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[Andrew_Doan]

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I've been reading this board too often. I had a dream last night that I was back on the interview trail. That's a scary thought! 😱

Good luck to all of you on your upcoming interviews! 🙂

 

[SDN-helper]

How competitive is ophtho? I really have to know. They say you don't have to decide until you start doing your rotation, however, if I did cardiac research the summer of my first year, and decide to go into Neuro, it's doesn't really help.

So, i really have to know.

I really would love to do Ophtho. I don't care about getting into "TOP 10" programs. I just wanna get in SOMEWHERE. However, as a first year student, I seem to not be able to compete with the 'gunners'. With the way things are going, I'll probably only PASS half my classes, and High Pass the other half, with very few honors. I'll probably do research too in ophtho, and lets assume I score 'average' (whatever that may be ~50%?) on my Step 1s. I also go to an 'average' med school (65 according to USNEWS) and end up on the bottom 50th percentile of my class.

Should I look at some other specialty?

I don't want to waste a summer doing Ophtho research, if I don't even have a shot at it. Please help!

-Flustered Med Student :-(

 

[Andrew_Doan]

Originally posted by SDN-helper
How competitive is ophtho? I really have to know. They say you don't have to decide until you start doing your rotation, however, if I did cardiac research the summer of my first year, and decide to go into Neuro, it's doesn't really help.

So, i really have to know.

I really would love to do Ophtho. I don't care about getting into "TOP 10" programs. I just wanna get in SOMEWHERE. However, as a first year student, I seem to not be able to compete with the 'gunners'. With the way things are going, I'll probably only PASS half my classes, and High Pass the other half, with very few honors. I'll probably do research too in ophtho, and lets assume I score 'average' (whatever that may be ~50%?) on my Step 1s. I also go to an 'average' med school (65 according to USNEWS) and end up on the bottom 50th percentile of my class.

Should I look at some other specialty?

I don't want to waste a summer doing Ophtho research, if I don't even have a shot at it. Please help!

-Flustered Med Student :-(

Do research because you love it, not because you have to.

Average students with enthusiasm for the field will excel, but if you're only doing things to pad your CV, then it'll be transparent.

I recommend that you complete a rotation in ophthalmology to help you decide if this is your thing.