Good places to do Sub-I/AI

[addy]

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What are some good places to do SubI/AI's if one hopes to land a good, academic surgical program with hopes of entering SurgOnc or CT in the long run? Mayo or UMichigan are already on my list. No restrictions geographically or care about big vs small city, etc.

Thanks a bunch

EDIT: Stats-- mid-230s step 1, 6 pubs (no 1st author), 8 or so abstracts, bottom quartile of class (extenuating circumstance, explainable). lower-tier med school on east coast.

 

[addy]

Not sure about Mayo; also not sure I'd want to train there from some second hand stuff I've heard.

Mind sharing? I feel like I've drank the kool-aid, hard.

Thanks for your input!

 

[joker2400]

IMHO I don't think an away will overcome your #s/rank at a place like Michigan. Not sure about Mayo; also not sure I'd want to train there from some second hand stuff I've heard.

I think your goal based on your numbers is to try and land a "top 20-30" program, not a top 5.

Emory, UVA, Minnesota, Iowa, Indiana, Cincinnati, Louisville, UTSW, UNC, UAB, Wake come to mind to name a few

I agree wholeheartedly about Michigan

 

[SLUser11]

EDIT: Stats-- mid-230s step 1, 6 pubs (no 1st author), 8 or so abstracts, bottom quartile of class (extenuating circumstance, explainable). lower-tier med school on east coast.

This isn't a classic WAMC thread, but I encourage you to take Step 2 at the beginning of your 4th year. 230's aren't as impressive as they used to be now that the mean score has moved up so much.

Being in the bottom quartile of your class is going to be your biggest obstacle. Everyone with a blemish on their record reports "extenuating circumstances" and believes they are "explainable," but it's still a huge red flag, regardless of the details. The way to overcome this is by demonstrating that your clinical skills are excellent (honoring rotations, doing well on step 2, etc, obviously easier said than done), and choosing your letter writers well.

Good luck!

 

[addy]

This isn't a classic WAMC thread, but I encourage you to take Step 2 at the beginning of your 4th year. 230's aren't as impressive as they used to be now that the mean score has moved up so much.

Being in the bottom quartile of your class is going to be your biggest obstacle. Everyone with a blemish on their record reports "extenuating circumstances" and believes they are "explainable," but it's still a huge red flag, regardless of the details. The way to overcome this is by demonstrating that your clinical skills are excellent (honoring rotations, doing well on step 2, etc, obviously easier said than done), and choosing your letter writers well.

Good luck!

Wow, it's kinda wild because during my first two years the upper classmen used to say that pre-clinical grades don't matter much. I'm surprised how unanimously people are noting this to be my biggest obstacle-- wish I had known this during M1/M2 years. Sigh.

 

[muleta4]

This is not picking on you, but more to alert other med students reading this thread. The lesson here is that for top programs, EVERYTHING is important. Sure, some aspects of your app matter more than others but you are doing yourself a disservice if you don't think top programs look at every part of your app.

EDIT: clarified my point in the last sentence

 

[addy]

This is not picking on you, but more to alert other med students reading this thread. The lesson here is that for top programs, EVERYTHING is important. Sure, some aspects of your app matter more than others but you are doing yourself a disservice if you coast through some parts of med school and still want to go to the top places.

I'm not taking this as picking. I'm glad to hear how things really are.

Just FYI, though-- I didn't coast. I just didn't take the time to lose sleep over little minutia that was embedded in slide 53/784. And based on IM rounds, I definitely retained more in the long run than the current valedictorian of our class. Not justifying anything, just saying that just because you're not in top quartile doesn't mean you're not as serious about learning/competent. But that's an argument for another time.

 

[muleta4]

I'm not taking this as picking. I'm glad to hear how things really are.

Just FYI, though-- I didn't coast. I just didn't take the time to lose sleep over little minutia that was embedded in slide 53/784. And based on IM rounds, I definitely retained more in the long run than the current valedictorian of our class. Not justifying anything, just saying that just because you're not in top quartile doesn't mean you're not as serious about learning/competent. But that's an argument for another time.

For sure, and coast was probably a poor choice of words. At my school learning every bit of minutia wasn't necessary to get into the top of the class but I know that's not the case everywhere. Anyway, as I'm sure you're aware, what's done is done and now just make sure you rock the rest of your clinicals and aways. Good luck!

 

[surgicel]

IMHO I don't think an away will overcome your #s/rank at a place like Michigan. Not sure about Mayo; also not sure I'd want to train there from some second hand stuff I've heard.

I think your goal based on your numbers is to try and land a "top 20-30" program, not a top 5.

Emory, UVA, Minnesota, Iowa, Indiana, Cincinnati, Louisville, UTSW, UNC, UAB, Wake come to mind to name a few

So what stuff have you heard about Mayo training, please pm me if you don't want to mention here, I'm interested in knowing.