How much will mediocre college grades hurt me in applying for ophto residency?

ecoscuba · Apr 1, 2005

My grades in college weren't terrible, but they were nothing stellar either. I had about a B average, and I wasn't worried about it because i wasn't considering going to med school at the time. I went to grad school and got an A average and several publications, NIH grants, professorship, etc. And had then decided to go to medical school so that I can have more control over the clinical components of my research. I would like to go into academic ophthalmology and now that I am aware that you need to be stellar to get into a great program (which would help me with research contacts in the future) will my mediocre college grades pull me down when i eventually apply to a top program? The only reason i ask is because i had just read the Hopkins excerpt on what a good residency candidate has from Dr. Doan's FAQ.

brendang · Apr 1, 2005

I'll start by saying that I went to med school in the Caribbean for the "typical" reason (i.e. majoring in beer) but pulled up my socks eventually... During my interviews for ophtho this past winter, Indiana University was the only program that not only dwelled on my attending a Caribbean med school (most of the other programs seemed to not worry about harping on it) but the PhD interviewer pulled out my friggin' college grades and spent the better part of 1 of the 2 interviews asking why I was such an underacheiver in college (my 52 in general chemistry when I was 16 years old came back to haunt me!!!)... I'd avoid Indiana if I was you...

guttata · Apr 1, 2005

Don't worry about it.

rubensan · Apr 1, 2005

ecoscuba said:
My grades in college weren't terrible, but they were nothing stellar either. I had about a B average, and I wasn't worried about it because i wasn't considering going to med school at the time. I went to grad school and got an A average and several publications, NIH grants, professorship, etc. And had then decided to go to medical school so that I can have more control over the clinical components of my research. I would like to go into academic ophthalmology and now that I am aware that you need to be stellar to get into a great program (which would help me with research contacts in the future) will my mediocre college grades pull me down when i eventually apply to a top program? The only reason i ask is because i had just read the Hopkins excerpt on what a good residency candidate has from Dr. Doan's FAQ.

I got a C in Calculus my freshman year of college and matched at USC for ophtho this past January. It sounds like the work you have done prior to medical school makes you "stellar" in other ways.

Ruben

ecoscuba · Apr 1, 2005

guttata said:
Don't worry about it.

Sorry, I'm still comming to terms with the recent realization that I'm type A, after honestly believing I was type B for all those years. Thanks for the input guys. I appreciate it.

samdo · Apr 6, 2005

ecoscuba said:
My grades in college weren't terrible, but they were nothing stellar either. I had about a B average, and I wasn't worried about it because i wasn't considering going to med school at the time. I went to grad school and got an A average and several publications, NIH grants, professorship, etc. And had then decided to go to medical school so that I can have more control over the clinical components of my research. I would like to go into academic ophthalmology and now that I am aware that you need to be stellar to get into a great program (which would help me with research contacts in the future) will my mediocre college grades pull me down when i eventually apply to a top program? The only reason i ask is because i had just read the Hopkins excerpt on what a good residency candidate has from Dr. Doan's FAQ.

The single most important thing in getting your foot in the door at the top programs? Excellent letters from ophthalmology insiders. Top name people who arent threatened to let a med student observe them. Be honest with them and explain you understand little of the field but you would hope by rotating/observing/externing anywhere in their proximity that they may be able to write you a solid letter. These letters are the key which will unlock the most complex academic locks since this is a very small field. If you dont know who the giants are figure it out and find a few to help you.

Samdo

limbus · Apr 6, 2005

I only had one interviewer ask me about college grades, the chairman at U Minnesota, and he was just trying to get a rise out of me. Med school grades, letters of rec, and your board scores will get you the interviews. Don't fret about it. If you made it into med school, you can forget about your college performance. I had a BC in calc and only a 3.6 GPA as an undergrad, and still got interviews at many top-tier programs.

ecoscuba · Apr 6, 2005

samdo said:
The single most important thing in getting your foot in the door at the top programs? Excellent letters from ophthalmology insiders. Top name people who arent threatened to let a med student observe them. Be honest with them and explain you understand little of the field but you would hope by rotating/observing/externing anywhere in their proximity that they may be able to write you a solid letter. These letters are the key which will unlock the most complex academic locks since this is a very small field. If you dont know who the giants are figure it out and find a few to help you.

