DO interested in Neuro

[robertbobertthehobit]

I've wanted to do neuro for years and have spent time with a few different specialties. I'm just wondering what kind of shot I have and where to focus besides boards. I've thoroughly read just about everything on here. I'm hoping you could help me extrapolate my chances so I can get back to focusing on school

I'm a DO student and haven't taken USMLE/COMLEX yet. I have a grade avg in the low 80's (we don't do 4 pt GPA) and am bottom 25-33% of my class or so. If I do average (by med student standards) clinically in 3rd and 4th year and a bit below avg on COMLEX or like 205-215 step 1 how do I look?

If I can get a small research project or 2 under my belt will this help my chances? Do residency directors look at individual grades much? Many of my hard science courses are in the 70's but Neuroanatomy is in the low 80's.

It is so early to obsess about this but I know many of you have been through this and I have very few resources on how DOs or DOs in my position do in the neuro match other than pure step 1 match data. Anything else I can do to help my chances?

Does anyone have the experience of generally doing great on standardized tests including the MCAT then mediocre in medschool preclinical and still rocking step 1 or is step 1 really just like the preclinical classroom tests? I'm really trying my hardest already.

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[thehomelessguy]

I've wanted to do neuro for years and have spent time with a few different specialties. I'm just wondering what kind of shot I have and where to focus besides boards. I've thoroughly read just about everything on here. I'm hoping you could help me extrapolate my chances so I can get back to focusing on school

I'm a DO student and haven't taken USMLE/COMLEX yet. I have a grade avg in the low 80's (we don't do 4 pt GPA) and am bottom 25-33% of my class or so. If I do average (by med student standards) clinically in 3rd and 4th year and a bit below avg on COMLEX or like 205-215 step 1 how do I look?

If I can get a small research project or 2 under my belt will this help my chances? Do residency directors look at individual grades much? Many of my hard science courses are in the 70's but Neuroanatomy is in the low 80's.

It is so early to obsess about this but I know many of you have been through this and I have very few resources on how DOs or DOs in my position do in the neuro match other than pure step 1 match data. Anything else I can do to help my chances?

Does anyone have the experience of generally doing great on standardized tests including the MCAT then mediocre in medschool preclinical and still rocking step 1 or is step 1 really just like the preclinical classroom tests? I'm really trying my hardest already.

I am a MD M4 who likewise was near the bottom of my class due to the preclinical years (I failed a 2nd year course and was on probation and experienced the first steps my school takes before kicking your butt out). I got a 40R on the MCAT, and did do quite well on Step 1 however (254) and Step 2 (259) so it is possible. Personally I think the step exams were way different than my medical school exams. The medical school exams were lots of regurgitation, especially of stupid pharmaceutical details not tested on the Steps, where I was actually able to develop a bit of strategy with the Steps. Anyways, neuro is not the most competitive field and there were 14 slots this year unmatched that are now in the SOAP, so you have that going for you.

Also, how do you feel about kids? In that is pedi-neuro something you'd consider? It is still a field that is quite unpopular as it requires 5 years of training (compared to just 4 in adult neuro) and is less well compensated than adult neuro (which isn't that high paying of a specialty to begin with). In fact there were twice as many unmatched slots in today's SOAP. Again I don't know how you feel about kids, but I personally find child neurology much more interesting (and have matched into it) with the myriad of metabolic and genetic disorders seen in childhood. I also think there are going to be huge advances in the field as our careers mature and am quite excited about such.

 

[anbuitachi]

I am a MD M4 who likewise was near the bottom of my class due to the preclinical years (I failed a 2nd year course and was on probation and experienced the first steps my school takes before kicking your butt out). I got a 40R on the MCAT, and did do quite well on Step 1 however (254) and Step 2 (259) so it is possible. Personally I think the step exams were way different than my medical school exams. The medical school exams were lots of regurgitation, especially of stupid pharmaceutical details not tested on the Steps, where I was actually able to develop a bit of strategy with the Steps. Anyways, neuro is not the most competitive field and there were 14 slots this year unmatched that are now in the SOAP, so you have that going for you.

Also, how do you feel about kids? In that is pedi-neuro something you'd consider? It is still a field that is quite unpopular as it requires 5 years of training (compared to just 4 in adult neuro) and is less well compensated than adult neuro (which isn't that high paying of a specialty to begin with). In fact there were 28 unmatched slots in today's SOAP (2X adult neuro). Considering that there are only 127 slots total (compared to 400+ in the adult world) this is a huge number. Again I don't know how you feel about kids, but I personally find child neurology much more interesting (and have matched into it) with the myriad of metabolic and genetic disorders seen in childhood. I also think there are going to be huge advances in the field as our careers mature and am quite excited about such.

wow you mustve matched relaly well with those steps. top 10 neuro program probably

 

[thehomelessguy]

wow you mustve matched relaly well with those steps. top 10 neuro program probably

I haven't got my child neurology match results (it'll happen this Friday obviously) however I only obtained interviews at 3 of what people would consider the top 10 in the field and got rejected from the rest (though I didn't apply to two). Grades do matter, but even the mid-tier residencies I was very happy with when I interviewed at them. Many also take DO's regularly so there are definitely some great options out there even if you don't have perfect grades and are worried about the DO/MD thing.

