general advice for residency planning

Started by jms88
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jms88

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Having just completed the med school application process, I've learned an important lesson: start planning early for your next steps.

To that end, I'll begin planning my residency application before I start med school in the Fall.

I wonder if anybody can recommend books, websites, e-books, etc., To help me begin to learn about the residency application process.

Thanks!
 
i think you may be way ahead of yourself. you're not even in medical school yet, and you have quite a way to go!

you may think you know what you want to do when you finish school... but oftentimes, one's idea of what they wanted to do before their 1st year of medical school may change by their 3rd or 4th year.
for myself, i thought i wanted to be an orthopedic surgeon before medical school... until i quickly learned that i didn't like anatomy, amongst other things. now i'm a 3rd year internal medicine resident. if i had started my application before i started medical school, it would have been futile.

add to that, the application (eras) for residency isn't very long and definitely isn't as tedious as that for medical school.

i'd suggest perusing this website.
there is "1st aid for applying to resdiency" amongst other books out there.

but in the end, i think you should just wait and enjoy (lol) your first two years of medical school before thinking about your application for residency.
 
elwademd said:
i think you may be way ahead of yourself. you're not even in medical school yet, and you have quite a way to go!

you may think you know what you want to do when you finish school... but oftentimes, one's idea of what they wanted to do before their 1st year of medical school may change by their 3rd or 4th year.
for myself, i thought i wanted to be an orthopedic surgeon before medical school... until i quickly learned that i didn't like anatomy, amongst other things. now i'm a 3rd year internal medicine resident. if i had started my application before i started medical school, it would have been futile.

add to that, the application (eras) for residency isn't very long and definitely isn't as tedious as that for medical school.

i'd suggest perusing this website.
there is "1st aid for applying to resdiency" amongst other books out there.

but in the end, i think you should just wait and enjoy (lol) your first two years of medical school before thinking about your application for residency.
Click to expand...

Agree with above. To the OP...I like where your head's at, but if you put your residency planning on hold until, say, the end of your second year, you'll still have plenty of time to explore and seek advice AND you'll still be ahead of the curve relative to most of your peers (at that point). No need to rush at this point...you still have to pass your pre-clinical courses for God's sake!
 
Don't worry about the application per se, but if you really care to stay on top of things, check out a book like Iserson's Residency Guide. It can give you tips on what each specialty is looking for, and info like who expects research, AOA status, etc. It's not a bad book to buy, either, because you will be using it more in depth when you begin to apply.

One thing I did find helpful was to keep a copy of my med school app. You'll need to create a CV, and it is easier to do when you have your med app readily available.
 
Summer before med school: Relax and do nothing.

MS-1: Do the best you can studying, and in your free time (yes, you will have some after you stop freaking out during your first semester) relax, play softball, exercise, cook, whatever.

Summer between MS-1 and MS-2: You can still relax and do nothing. You absolutely do not need to do anything during this time.
  • About doing a summer of research. Some medical students seem to think that you can do some minor research and maybe help your residency applications that way. I went home and loafed around that summer; nobody will ever ask you what you did, or "Why didn't you do anything during the summer between MS-1 and MS-2?"
  • About "reading ahead." Many medical students are tempted to review what they learned in MS-1, or try to read ahead a little for MS-2. Reviewing is, for the most part, NOT helpful and is a waste of precious beach and party time. The ONLY exception that I would suggest could be moderately helpful is getting a copy of BRS Physiology (or other choice of USMLE physiology review book, but BRS works for sure) if you didn't already get one during first year; you can read it casually and get familiar with the book during the summer, as during your Step 1 review you will almost certainly read it, and it will go faster the second time than the first.

MS-2 first semester: Again, just study as best you can for your classes and relax during your free time. If you wish, you can buy First Aid for the USMLE Step I in September when your classes start, and casually look at it alongside your course study. However, it's not particularly useful for classes anyway and I did not get mine until January (see below), since January is when they always publish the newest edition annually.

