W
Weirdo
How difficult is it to match plastic surgery(ie: usmle range, research, activities...)
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I would refer you to plastics2002.com which is sometimes not up and running, which is why when you get there you ought to donate some money.
Plastics is as hard as it gets, 2004 had a 48% match rate for US seniors who tried, primarily to get into plastics, not including those who did it as an outside shot while applying mostly for general surgery or EM or others. One can expect that number will decline. Programs talked this year about having gotten 500+ american seniors applying and with only 80 spots, that is about 17%. what is interesting is that board scores do not guarantee a spot in plastics, nor does research, though having both will certainly help. It is a small field and contacts you set up through aways and through your home deparment are very, very,very important. On my rank list, the top 6 programs (13 spots) took no one who did not rotate or come from that school. There are stories of people with 260's and research not matching as there are stories of people with 205's who got a spot. What I can say is that without connections, unless you are stellar or are willing to do one to two to three years of dedicated research for a program without a guarantee after graduating, you are in for a long road ahead of you. I think it is worth it and it worked out this year so don't let this discourage you. A back-up plan, however, is a good idea.
Plastics is as hard as it gets, 2004 had a 48% match rate for US seniors who tried, primarily to get into plastics, not including those who did it as an outside shot while applying mostly for general surgery or EM or others. One can expect that number will decline. Programs talked this year about having gotten 500+ american seniors applying and with only 80 spots, that is about 17%. what is interesting is that board scores do not guarantee a spot in plastics, nor does research, though having both will certainly help. It is a small field and contacts you set up through aways and through your home deparment are very, very,very important. On my rank list, the top 6 programs (13 spots) took no one who did not rotate or come from that school. There are stories of people with 260's and research not matching as there are stories of people with 205's who got a spot. What I can say is that without connections, unless you are stellar or are willing to do one to two to three years of dedicated research for a program without a guarantee after graduating, you are in for a long road ahead of you. I think it is worth it and it worked out this year so don't let this discourage you. A back-up plan, however, is a good idea.
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Agree with the above and you'll find several threads in the Plastics forum which attest to the same.
Moving to the Plastic Surgery forum...
Moving to the Plastic Surgery forum...
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Unfortunately the 'fellowship' match after general surgery is extremely competative. This year there are ~400 people applying for <100 spots. A lot of the people I have met on the trail did not match last year and are re-applying with hand fellowships under their belts. There are also several people who have been program directors in other fields like ENT who are quiting and applying for plastic surgery. If I were you I would try to get a spot directly from medical school because it isn't any easier to get one after doing general surgery.
W
Weirdo
how can you get one from your medical school