I actually ended up ranking a mid-tier institution number 2 (close to wife's family/ they had really dedicated faculty/ the facility and institution as a whole is really making great strides), so unless I get my number 1 choice I'll likely end up there. I'd be very surprised if I dropped farther down my match list.

 

[anbuitachi]

I haven't got my child neurology match results (it'll happen this Friday obviously) however I only obtained interviews at 3 of what people would consider the top 10 in the field and got rejected from the rest (though I didn't apply to two). Grades do matter, but even the mid-tier residencies I was very happy with when I interviewed at them. Many also take DO's regularly so there are definitely some great options out there even if you don't have perfect grades and are worried about the DO/MD thing.

I actually ended up ranking a mid-tier institution number 2 (close to wife's family/ they had really dedicated faculty/ the facility and institution as a whole is really making great strides), so unless I get my number 1 choice I'll likely end up there. I'd be very surprised if I dropped farther down my match list.

Oh man, so competitive ugh.

 

[SportsDOc2251]

I am a MD M4 who likewise was near the bottom of my class due to the preclinical years (I failed a 2nd year course and was on probation and experienced the first steps my school takes before kicking your butt out). I got a 40R on the MCAT, and did do quite well on Step 1 however (254) and Step 2 (259) so it is possible. Personally I think the step exams were way different than my medical school exams. The medical school exams were lots of regurgitation, especially of stupid pharmaceutical details not tested on the Steps, where I was actually able to develop a bit of strategy with the Steps. Anyways, neuro is not the most competitive field and there were 14 slots this year unmatched that are now in the SOAP, so you have that going for you.

Also, how do you feel about kids? In that is pedi-neuro something you'd consider? It is still a field that is quite unpopular as it requires 5 years of training (compared to just 4 in adult neuro) and is less well compensated than adult neuro (which isn't that high paying of a specialty to begin with). In fact there were twice as many unmatched slots in today's SOAP. Again I don't know how you feel about kids, but I personally find child neurology much more interesting (and have matched into it) with the myriad of metabolic and genetic disorders seen in childhood. I also think there are going to be huge advances in the field as our careers mature and am quite excited about such.

Is the anyway to see the SOAP unfilled programs or do you currently have to be participating in the match to see it?

 

[rjgennarelli]

I haven't got my child neurology match results (it'll happen this Friday obviously) however I only obtained interviews at 3 of what people would consider the top 10 in the field and got rejected from the rest (though I didn't apply to two). Grades do matter, but even the mid-tier residencies I was very happy with when I interviewed at them. Many also take DO's regularly so there are definitely some great options out there even if you don't have perfect grades and are worried about the DO/MD thing.

I actually ended up ranking a mid-tier institution number 2 (close to wife's family/ they had really dedicated faculty/ the facility and institution as a whole is really making great strides), so unless I get my number 1 choice I'll likely end up there. I'd be very surprised if I dropped farther down my match list.

Just out of curiosity, did you get your #1/#2 choice?

 

[MedStud!]

I've wanted to do neuro for years and have spent time with a few different specialties. I'm just wondering what kind of shot I have and where to focus besides boards. I've thoroughly read just about everything on here. I'm hoping you could help me extrapolate my chances so I can get back to focusing on school

I'm a DO student and haven't taken USMLE/COMLEX yet. I have a grade avg in the low 80's (we don't do 4 pt GPA) and am bottom 25-33% of my class or so. If I do average (by med student standards) clinically in 3rd and 4th year and a bit below avg on COMLEX or like 205-215 step 1 how do I look?

If I can get a small research project or 2 under my belt will this help my chances? Do residency directors look at individual grades much? Many of my hard science courses are in the 70's but Neuroanatomy is in the low 80's.

It is so early to obsess about this but I know many of you have been through this and I have very few resources on how DOs or DOs in my position do in the neuro match other than pure step 1 match data. Anything else I can do to help my chances?

Does anyone have the experience of generally doing great on standardized tests including the MCAT then mediocre in medschool preclinical and still rocking step 1 or is step 1 really just like the preclinical classroom tests? I'm really trying my hardest already.

When it comes to the Step exams... you are probably going to perform about as well as the effort you put into it compared to other students like you. I'm not sure what the average score for DOs and how long the average study time is... but lets say that for MDs the average is 225 and most study for 6 weeks. I was an "average" medical student... so if I studied for about 6 weeks its very likely I would score around 225. That was not good enough so I started studying much earlier. I actually started studying five months in advance. I did all of UWorld and Kaplan question banks and went through First Aid three times. If I had to do it again I would probably have ditched a question bank in lieu of a good pathology review like Goljan's or Pathoma. 80% of the exam is organ systems pathophysiology so that s what you should really focus on. I ended up with a low 240's score.

Also, our school is a respectable institution and there are quite a few IMG's in our program. If you apply widely I don't see any reason why you couldn't match.

 

[thehomelessguy]

Just out of curiosity, did you get your #1/#2 choice?

Actually no fell to number 4 (Baylor) which is actually a better program than my number 2 but farther away from family. Number 3 was also very competitive and better than Baylor in my opinion. Note Baylor's child program doesn't have the same concerns as the adult where there are rumors of extremely heavy workloads and they cover 4 different hospitals.