How competitive is it to do the combined plastic surgery

[Reborn24]

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general surgery, then plastics fellowship. How many spots are there?

 

[Pir8DeacDoc]

can't answer your direct question as to number of spots because the number fluctuates from year to year and I'm just an MS-4 and haven't applied to know. However, it is becoming increasingly competitive. Tons of residents look to do plastics fellowship. I heard it might become as tough as peds surg soon...


Also as an aside to help you with your nomenclature, fellowship programs are just called fellowship... "Combined" designates one of the types of programs that one can match into out of med school.

 

[Winged Scapula]

One of the most difficult matches...

moving to the PRS subforum...

 

[Plastikos]

i believe there were 300 apps for 100 spots, more competitive every year.

 

[USCTex]

I think the applicants-to-matched ratio for integrated plastics is easily the worst of all matches with derm trailing far behind in second place.

I'm not interested in plastics but the publicly available numbers on the integrated plastics match are just absurd. Anyone who has applied or is interested in plastics, how much self selection goes on? It seems that maybe integrated has actually more marginally qualified applicants than say other competitive surgical specialities, because there's the more traditional gen surgery pathway to plastics as a "backup".

But maybe not...

 

[ms697]

i believe there were 300 apps for 100 spots, more competitive every year.

Had a chance to read the plastic surgery chapter by Gregory Borschel in the book, "The Ultimate Guide To Choosing a Medical Specialty." He says that the match rate for US Seniors who apply ONLY to plastics combined/integrated programs is 50%.

When it comes down to it, >100 people out of the "300" yearly applicants are either FMGs or applicants who are double applying. Hope this helps.

 

[Reborn24]

I think the applicants-to-matched ratio for integrated plastics is easily the worst of all matches with derm trailing far behind in second place.

I'm not interested in plastics but the publicly available numbers on the integrated plastics match are just absurd. Anyone who has applied or is interested in plastics, how much self selection goes on? It seems that maybe integrated has actually more marginally qualified applicants than say other competitive surgical specialities, because there's the more traditional gen surgery pathway to plastics as a "backup".

But maybe not...

so the chances of you becoming a plastic surgeon is quite good if you don't mind the long route?

 

[pixies]

Had a chance to read the plastic surgery chapter by Gregory Borschel in the book, "The Ultimate Guide To Choosing a Medical Specialty." He says that the match rate for US Seniors who apply ONLY to plastics combined/integrated programs is 50%.

When it comes down to it, >100 people out of the "300" yearly applicants are either FMGs or applicants who are double applying. Hope this helps.

Double applying doesn't mean much though. Lots of VERY qualified applicants apply to GS also, so you really have to count them all. That said, I think the overall match rate is approximately as accurate as that for other specialties, and it falls somewhere around 25-35% as far as I know.

so the chances of you becoming a plastic surgeon is quite good if you don't mind the long route?

I don't want to scare you and give you the doomsday prognosis. Fact is, I would say the answer to your question is that correct, if you really want to do it, you have a very good chance of getting to do it. It may take you longer, and it will definitely take a lot of hard work.

Looking at the combined/integrated match (straight out of med school), if you have a reasonably solid app, the 25-35% match rate doesn't mean much. Essentially, I think the distribution of better/worse applicants is the same in the plastics pool as in other specialties. However, whereas in other specialties there are so many spots that the "other 65-75%" will still match, in plastics they won't because there aren't enough spots. I had a pretty solid app for other competitive specialties, but was scared by the plastics match. However, in actuality, the match rate probably doesn't matter much to me since I'm in that 25-35%.

That said, before people jump on me, let me just say it hasn't gone to my head. I still wake up in a cold sweat not infrequently fearing that I won't match. I'm just saying purely in terms of my app, which is by no means a guarantee.

Now, if you don't get in, there's the chance to get in via GS. While the match there isn't great either, it's a second shot. You have the chance to work your butt off in residency, make the right moves, and match into a fellowship.

Then, if you don't get in from there, you can do a hand surgery fellowship to try to get into a plastics fellowship, which many GS residents do. Lastly, if you don't get in then, my guess is that you could get in later after having made some connections. My sense is that relationships and connections matter more in terms of fellowships, and you have a better shot of making connections as a resident than as a student, and as an attending than as a resident.

Of course, then you have to add on the possibility that you don't match from med school, and decide later that you don't want to do it anyway -- a significant possibility. In the end, you do something else that you end up liking more than you think you would have liked plastics, and it's all good.

pix

 

[jdubya]

I'm at a program now that got somewhere between 250 and 300 applications this year. The sad truth is that of these, there were very few "reach" applicants. By and large, most of those 300 or so were legitimate candidates who would have an easy time in almost any other specialty.

