What are your options? Can you last minute apply into something not so competitive like ob/gyn or anesthesia or do you typically go to your prelim program and hope they take you into IM?
If you don't match into ophtho?
- Thread starter SandP
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Depends on where your passions lie and what you want to go into. It's not about just trying to match into ANYTHING, it's about going for the one (maybe two, as a backup) specialty that will make you happy long-term.
Are you familiar with the SF Match/ERAS process and timeline?
It's not relevant to your question here, but - are you the med student who was recently banned from the Medicine subreddit for asking med school career planning questions? If so, based on your question history, I would suggest, with genuine concern for your future happiness, that you ease up on the statistical aspects of the match and the focus on lifestyle and start examining which fields would truly make you happy in the long run. ENT, OB/GYN, ophtho, anesthesia are all competitive to match into, but they are also very different from each other. And you will find that your long-term career satisfaction will be based on how well your specialty fits you, not whether you can pat yourself on the back for a competitive match.
Are you familiar with the SF Match/ERAS process and timeline?
It's not relevant to your question here, but - are you the med student who was recently banned from the Medicine subreddit for asking med school career planning questions? If so, based on your question history, I would suggest, with genuine concern for your future happiness, that you ease up on the statistical aspects of the match and the focus on lifestyle and start examining which fields would truly make you happy in the long run. ENT, OB/GYN, ophtho, anesthesia are all competitive to match into, but they are also very different from each other. And you will find that your long-term career satisfaction will be based on how well your specialty fits you, not whether you can pat yourself on the back for a competitive match.
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My med school made me apply to another specialty (IM) while I was applying for ophthalmology. I thought it was a fair suggestion, but maybe that's because I actually like IM and would've been just as happy doing IM. Some people just apply for ophtho, not match, do something for a year (prelim or research), and retry matching. Look at the existing threads on this forum about pre-residency research positions.
In my IM internship, a number of people who were scheduled to do radiology or anesthesiology fell in love with IM and actually switched from their original track to IM. The IM program was open to all of these people. If you end up liking IM and are willing to do the training, they will happily take you from the prelim track to traditional track.
Where there's a will, there's a way.
In my IM internship, a number of people who were scheduled to do radiology or anesthesiology fell in love with IM and actually switched from their original track to IM. The IM program was open to all of these people. If you end up liking IM and are willing to do the training, they will happily take you from the prelim track to traditional track.
Where there's a will, there's a way.
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I am worried about this same issue. I spent all if undergrad and and two years of med school working with ob)gyn research and advocacy. However, when I needed a research year due to an unexpected high-risk pregnancy, my home Opthalmology program had pushed research opportunities to me. I hope it makes a difference, but I still hope to apply to ob/gyn programs too. Will they see my research year as a negative? I am also trying to find on/gyn case reports through previous contacts.
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Nope, I think any research is a net positive and programs shouldn't be sensitive about whether it was in their field. If they ask, you can honestly say that it was the best research opportunity that you found during your unanticipated research year.
The thing I would be more careful in planning is keeping track of separate letters as you are apply. You don't want a letter talking about your dedication to another field if it can be avoided...
