Gap Year Advice

[saintANDRW]

Advertisement - Members don't see this ad

M3 about to start M4 here with ~ 6 months to ERAS with a new interest in neurosurgery (surgery was my last M3 rotation and neurosurgery was my subspecialty). Recently got my step 1 score back (27x) and was wondering if a gap year would absolutely be needed to match if I can squeeze 2 pubs by ERAS ? ( 0 pubs, 5 presentations/posters currently)
Also, how do I go about searching for research opportunities outside of my institution, any tips ?

 

[longhaul3]

M3 about to start M4 here with ~ 6 months to ERAS with a new interest in neurosurgery (surgery was my last M3 rotation and neurosurgery was my subspecialty). Recently got my step 1 score back (27x) and was wondering if a gap year would absolutely be needed to match if I can squeeze 2 pubs by ERAS ? ( 0 pubs, 5 presentations/posters currently)
Also, how do I go about searching for research opportunities outside of my institution, any tips ?

Absolutely needed? No.

Will you definitely match if you don't? No.

Will you definitely match if you do? No—neurosurgery is crazy.

A few things to consider: what school do you go to? More prestigious schools with bigger name departments will set you up much better. Based on your asking about extramural research, I assume it's not a tippy top school.

What are your goals? Being brand new to neurosurgery you may not know. If you want to be a niche academic surgeon in an ivory tower you may need a research year to improve your chance of matching at a place that really values it. But beware that these programs are not necessarily the "best" by any means.

It all comes down to your risk tolerance. Talk to your home department and see if you can get someone in the know to honestly assess your application.

 

[mmmcdowe]

Agree, everything is relative to yourself. Would another 10 publications make you stronger than 2 (fwiw unlikely to get an acceptance in 6 months if you aren't on the verge of submitting now), yes. Do you want to be a researcher/academic some day? Contrary to the Koolaid they serve at the top academic institutions, it is totally okay to go into a nonacademic job. If you genuinely want to be an academic, probably worth boosting your stats with some pubs and shooting for a program that will be able to better support your aspirations.

 

[saintANDRW]

TBH I have 0 interest in going into academics. I just want to become your good ol' community neurosurgeon who is great at doing his job so matching anywhere would be okay for me. So far I have gotten mixed responses regarding taking a gap year from faculty at my school and internet strangers.