Future Ophthalmologist with questions??

[bruinteg]

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[JR]

Hey bruintag,

Welcome to the forum! It just so happens that our backgrounds are quite similar- I grew up in SoCal (undergrad/medschool), did electives at both Jules Stein (with the same retina chief!) and Doheny. And now I am finishing my second ophtho year in Maryland. How's that for similar 😉 .

Your stats and research look fine, but one thing I can tell you- you can never count on going to a specific program, especially programs like JS and DEI. No matter who's got your back. Just do your best, but apply broadly and have safety programs on your list.

Do a thread search on doing electives vs. staying away from doing them- you'll find an even 50/50 split in opinions. My personal take is don't do them if you look good on paper. You never know who may not like your background, personality, accent, etc., etc.

If you have specific questions about Maryland programs feel free to PM me or post here.

Good luck!

 

[bruinteg]

Hey bruintag,

Welcome to the forum! It just so happens that our backgrounds are quite similar- I grew up in SoCal (undergrad/medschool), did electives at both Jules Stein (with the same retina chief!) and Doheny. And now I am finishing my second ophtho year in Maryland. How's that for similar 😉 .

Your stats and research look fine, but one thing I can tell you- you can never count on going to a specific program, especially programs like JS and DEI. No matter who's got your back. Just do your best, but apply broadly and have safety programs on your list.

Do a thread search on doing electives vs. staying away from doing them- you'll find an even 50/50 split in opinions. My personal take is don't do them if you look good on paper. You never know who may not like your background, personality, accent, etc., etc.

If you have specific questions about Maryland programs feel free to PM me or post here.

Good luck!

First off thank you for ur reply. Quite a similarity . I know there are 4 programs out in Maryland - can u give me some insight on those?

 

[JR]

What info are you looking for?

 

[bruinteg]

Well - what program are you at? Likes and dislikes? what stands out at ur program that influenced you? How does it compare to the away electives that you did during 4th year? the surrounding city?

 

[exmike]

Hello everybody. I'm in my 3rd year of medschool and am looking towards an ophthalmology career. I did go thru the thread up top and that was very helpful. However, I do have some questions and do request any advice/suggestions as to what I should do in the next upcoming months. Let me give a bit of info about myself first.

School: University of Toledo (formerly Medical College of Ohio)
School rank: ??
USMLE Step 1 score: 249
Class rank: currently 19 out of 138
Basic science years: all Honors except for two High passes
Clinical years: High pass in Medicne, Peds, and Family
Past work experience:
2 years at Jules Stein Eye Institute Retina division -worked
as a technician, OCT imaging, training (pretty much clinical)
2 months (btwn 1st and 2nd years) clinical research at Jules
Stein with 2 projects one of which is in the process of being
published

The first place where I would want to do a residency would be California and second, Maryland. Both for being close to family and friends. However, my top choice would be Southern Cali - especially Jules Stein and Doheny for obvious reasons. The chief of the retina divison and most of the retina docs have my back almost completely for admissions purposes.

I'm planning to do away electives at Jules Stein and Doheny, hopefully, in July and August, then take Step 2CK end of September. And then hopefully, do an away in Maryland. Does this sound reasonable - any suggestions, changes, opinions so far?

Looking at my bio what are ur thoughts about my chances of getting into one of the higher ranked programs? or Southern California (which I lived in for 20 yrs of my life)? Jules Stein?

What do other residencies think of when I've done so much at one particular place - would they be inclined to not rank me thinking I won't rank them?

I know this is a long post to read - no hurries in ur responses - but I do thank those in advance for their time and feedback. Let me know of any other things I haven't included.

I'm a LA native with ties to maryland (college) going to med school in ohio. there cant be that many of us can there?!?

 

[JR]

Well - what program are you at? Likes and dislikes? what stands out at ur program that influenced you? How does it compare to the away electives that you did during 4th year? the surrounding city?

Here is some information about my program:

http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/wilmer/education/residency/faq/

Hope this helps.