Chances/advice moving forward

[Newyawk]

looking for some advice on how to move forward and improve my app.

-My preclinical and step 1 grades are good (>265)
-currently still in clerkships.. doing well but not honoring everything.
-2 years of research during undergrad/med school at a neuro lab with one poster and abstract and hopefully but most likely not by match a published paper still in the works.
-starting clinical research in uro this summer which is one year before apps (while still in school) with an active attending at my home program. Hopefully will be productive but no guarantees of course.
-havent made many connections in uro with the exception of this attending
-currently have 0 demonstrated interest in uro (wanted to do a dif field prior)
-top med school
-some ECs like tutoring but no clubs and no leadership

I know im competitive to match somewhere but i want to match at a good program in a major city.
Please advise me on how to proceed and on anything i should be thinking about that im not aware of.

@cpants @DoctwoB would appreciate your help!

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[cpants]

looking for some advice on how to move forward and improve my app.

-My preclinical and step 1 grades are good (>265)
-currently still in clerkships.. doing well but not honoring everything.
-2 years of research during undergrad/med school at a neuro lab with one poster and abstract and hopefully but most likely not by match a published paper still in the works.
-starting clinical research in uro this summer which is one year before apps (while still in school) with an active attending at my home program. Hopefully will be productive but no guarantees of course.
-havent made many connections in uro with the exception of this attending
-currently have 0 demonstrated interest in uro (wanted to do a dif field prior)
-top med school
-some ECs like tutoring but no clubs and no leadership

I know im competitive to match somewhere but i want to match at a good program in a major city.
Please advise me on how to proceed and on anything i should be thinking about that im not aware of.

@cpants @DoctwoB would appreciate your help!

Good program in a major city is probably going to require some good research. I would hit it as hard as you can on that front.

Next most important is establishing connections. Need to meet with your home chairman and get advice. Start thinking about what specific city and programs you are interested in now. Best chance to get into any specific program is to do an away rotation there and perform well.

 

[DoctwoB]

Good program in a major city is probably going to require some good research. I would hit it as hard as you can on that front.

Next most important is establishing connections. Need to meet with your home chairman and get advice. Start thinking about what specific city and programs you are interested in now. Best chance to get into any specific program is to do an away rotation there and perform well.

I agree with cpants, you have the numbers, next steps are filling out the research resume, making connections within the department, and planning aways. Meeting with your home PD and/or chairman is a great place to start. Urology is a very small field and having the support of your department is key.

How realistic your goals are depends on what you mean. There are a lot of good programs in moderate to large sized cities, so that shouldn’t be too high a bar if you can add some research to the resume. If you have your heart set on a specific program or location then that is much tougher.

Plan your fourth year to do two aways and a subi early in the year. Know that your away selection will be looked at as reflective of your desires, meaning that if you’re from the northeast and do two aways in the northeast, expect fewer interviews in the Midwest as they’ll expect that you would be unlikely to attend. If you aren’t geographically restricted, I would vary yours by doing them in geographically diverse areas that you might want to go to. I would also try to do different types of program, like one top academic place and one more clinically oriented. Feel free to PM me for thoughts on specific places.