Give up on ophtho?

[croissant10947]

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I’ve been interested in ophthalmology for several years now, but I always thought I was not built for it. Not married to the idea of not matching ophtho for sure, but wondering if a failed preclinical course (M1) is the nail in the coffin.

 

[eyeeye_captain]

Well, the good news is that preclinical grades are among the least important factors to match. The bad news is it’s still a red flag, but more importantly it shows that something isn’t clicking with your studying. Going forward this could cause bigger problems for you. Work with your school’s resources to make sure this was a one time unfortunate event. You’ve got a long road ahead before you need to think about specialties.

 

[GoSpursGo]

All roads to success (either in ophtho or your backup) start with doing better on your next exam. Focus on your next exam, worry about your specialty later.

 

[SmurfingReviews]

All roads to success (either in ophtho or your backup) start with doing better on your next exam. Focus on your next exam, worry about your specialty later.

I second this. Better to learn the foundation and be prepared for your clinicals and beyond. Keep your head high and stay strong.

 

[croissant10947]

Well, the good news is that preclinical grades are among the least important factors to match. The bad news is it’s still a red flag, but more importantly it shows that something isn’t clicking with your studying. Going forward this could cause bigger problems for you. Work with your school’s resources to make sure this was a one time unfortunate event. You’ve got a long road ahead before you need to think about specialties.

Thank you for your insight. Fortunately I was notified over the weekend that I actually passed the course, but in terms of where I fall in my cohort, it's not great (a little under 25th percentile). I have been working with my school's academic support resources, and I do feel like they are not super helpful. As an example, I was advised to not use third-party resources and limit myself to 50 anki cards/day. As a result I feel that it's been purely trial & error and a "close my eyes and pray for the best" kind of situation.

 

[RockClimberMed]

Thank you for your insight. Fortunately I was notified over the weekend that I actually passed the course, but in terms of where I fall in my cohort, it's not great (a little under 25th percentile). I have been working with my school's academic support resources, and I do feel like they are not super helpful. As an example, I was advised to not use third-party resources and limit myself to 50 anki cards/day. As a result I feel that it's been purely trial & error and a "close my eyes and pray for the best" kind of situation.

It never ceases to amaze me how useless academic advisors in med school are.

 

[Nontrad_FL_LGBT]

Honestly, I could see why they might say 50 cards/day if you're proving to not retain much. Doing fewer cards may help you retain them better and eventually work up to more as your capacity increases. If you're skinnyfat, you don't start benching plates at the gym right off the bat.

Not using 3P stuff is uniformly stupid advice though.

 

[deleted1192955]

This IS something that you can bounce back from. Pre-read before lectures. Review right after the lectures. Study a summary of what you learned during the week on the weekend, if you can. Summarize the unit and make condensed reviews for yourself.

I wouldn't rely so heavily on the school advisor, because only you know how YOU study best. Do you know if you're a visual/auditory/kinesthetic learner? If not, might be worth finding out. Do you study best first thing in the morning? Late at night? Tailor your studying to the time of day that you're most alert. Lastly, it might help to track your studying somehow--I made a spreadsheet for the MCAT to keep myself accountable. A planner does just the same thing.

It might help to take a closer look at how you're studying than what you're studying (briefly). Make a game plan. See if it works. If not, revise it.

Also, if you can explain a concept to somebody else who is not familiar with it, then you know that you have it down. And study groups are not always the best way to study.

Office hours are good for getting a feel for how your professors structure questions. Get a feel for how they think and what kind of questions they might ask. See if there are any practice exams/study guides/old exams that you can get from upperclassmen or the professor themselves. As long as they don't reuse test questions, it's not cheating.

Bottom line: Only you know what works for you. Spend a little time experimenting and when you find what works, find a way to stick with it.
Good luck!

 

[croissant10947]

Well, the good news is that preclinical grades are among the least important factors to match. The bad news is it’s still a red flag, but more importantly it shows that something isn’t clicking with your studying. Going forward this could cause bigger problems for you. Work with your school’s resources to make sure this was a one time unfortunate event. You’ve got a long road ahead before you need to think about specialties.

Hi again- thank you for giving me advice several weeks ago. I would like to ask you how important numerical pre-clinical grades are in terms of matching. My school is P/F unranked and uses NBME exams. Aside from one exam, I’ve pretty much always been scoring the average (~80%). No one at my institution has ever matched someone into ophthalmology before, so I’m wondering if I should be focusing on my academics more (like aiming for 90% on exams) or trying to network with ophthalmologists in search of research opportunities at the cost of my academics (but I will still ensure that I meet the passing threshold).

Thank you!

 

[NotAProgDirector]

Hold the presses. I think we're missing an important part of the story here.

You mention now that "No one at my institution has ever matched someone into ophthalmology before". That's an enormous red flag of a problem. And suggests that you're not at an MD school (since all USMD schools have likely matched someone into ophthal), and I worry not at a USDO school either. If you're at an international school, this is a whole different discussion.

In any case, if your school has never matched someone to ophthal before, your chances are quite poor. Much of getting a spot is about networking and experience.

 

[croissant10947]

Hold the presses. I think we're missing an important part of the story here.

You mention now that "No one at my institution has ever matched someone into ophthalmology before". That's an enormous red flag of a problem. And suggests that you're not at an MD school (since all USMD schools have likely matched someone into ophthal), and I worry not at a USDO school either. If you're at an international school, this is a whole different discussion.