 

[Wahoos]

I am doing my plastics surgery rotation now and I spoke with the fellowship director about our plastics program. This year, we had about 200 applications from General surgery Chiefs, PGY-3s, and other attending level general surgeons. There is only 2 spots here. Soo 100 apps/1 spot is pretty competitive. Overall the match rate for integrated plastics out of medical school is probably the toughest match out there, followed by Derm, then probably Ortho/ENT. If you go the general surgery pathway, your chances are slightly better, but still a very very tough match. Esp, given that the 2 spots here at our program is pretty much filled already from people that knows the program director.... we will still be interviewing, but the spots are kinda already taken, and I know this happens at alot of places.
Hope this helps

 

[Wahoos]

I am doing my plastics surgery rotation now and I spoke with the fellowship director about our plastics program. (I am an Ortho resident) This year, we had about 200 applications from General surgery Chiefs, PGY-3s, and other attending level general surgeons. There is only 2 spots here. Soo 100 apps/1 spot is pretty competitive. Overall the match rate for integrated plastics out of medical school is probably the toughest match out there, followed by Derm, then probably Ortho/ENT. If you go the general surgery pathway, your chances are slightly better, but still a very very tough match. Esp, given that the 2 spots here at our program is pretty much filled already from people that knows the program director.... we will still be interviewing, but the spots are kinda already taken, and I know this happens at alot of places.
Hope this helps

 

[navysurgeon]

i am a general surgey attending

i applied for plastics last year, and matched. i start my plastics training this july 2006.

there was 3 applicants for every one spot last year.

a few people withdrew prior to the match, plenty of folks were not ranked by programs, making the match rate about 55%.

apply if you're interested, but know that its competetive, and make some back up plans (like a 'real' job, or another fellowship) after residency.

xTNS

 

[afreakforjc]

Overall the match rate for integrated plastics out of medical school is probably the toughest match out there, followed by Derm, then probably Ortho/ENT.

Not to be contradictory for the sake of it (I'm a PRS app this year myself, so I have nothing to gain, but to the defense of my med student friends who are applying this year) the numbers show Rad Onc being the worst match. When you've got like a dozen applicants coming out of Harvard and Yale this year, you know it's a tough year to them. My hat off...

Then comes, IMH-and-only-slightly-well-informed-O: plastics, then derm...

...and after that it's a different ballgame, because ENT (per another med stud friend) has about a 75% match rate, and I think ortho/ophtho are similiar...

 

[USCTex]

It is extremely difficult to compare residencies except for the SF Match programs (namely ophthalmology, neurosurg, and until recently ENT), which release detailed statistics.

I however like the US applicant - to - Spot ratio to judge a residencies' competitiveness. Even this can be misleading, but it does give at least a sense. Under this comparison integrated plastics runs away with it. There were more than 3 US applicants for every spot last year.

I've just listed some for 2005 data for comparison below. Keep in mind the limits of this comparison which doesn't account for very strong forces like self selection or the fact of applicants to multiple specialities (for example, plastic surg and gen surg or neuro and gen surg or ortho and gen surg). That latter consideration may help explain general surgeries' ratio, which at least to me seems high.

This data is also for everyone who submitted applications, not for everyone submitted rank lists.

Integrated Plastics
US Applicants 275
Spots 81
App-to-Spots 3.39

Derm
US Appicants 709
Spots 316
App-to-Spots 2.24

Radiation Oncology
US Applicants 267
Spots 137
App-to-Spots 1.95

General Surg
US Applicants 1978
Spots 1051
App-to-Spots 1.88

Ortho
US Applicants 1002
Spots 610
App-to-Spots 1.64

Radiology
US Applicants 1467
Spots 1018
App-to-Spots 1.44

Anesthesia
US Applicants 1767
Spots 1283
App-to-Spots 1.38

Pediatrics
US Applicants 2394
Spots 2269
App-to-Spots 1.05

Medicine
US Applicants 4859
Spots 4768
App-to-Spots 1.02

Family Practice
US Applicants 2332
Spots 2761
App-to-Spots .84

As for the early matches, we can't get the same data for them but we do get more complete data.

2006 Neurosurgery - US Applicant Match Rate: 88%
2006 Ophthalmology - US Applicant Match Rate: 88%

I guess this thread has gotten a little off topic but hopefully this will shed some light on the match.