advice please: yr off for research?

[DrDarwin]

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hi everyone, i am a third yr med student (currently in my 1st rotation) who is interested in rad onc. any advice is appreciated. thanks in advance.

 

[Gfunk6]

, i really don't want to take a year off to do it.

You don't have to.

would it be sufficient to contact someone at mskcc to get a project set up and then work on it for ~4 weeks next spring?

That would be a very good idea. You should be able to work on a nice clinical project.

or do i need a more 'substantial' research experience than that to be competitive?

More research is always better, but you are off to a good start. I would try to start a project @ your home residency program. Also, don't forget, your earlier nuc med project count in ERAS too!

i'm not sure if most have gone to NIH

Definitely not the case.

i was an avg student at a top 15 school during the first 2 yrs and got in the mid 250s on step 1

That's great. Not sure what you are so worried about.

also, i'm not a md/phd. like everyone else

MD/PhDs comprise ~ 1/5th of successful applicants. "Everyone else" is an MD.

i would love to match at a top 10 program.

This is a little bit tougher for the non-MD/PhD. In recent match years ~ 50-60% of successful matches at "top schools" were MD/PhD. Best advice is to rotate in the program you are most interested in, continue working on research like you plan to, and try to secure good LORs.

You are in very good shape, keep up the good work.

 

[Pewl]

Has there ever been anyone else here in this part of the forum who has applied with a medical physics M.S.? I'm curious to see what their application experience was like.

 

[blueMD]

You don't have to take a year off for research to match into rad onc. Also, your scores seem fine.