First Year Medical Student

[MD2BN10]

I am a first-year medical student who is uncertain which field of medicine I would like to pursue. What should I do now that would allow me to be a competitive residency applicant, no matter which field I choose?

For example:

Should I do my research in a more competitive field, like Derm, in case I do choose a competitive speciality?

My school is pass/fail. Should I still strive to be at the top of my class?

I don't have any doctors in my family and would love any advice that you all may offer. Thanks.

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[drwatson]

First off, you are not alone. There are many 4th year students who don't know what they want to do (and residents too I would imagine). I would start by shadowing. Limit it to a half day at a time and ask as many questions as you can about the speciality you are shadowing.

The generic response to every question in third year is "look it up and get back to me."The generic response to your question is "just do your best, study hard, and do well on Step 1." Mainly, since your school is only pass/fail just sack up and do well on Step 1. In the meantime just learn and try to stay balanced. Most first year stuff isn't stressed on Step1 anyway.

I get the impression, I could be wrong, that research is research. Ortho or derm or peds, it doesn't really matter. It is more the process of research than anything else. It looks great on a CV, but not having it probably won't disqualify you from a residency.

In short, do well on Step1, make sure you have a life (even a small one) outside of med school, and you will be well prepared for most every field.

Good luck!

 

[gutonc]

I get the impression, I could be wrong, that research is research. Ortho or derm or peds, it doesn't really matter. It is more the process of research than anything else. It looks great on a CV, but not having it probably won't disqualify you from a residency.
Good luck!

This isn't entirely true. yes, for GS, Peds, IM, etc., research is research. For the more competitive specialties, people will be expecting you to do research in that particular field. No matter how great your endocrinology research is, neurosurgery programs will think it's total crap. As an example, an MD/PhD, AOA classmate of mine did some great molecular neuroscience work for her PhD but decided to go into Derm. Every single program questioned why she didn't do Derm research for her PhD and only cared about the Derm research (and papers) she managed to squeeze (I don't know how) into her 3rd and 4th years.

So if you think you want to do something uber-competitive, do your research in that area. The generalists will be impressed with researtch no matter what it is as long as its interesting.