Glitch in Backup Plan

[MetrikSystem]

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Hello. MS3 applying for a competitive surgical specialty with mid 240 step 1, honors in surgery and one other field (2/4 so far out of all my rotations) and papers in this specialty field. Realizing I am a middle of the road or below average applicant for this field, I have decided to apply with a backup in either radiology or general surgery. I have found out that specifics of 4th year coursework will go on my transcript which is seen by the programs that I apply to. I am planning on doing 2 or 3 aways in this surgical specialty, and the entire first part of 4th year will be dominated by this specialty. Obviously the backup plan will question this and look poorly on it. My question is, how big of a problem is this, do programs have access to this when they are considering you, or is it only used to verify required coursework before matriculation?

 

[Naruhodo]

I wouldn't worry about it too much. Programs now how crazy competitive some fields are and I think are realistic about sometimes being back-ups. I've met at least one gen surg intern who was very honest about it having been her backup, but so long as she continues to work hard for them her program supports her goals. Just don't be a jerk about it (saying something like "why would I ever want to be a radiologist/gen surgeon?") and be enthusiastic about all you have to learn in residency. Even if you think you're being sneaky about your real goals sometimes people will get a vibe regardless. Do the aways you want and in general (polite) honesty is the best policy.

Others can better answer your question about what programs see and don't see.

 

[OrthoTraumaMD]

If your backup plan is general surgery do at least one rotation in that. That is what I did when I applied backup.


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[WedgeDawg]

Can you say what specialty it is? PM me if you'd like (or don't if you don't feel comfortable revealing it)

 

[Merely]

Why with the extreme anonymity? Who even cares?