December-ish of MS-2 year: Whenever your school sends you your USMLE registration information, register for Step I. You'll need to fill out some forms and send them a check for a hefty amount of money.
  • About choosing a date. Most students take 2-5 weeks to study after the end of their second year final exams. I recommend leaving at 1 week's vacation time after your Step I so you can relax before starting 3rd year. 3-4 weeks is sufficient for most people and scores do not go up after that.
  • About choosing a testing center. You can take it anywhere in the country -- at home, or at school. If you can handle studying alone, you might like going home to get away from packs of intensely obsessive medical students. Or if you need some pressure from the crowd, stay at school.

January of MS-2 year: Buy First Aid for the USMLE Step I. Glance at it throughout second semester.

March - May of MS-2 year: Order a Kaplan Qbank subscription. Note that the number of questions they offer is the same, but the longer you want access to the web site, the more you have to pay. Buy a subscription for no more than 3 months; in retrospect, a 1 month subscription ought to be plenty (even if you order a 3 month subscription, you will do virtually no practice questions for Step 1 for the first 2 months before you've read enough and while you're still passing your course exams).

Well, that should carry you through for the first two years, and this is getting long... more than you need to know!
 
Agree with the excellent advice above. You just finished hearing from med schools a couple months ago - now's DEFINITELY too early to worry about residency, Step 1, research etc. Just relax and enjoy the summer before starting school again.
 
Bertelman said:
Don't worry about the application per se, but if you really care to stay on top of things, check out a book like Iserson's Residency Guide.
Click to expand...

NOOOOOO!!!!!

Unless of course you're trying to get the OP to quit med school now and go to law school (which is a different thread altogether).

Iserson's should be avoided like the plague until you have your 2nd or perhaps 3rd attending job. Then you can read it like the horror/comedy it really is and get a good laugh out of it. If you read it for advice you will be stressed out beyond belief. And if you (the OP) read it at this point in your career you will run screaming from your first anatomy lecture and never come back (again...this may or may not be a good thing).

So what should you do? Aside from Iserson's, all of the advice so far in this thread is good. Keep your med school app materials (because you'll forget stuff). If you have a particular interest, try to find a mentor to shadow. And if it's something that requires a long training stint (any of the surgery specialties, cards, IR, etc) be sure to try to shadow a resident or 3. Sure, residency isn't your career but if doing the residency makes you jump off the roof of the hospital it won't much matter how much you want to do the specialty.
 
Iserson's is, in my humble opinion, an outdated, old-fashioned, wooden waste of the hefty $50 it costs to buy it new.

I got a copy as a 2nd year med student (4 years ago now) and it had an entire chapter on how to format your CV with a typewriter, and another chapter about how big the margins should be and whether you should double space your personal statement. All of that completely irrelevant on the ERAS web site. Their sample CV was embarrassingly bad and I can't imagine how anyone could get hired with it. The personal statement was even worse. And the author waxed on about whether it was okay for women to wear pants suits (irrelevant, really, since pants and skirts are both fine at interviews), and spent another chapter trying to explain how to pack a suitcase and how airline carry-on luggage policies work.

Iserson's is an awful book. But it has very little competition and a book (any book) is helpful. So it does its job. First Aid for the Match is an equally good guide that tells you the exact same information, for a little bit cheaper, it's easier to read and it is a little more updated.
 
Full Disclosure:
I do not purport that Iserson's is a vital tool for all med students. It is just a tool, and yes it has its own strengths and weaknesses. Some people will find it dreadful, while others will find the guidance quite helpful.

The OP asked specifically for advice on a book to aid the residency app process. As Jenny stated, Iserson's has little competition in this area, especially as it pertains to specific advice suited for new med students.

Do I personally believe the OP would do well to just ignore residency for the moment and enjoy his new life as a soon-to-be med student? Of course.

Do I think Iserson's will permanently scar this person, pushing him/her to the brink of sanity? If so, I shudder to think of the OP's frail psyche and lack of insight, and pray for him/her to survive the myriad other assaults on his sanity that med school will deliver.

Just get the book, read it, take it with a grain of salt, and either commit yourself to accepting some of the sage advice or banish it and worry about residency during your fourth year.
 
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