General Surg Prelim vs Transitional/Traditional Internship

[DocEspana]

So I have a question.

If I am trying to be sure I have a good backup if urology doesnt match and I need a "bridge" year for a second try. I am a DO student so we have tons of "traditional rotating internships" which are more or less identical to the transitional year in the MD end. So my question here is what would be a better backup to actually have a good chance at a second round at urology.

A prelim surgery year or a "TRI" (which for the sake of the argument treat identical to a transitional year), which is best for my chances? I think a prelim surgery probably gives me the best odds just becase I can slip right in, but the TRI gives me some time to do some research on the side while doing it too, which may help me out.

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[infantrydoc]

Go for a Preliminary Surgery Internship, that way you won't have to repeat the internship if you get selected for urology. You can also do a "surgical heavy" transitional year if you fail to match in a prelim surgical internship; however, this is less likely to convalidate the pre-urology requirements.

good luck!

 

[Sol Rosenberg]

So I have a question.

If I am trying to be sure I have a good backup if urology doesnt match and I need a "bridge" year for a second try. I am a DO student so we have tons of "traditional rotating internships" which are more or less identical to the transitional year in the MD end. So my question here is what would be a better backup to actually have a good chance at a second round at urology.

A prelim surgery year or a "TRI" (which for the sake of the argument treat identical to a transitional year), which is best for my chances? I think a prelim surgery probably gives me the best odds just becase I can slip right in, but the TRI gives me some time to do some research on the side while doing it too, which may help me out.

To answer your question, it probably doesn't matter. A prelim surgery year is brutal, you won't have much, if any, time to work with urology people to do research/whatever, and you likely won't get credit for that year.

I would find a research position in urology somewhere (preferably with big names,) if your focus is on improving your chances to match on your second try. But if you are not considering that and you want me to answer based just on the choices you gave, I would go with the transition year because it will give you way more time to work on research and actually do urology. Not to mention that it will probably give you more freedom to take time off to interview.