Do I have a shot at matching in ophthalmology?

[OphthLover]

I am a current second year medical student, and I am confident that ophthalmology is the field that I want to get into. But I have concerns regarding my chances at matching into ophth residency because of my pre-clinical grades. We are graded based on H/HP/P/F scale, and I have H/HP/P in 1:2:1 ratio. I failed one class during the first semester of my first year but have remediated for it. At this point, I am not optimistic that I will earn the AOA status, but I will probably be able to get into the top 50% of my class. I go to a top 5 private school, and I will be taking a year off between my second and third year to do master's in which I will be mostly doing ophth research, and I think I can publish a first author paper and may be few more abstracts or posters.

I have read some crazy stats people have who match into ophth, so it got me worried. If I do well enough on STEP I (250+), honor good number of the clerkships during the third year (say 4 out of 7), and of course get honor on ophth clerkship, do I have a chance at getting into 1) any ophth program at all 2) at top 30 programs?

Another thing that got me worried is that I don't have much EC. I am doing a medical translation volunteer work, a few other medical volunteer works and non-medical related volunteer work through my church, and I don't hold a leadership position in any of the organizations.. I know that for derm, having leadership activities is a must, but for ophth, how crucial is it for me to have acquired leadership experiences in medical school? I have some from before I got into medical school, but I have been so caught up with medical school that I could barely find time for them. Thank you guys very much in advance.

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[ophthope]

You don't need to do an extra year and get a master's to match. Plenty of "just in the top 50% of my class" people match Ophtho every year. If you're a second year then you should be focusing on Step 1 right now. Do as absolutely well on it as you can. That will open the most doors for you. I matched my #1 with basically zero 'leadership experiences' unless you count being a part of a small council-type thing that didn't do much, and I wasn't AOA, and my Step 1 score was in the 240s not the 250s. I got something around 25 interview offers. Everyone knows you don't have much time in med school. Just be involved with things you like to be involved with, and be involved enough that you can discuss what you were doing in that activity/EC during interviews. Get involved with some ophtho research, if you're doing that master's year that will give you a good opportunity to do that.