In any case, if your school has never matched someone to ophthal before, your chances are quite poor. Much of getting a spot is about networking and experience.

I attend a newer USMD school. Thank you for your insight - I do agree that someone matching ophthalmology from my school is virtually near impossible when name brand recognition is very important for the match. I’m most likely going to drop this goal and focus on matching into IM or FM because I am also interested in primary care.

 

[NotAProgDirector]

Well, that's not the end of the world then. If you're at a newer school, then there haven't been many graduating classes and they might be smaller, so quite possible no one has chosen to go into Ophthal. In that case, I think it depends on whether your school has an active Ophthal department. Just affiliations with community Ophthal is unlikely to be successful. You'll want some research in the field to compete. It's competitive, so you'll need to score well on S2. If you're struggling already, you might be better off focusing elsewhere. But, nothing stops you from working towards both goals at the same time.

If there is no solid Ophthal department at your medical school, you're realistically looking at 1-2 gap years to do research and get clinical experience with an established department. You'll need to decide if that's "worth it".

 

[eyeeye_captain]

Hi again- thank you for giving me advice several weeks ago. I would like to ask you how important numerical pre-clinical grades are in terms of matching. My school is P/F unranked and uses NBME exams. Aside from one exam, I’ve pretty much always been scoring the average (~80%). No one at my institution has ever matched someone into ophthalmology before, so I’m wondering if I should be focusing on my academics more (like aiming for 90% on exams) or trying to network with ophthalmologists in search of research opportunities at the cost of my academics (but I will still ensure that I meet the passing threshold).

Thank you!

P/F unranked means it’s the black box that the faculty looking at apps likely hate, but at least it means your numerical grades don’t matter since they won’t be on your transcript. The F will though. Hopefully the NBME format helps, but the average Step 2 for matching last year was 258, which is pretty competitive even among the competitive specialties.

Agree with all of the above. This is a small, relationship driven field. I interviewed at places probably above my app’s pay grade because one of my mentors was low key a big name who was friends with everybody. The lack of a prior match may be few grads, self selection, or lack of exposure. It may also be the lack of a home program, which again I agree, makes life much harder from a connections and research standpoint as departments will cover their home students first.

 

[i-doctor]

I attend a newer USMD school. Thank you for your insight - I do agree that someone matching ophthalmology from my school is virtually near impossible when name brand recognition is very important for the match. I’m most likely going to drop this goal and focus on matching into IM or FM because I am also interested in primary care.

Do not let your being at a new Med School influence your decision. In fact, some ophtho Program Directors have a soft spot for students in your situation. Doing aways, hustling to make connections, and finding research when your med school has no home ophtho program will impress many programs. More so than being one of 20 students at U of Miami applying to ophtho easily finding a research project at Bascom Palmer (home ophtho program).

 

[croissant10947]

Do not let your being at a new Med School influence your decision. In fact, some ophtho Program Directors have a soft spot for students in your situation. Doing aways, hustling to make connections, and finding research when your med school has no home ophtho program will impress many programs. More so than being one of 20 students at U of Miami applying to ophtho easily finding a research project at Bascom Palmer (home ophtho program).

Thank you for the encouragement. I will try my best.

 

[croissant10947]

P/F unranked means it’s the black box that the faculty looking at apps likely hate, but at least it means your numerical grades don’t matter since they won’t be on your transcript. The F will though. Hopefully the NBME format helps, but the average Step 2 for matching last year was 258, which is pretty competitive even among the competitive specialties.

Agree with all of the above. This is a small, relationship driven field. I interviewed at places probably above my app’s pay grade because one of my mentors was low key a big name who was friends with everybody. The lack of a prior match may be few grads, self selection, or lack of exposure. It may also be the lack of a home program, which again I agree, makes life much harder from a connections and research standpoint as departments will cover their home students first.

Thank you for the advice. I recently finished up my first semester of med school. Based on my course average and exam scores, I found that I was roughly at the 50th percentile in my class for this most recent block. So far I’ve had no F’s which is a relief. I do think my study habits could be better because I’m a very disorganized person when it comes to studying.

I’m not sure how to use my winter break productively however. I have only observed outpatient ophtho procedures (mostly laser) so I’m thinking shadowing a cataract surgery or something would be ideal. But I would appreciate your input

 

[eyeeye_captain]

Thank you for the advice. I recently finished up my first semester of med school. Based on my course average and exam scores, I found that I was roughly at the 50th percentile in my class for this most recent block. So far I’ve had no F’s which is a relief. I do think my study habits could be better because I’m a very disorganized person when it comes to studying.

I’m not sure how to use my winter break productively however. I have only observed outpatient ophtho procedures (mostly laser) so I’m thinking shadowing a cataract surgery or something would be ideal. But I would appreciate your input

At least you’re not falling behind. Maybe you’re in with an especially sharp group and being in the middle is fine. Step 2 is kind of a weird beast, or at least it was in my day. If you process clinical scenarios well, you’ll do better than your more basic science type exams. (I was that kid.)

I think the shadowing is worthwhile in terms of seeing the day to day of what 85% of our cohort has as their most common surgery. There’s always retina and plastics, but pretty likely you’d wind up doing it as an attending.

If you do more shadowing, strategically I’d try to find a younger doc with ties to a local residency (trained there, went to school there). We all keep at least a little in touch with our programs and without a home program, it’s probably the closest you can get to making inroads where you’d be most likely to match.