How to approach applying to general surgery with mostly CT surgery research?

[unmaskedvillian]

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Hey everyone,

I have a friend who is an MS3 and wants to apply to general surgery. Most of his research experience so far is in cardiothoracic surgery (which he wants to subspecialize in after general surgery), but not much specifically in general surgery.

He’s worried that having mostly CT surgery research might make him look like a dual applicant or like he’s not fully committed to gen surg. Does he need to start doing more general surgery focused projects to balance that out? Or is it fine as long as he can explain his interest in general surgery clearly in his application and interviews?

Would love to hear from anyone who’s gone through something similar or has insight on how programs might view this. Thanks!

 

[ontiquicuo]

Can he get get a letter from a general surgery faculty saying he's all in (and looking forward to fellowship)?

In situations like this, I think what others say about your goals and commitment says a lot.

 

[Nontrad_FL_LGBT]

I'm curious to understand why someone who wants to be a sub specialist would apply to a general residency and plan for a fellowship instead of just applying to the integrated program. Obviously it's really competitive but I imagine most people applying CT are dual applicants.

 

[SweetBurger]

I'm curious to understand why someone who wants to be a sub specialist would apply to a general residency and plan for a fellowship instead of just applying to the integrated program. Obviously it's really competitive but I imagine most people applying CT are dual applicants.

i6 has like 32 spots TOTAL nationwide, pretty easy explanation for why people apply general surgery. Theres a lot more to it, but thats the bottleneck