet. I know you keep saying, "If I were to kill the boards," and "if I were to be a rockstar in 3rd year" - but those are ALL very big IFs! Why don't you wait and see how you might do on Step 1 before getting too worked up?
• You have NO idea what you will truly like during third year. I originally scheduled OB/gyn and surgery for the first half of the year, because I was 100% convinced that I was going to do internal medicine and then a fellowship in infectious diseases. I was totally, TOTALLY sure that I'd hate being in the OR. Guess who spent the last few weeks trying to decide between OB/gyn and surgery as a career??
• I have spent enough time around surgeons to know that this kind of obsessive worry-wart behavior will NOT go over well. Surgeons tend to like to keep moving - not get bogged down in a rut. And instead of spending their time worrying so much over things that are now out of their control, they either stop worrying and move on with their lives, or they get started on a way to fix the problem. Either way - they keep moving. If you really want to be a surgeon - why not try emulating that behavior now?

Instead of spending so much time posting "What do I do???" threads on SDN, why not get off your computer chair and start DOING something to fix the situation? Start planning a Step 1 strategy. Get started on a research project. Start studying for the remediation exam - this is super important!!

I'm not trying to be mean, but I really think that you could be spending your time in other, more productive ways, than posting the same question on SDN a dozen times.

Good luck and keep moving forward!

Mariah246 said:

Out of curiousity, what did you pick?

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OB/gyn. I like obstetrics, and I like being in the OR. It's similar to surgery (like the way that Portuguese is similar to Spanish - you can sort of understand what's going on if you know one, but they're definitely very, very unique), but has its own appeal. It was an extremely tough choice, though!

drseanlive said:

you're absolutely right....i'm dwelling....BUT, what i really am looking for is for someone to say its possible...then i'll be more likely to crush the rest of med school.....otherwise i'll wonder if its possible or not....hard to explain how i motivate myself..

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You could definitely match into a strong gen surg program, even with a remediated failure on your record. From then, you could work your tail off to get a plastics fellowship.

Integrated plastics, as MaxHeadroom pointed out (and he has much more experience than I do!), may be beyond your reach. It's SO competitive, that it may be too late.

But I'm afraid that I don't understand why you "need" someone to tell you it's possible. Isn't that motivation really up to you? And if someone were to say "No, it's not possible - time to start thinking about family med," would you just roll over and let that dictate what you want to do? I just don't see what you're saying...maybe I'm just being dense?

And if someone were to tell you that integrated plastics is NOT possible, does that mean that you're not even going to try hard during third year? That you're going to slack off and be a half-a$$ed member of the medical team? There are other reasons to work your tail off during third year - getting a good residency is just a part of that.

I'm just really confused, here....