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- Jul 22, 2002
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hey all -
I'm a first year med student very interested in anesthesia, but little idea about how to explore this field productively. I was hoping that some of the more experienced students, residents, and even attendings can answer a few questions and give some advice.
Pre-Clinical Stuff
-what classes are important? Physiology and Pharm? Are there any courses that PDs simply won't care about? Anatomy? Are pre-clinical grades at all important in anesthesiology?
-in preparing for Step I, should I be aiming to beat the mean? Is this unnecessary? Or is the field getting so competitive that I really need to score well above the mean?
Rotations and LORs
-Are LORs from attendings at non-teaching hospitals completely worthless, or just not as good as LORs from teaching programs? And what about hospitals that have many residency programs, but just not in anesthesiology?
-How important is it to do away rotations at places you are interested in doing your residency?
-Is it a bad idea to do more than, say 2, anesthesiology rotations?
-What other rotations are considered important to do? And which rotations to PDs want excelent grades in IM? Surg? Which are less important? FP? Medical sub-specialties?
Other
-is research universally appreciated? Or are there clearly some programs (University-based) that want/appreciate research experience and some that don't (community-based)?
-is any sort of research appreciated, or is it important that the research be very anesthesiology-related?
-are other degrees (MPH, in particular) viewed as important, especially it it relates to the type of career you want (academic, doing clinical research for example)?
-are leadership experiences in medical school appreciated by residency programs in anesthesiology?
-Is there anything that a young med student can do to get a better look at the field of anesthesiology and to start putting together an application that will stand out?
Thanks!
Adcadet
I'm a first year med student very interested in anesthesia, but little idea about how to explore this field productively. I was hoping that some of the more experienced students, residents, and even attendings can answer a few questions and give some advice.
Pre-Clinical Stuff
-what classes are important? Physiology and Pharm? Are there any courses that PDs simply won't care about? Anatomy? Are pre-clinical grades at all important in anesthesiology?
-in preparing for Step I, should I be aiming to beat the mean? Is this unnecessary? Or is the field getting so competitive that I really need to score well above the mean?
Rotations and LORs
-Are LORs from attendings at non-teaching hospitals completely worthless, or just not as good as LORs from teaching programs? And what about hospitals that have many residency programs, but just not in anesthesiology?
-How important is it to do away rotations at places you are interested in doing your residency?
-Is it a bad idea to do more than, say 2, anesthesiology rotations?
-What other rotations are considered important to do? And which rotations to PDs want excelent grades in IM? Surg? Which are less important? FP? Medical sub-specialties?
Other
-is research universally appreciated? Or are there clearly some programs (University-based) that want/appreciate research experience and some that don't (community-based)?
-is any sort of research appreciated, or is it important that the research be very anesthesiology-related?
-are other degrees (MPH, in particular) viewed as important, especially it it relates to the type of career you want (academic, doing clinical research for example)?
-are leadership experiences in medical school appreciated by residency programs in anesthesiology?
-Is there anything that a young med student can do to get a better look at the field of anesthesiology and to start putting together an application that will stand out?
Thanks!
Adcadet