Samdo

Are you talking top clinical docs or top academic researchers?

samdo · Apr 6, 2005

ecoscuba said:
Are you talking top clinical docs or top academic researchers?

these two are not mutually exclusive so maybe you can explain/define your question a bit.

Samdo

rubensan · Apr 6, 2005

ecoscuba said:
Are you talking top clinical docs or top academic researchers?

i agree with samdo. many chairman at the top ophtho programs are excellent clinicians with an impressive record of bringing a lot of research $$$ to the department from the NIH (top researchers as well!)

Ruben

ecoscuba · Apr 6, 2005

samdo said:
these two are not mutually exclusive so maybe you can explain/define your question a bit.

Samdo

You just answered it! Thanks!

ice_23 · Apr 10, 2005

ecoscuba said:
You just answered it! Thanks!

Guys,

Who exactly are big names in the ophthalmology field? I'm trying to do research (i go to cornell) and our chair is Dr. D. Jackson Coleman, and we have a professor emeritus (Harvey Lincoff). Sorry for my complete ignorance in this matter; but are these guys well known? I looked on pub med and they have tons of papers, but I'm only an 1st year...should I be thinking about doing some sort of away rotation for better letters (of course, I'd still love to get a letter from any of those two)?

Any help would be appreciated...

Thanks,

Ice

samdo · Apr 10, 2005

ice_23 said:
Guys,

Who exactly are big names in the ophthalmology field? I'm trying to do research (i go to cornell) and our chair is Dr. D. Jackson Coleman, and we have a professor emeritus (Harvey Lincoff). Sorry for my complete ignorance in this matter; but are these guys well known? I looked on pub med and they have tons of papers, but I'm only an 1st year...should I be thinking about doing some sort of away rotation for better letters (of course, I'd still love to get a letter from any of those two)?

Any help would be appreciated...

Thanks,

Ice

Ice as usual politics plays some role in this issue but ask your chairman and emeritus faculty if they might be able to point you in the right direction. Most faculty will have some form of mentor/advisor system in place. If not you will have to ingratiate yourself to someone within the faculty that can advise you. You said you were a first year? Is that first year medical student?

If so then start with a rotation in the field. If you are a resident then approach as you learn more about an area that you would like to be involved in. Faculty usually have shelf projects that you can participate in some way.

Samdo

rubensan · Apr 10, 2005

i think samdo gave some excellent advice on how to start finding a mentor/advisor. ask around and try to find someone who is going to take a genuine interest in your career. the "big name" is important to some extent, but equally important is an advisor who will guide you along with your research project and write you an excellent letter of rec.

ruben

ice_23 · Apr 10, 2005

samdo said:
Ice as usual politics plays some role in this issue but ask your chairman and emeritus faculty if they might be able to point you in the right direction. Most faculty will have some form of mentor/advisor system in place. If not you will have to ingratiate yourself to someone within the faculty that can advise you. You said you were a first year? Is that first year medical student?

If so then start with a rotation in the field. If you are a resident then approach as you learn more about an area that you would like to be involved in. Faculty usually have shelf projects that you can participate in some way.

Samdo

Samdo,

Thx for the prompt reply. I am a first year medical student, and I guess I asked because I didn't know who was considered a "big-wig", etc. When you say a rotation in the field, do you mean during the clinical years (3rd and 4th) or some sort of volunteer thing during my 1st year? I am planning on doing research in the summer on a project in ophthalmology, so hopefully that'll be a step in the right direction.

-Ice

How much will mediocre college grades hurt me in applying for ophto residency?

ecoscuba

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brendang

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ecoscuba

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