Matching at home advice

[RonSwanson's Gold]

---

Members do not see this ad.

Hi, so for family reasons, I very much want to stay in the same city I go to medical school in. The problem is that I am very interested in a surgical subspecialty (there are three programs in my city with about 8 spots total) so, as an M1, what should I be doing to maximize my chances of matching at my home program aside from doing well in class, crushing boards and doing research within the department? I am choosing between labs to do research in, one of which is the assistant program director. Would it be any advantage to do research in their lab relative to another faculty members? Any other advice?

 

[OrthoTraumaMD]

Yes, I would do that lab

 

[neoevolution]

Yup, connections always, but also a bit more pressure to commit more heavily to the lab and try to impress, but you'd probably be doing that anyway.

 

[Tenk]

It's good to always have a game plan going in fresh. That lab sounds stellar. Don't discount all other options though and just because you want X don't throw all other options off the table. Sometimes students who are so hell bent on one specialty can rub people the wrong way if they are ultra gunners. Also know that this will basically be a soft interview which is great if you do well. If you screw this up though, kiss your chances of matching there goodbye. So put your best foot forward and go get it.

 

[FantasticDoctorFox]

FWIW, I would also suggest not harping too much on the fact that you are interested in the program due to family location. I mean, of course having family in the area is one reason to be interested in a program but I know a couple people at my home institution who constantly made it a point to bring up the fact that they "needed" to stay in the area due to their family being there, and it started to rub some residents/faculty the wrong way since it made it seem like they weren't actually that interested in the program, just the program's location.

 

[GrandBuckeyeOH91]

focus on your grades and step 1 and step 2 first brah lol