Change of Heart...urology to ENT

[KitesurfDaEarth]

Hey everyone,

So....I am an MS3 on peds right now and for the past year I have been dead set on going into urology, I've been talking to the right people, getting research lined up, etc etc. And the past week on the floor I have talked to several residents, and other people about ENT....And it seems like THE perfect fit for me. It is alot like urology (surgery medicine mix, seems to attract very cool people, team-oriented atmosphere, variety of surgeries etc) except the surgical field attracts me much more because I have always been interested in neuroscience and facial plastics and reconstruction seems so cool to me. I also like the patient population in peds much better than geriatrics.

Right now it is rocking my world because essentially all the time and effort I have put into urology is for nothing, but I really think that I should go for what will make me happy.

So anyways thats my story. I have done some reading here and I was wondering what the application environment was like for ENT? In urology its board scores > grades/AOA > LOR > research. From my initial trolling I gather it is a bit different with more emphasis on the research of which I have none. I am considering applying for the Doris Duke or NIH Training fellowship, that would obviously help but will the cost of extending my education 1 year be worth the benefit of getting a somewhat better residency? Or can I get away with doing case reports and some kind of superficial research because I am a bit too busy to get my hands dirty.

FYI my stats are that I go to a decent state school, with a good oto department residency. My Step I is 244, grades are top quarter, I have gotten Honors in all my rotations so far except for geriatrics ( i take that as a sign from the prostate gods that I am not worthy). No research, no publications. I doubt ill get AOA. but i do have a life outside of medicine.

Thanks and by the way this forum is really helpful. best of luck to all of you.
Jaymarc

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[resxn]

You're right that research plays a bigger role in ENT than it does where you ranked it for urology. However, I will say that with Step I score of 244, your research is not as important. What I think research does is that it shows some proactive component in your desired field when the board scores are in the average for that particular specialty.

I think you should not try to get published with just case reports because committees will see right through that. Not that they aren't better than nothing, but they are pretty superficial. If you have time to do some type of research it would benefit you--even if you hop on a project already in gear. With scores of 244 I doubt that you will need something as extraordinary as an NIH grant, although that will obviously cement you going to a top-notch program.

 

[KitesurfDaEarth]

Thanks man. Dont know what i would do without this forum. Do you guys know if ENT interviews over the period of December 15th to January 5th (generally the break time for most schools?). The reason I ask is that I am doing a resort-ortho rotation at Big Sky Resort in Montana (purely for fun).... I would be really bummed if i had to cancel but we have our priorities.

 

[chirurgino]

I'm interviewing right now and you should be fine. Interviews crank back up for me on the 5th, so depending on how you work the scheduling you may have to leave a couple of days early.