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I'll be applying to a surgical sub-specialty this year and have all my rotations/aways lined up this fall. However, I am not that competitive and want to make sure I have my alternative options planned out. I go to a "top tier" institution and have a national average step 1 and mostly HP clinical grades, with research in a surgical subspecialty (couple pubs), with one radiology-related experience. My priority is to try to get into a residency as soon as possible without taking gap years/research years if they aren't necessary.
I was initially thinking about also applying to prelim gen surg and then deciding if I want to "give up" and go into general surgery or radiology if my first choice doesn't work out. I have an interest in anatomy and was drawn to radiology and IR early on in med school but did not pursue much in terms of research, rotations, etc. beyond shadowing early in med school. I do enjoy the OR, but general surgery doesn't seem like something I would be happy in (vs. other surgical fields I've been exposed to). Speaking to people in radiology and the shadowing experience I've had...I feel that I could be happy doing rads if not my first-choice. I basically have been "all in" on this surgical field but understand the reality of how competitive everything is these days. That being said...here are a few questions I have:
1) What kind of letters do radiology programs require? So far, I only have a couple from a surgical specialty and 1 gen surg. Potentially can get one from a radiologist (see #2)
2) Would it be appropriate to reach out to a radiologist that I've briefly worked with and ask for a letter while telling him this is a backup?
2) Should I be applying to my first-choice specialty + prelim programs + radiology programs? Just first choice + radiology?
3) Are most radiology programs categorical or do most radiology applicants also apply to prelim/TY programs? Confused on how to approach this without having to apply to well over 100 programs.
5) Thoughts on just applying to pgy-1 prelim/TY years and then hoping to SOAP into radiology if my first-choice specialty doesn't work out? It seems that this is a route people took last year as there were many open spots. If it comes to that will I need a radiology letter/radiology rotation to apply via SOAP?
#6) How do I "set myself up for success" in the case that I'm not seeing many interviews for my first-choice during the winter and I want to SOAP into radiology in March?
I apologize if many of these questions have been asked before or if this sounds totally spastic. I've tried to do research late in the game but often find conflicting or non-pertinent info. Thanks!
I was initially thinking about also applying to prelim gen surg and then deciding if I want to "give up" and go into general surgery or radiology if my first choice doesn't work out. I have an interest in anatomy and was drawn to radiology and IR early on in med school but did not pursue much in terms of research, rotations, etc. beyond shadowing early in med school. I do enjoy the OR, but general surgery doesn't seem like something I would be happy in (vs. other surgical fields I've been exposed to). Speaking to people in radiology and the shadowing experience I've had...I feel that I could be happy doing rads if not my first-choice. I basically have been "all in" on this surgical field but understand the reality of how competitive everything is these days. That being said...here are a few questions I have:
1) What kind of letters do radiology programs require? So far, I only have a couple from a surgical specialty and 1 gen surg. Potentially can get one from a radiologist (see #2)
2) Would it be appropriate to reach out to a radiologist that I've briefly worked with and ask for a letter while telling him this is a backup?
2) Should I be applying to my first-choice specialty + prelim programs + radiology programs? Just first choice + radiology?
3) Are most radiology programs categorical or do most radiology applicants also apply to prelim/TY programs? Confused on how to approach this without having to apply to well over 100 programs.
5) Thoughts on just applying to pgy-1 prelim/TY years and then hoping to SOAP into radiology if my first-choice specialty doesn't work out? It seems that this is a route people took last year as there were many open spots. If it comes to that will I need a radiology letter/radiology rotation to apply via SOAP?
#6) How do I "set myself up for success" in the case that I'm not seeing many interviews for my first-choice during the winter and I want to SOAP into radiology in March?
I apologize if many of these questions have been asked before or if this sounds totally spastic. I've tried to do research late in the game but often find conflicting or non-pertinent info. Thanks!
