how do i know which specialty/residency prog to apply to?

[rachana]

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hi,

I'm an MSII without much of an idea yet of what specialty or residency program I want to enter.... I'm confused b/c you don't have an opportunity to do an elective rotation till about June (toward end of MSIII) yet have to apply for residency programs by November. So if you're potentially interested (but don't know much about) in anything other than the core rotations (peds, ob/gyn, psych, surg, im) when are you supposed to test/figure that out?? If I think I'm interested in anesthesia, for example, what should/can I do to figure out if it's what I think it might be and if I like it? Any thoughts/advice MUCH appreciated - this is causing me some worry. thanks.

rachana

 

[phoenixsupra]

Don't worry in most schools you can take anesthesia as part of your third year surgery rotation. You could also go and talk to someone from any department you're interested in and see about doing some shadowing or research. It definately helps to work this stuff out earlier rather than later. It's also a nice break from seeing the same people every day. Good luck. 🙂

 

[Amy]

You don't apply to residency programs until the fall of your fourth year, so use your elective time in third year and first months of fourth year to do electives in a specialty you are interested in. This also gives you the opportunity to get letters from the docs you work with in the specialty (if you do decide to apply to that specialty). It may also be helpful to talk to residents or attendings in your field of interest to find out more about the specialty (lifestyle, what they do on a day-to-day basis, etc).

Don't stress too much! Nearly everyone makes a decision by early fourth year. (And for those who don't, there's always the option of a transitional year.)

One last thing: buy Iserson's now, and start reading. 😉