Matching at school where a research year was completed.

[NotFrankUnderwood]

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Hey everyone,
Tried to do a search on this but couldn't find anything specific.
I'm an MS3 very interested in dermatology. Step 1 score Above average but not amazing (upper half of the 230s). I've only received one grade so far this yea (I know it's ridiculous) - I honored the course, however probably won't get AOA since at our school it's heavily weighted towards those with high step scores. Also, to throw another complication into the matter due to family/personal factors I want to match into a competitive market (SoCal). Now I know with my current scores that is exceedingly unlikely, and so over winter break I set up a potential research year at one of the big SoCal schools. It isn't a formalized research fellowship however I would be doing translational research in the PDs lab with my main interaction being with a person on the interview committee. Now I've heard different things from different people (and the person I interviewed with would not give me a direct answer on #s of successful applicants - they've had med students in their lab for the last decade), but I was curious if any of you have had any experience or have seen medical students successfully match into programs where they completed a research year. How often does it happen?

How much (resident's and attending's input highly appreciated here) would it make a difference in a below average applicant?

I also understand that a year of research would give me networking opportunities, but can these really overcome below average board scores?

Any advice would be super appreciated, I'm currently stressing out about career decisions pretty much on a daily basis.

 

[dermie1985]

Hey everyone,
Tried to do a search on this but couldn't find anything specific.
I'm an MS3 very interested in dermatology. Step 1 score Above average but not amazing (upper half of the 230s). I've only received one grade so far this yea (I know it's ridiculous) - I honored the course, however probably won't get AOA since at our school it's heavily weighted towards those with high step scores. Also, to throw another complication into the matter due to family/personal factors I want to match into a competitive market (SoCal). Now I know with my current scores that is exceedingly unlikely, and so over winter break I set up a potential research year at one of the big SoCal schools. It isn't a formalized research fellowship however I would be doing translational research in the PDs lab with my main interaction being with a person on the interview committee. Now I've heard different things from different people (and the person I interviewed with would not give me a direct answer on #s of successful applicants - they've had med students in their lab for the last decade), but I was curious if any of you have had any experience or have seen medical students successfully match into programs where they completed a research year. How often does it happen?

How much (resident's and attending's input highly appreciated here) would it make a difference in a below average applicant?

I also understand that a year of research would give me networking opportunities, but can these really overcome below average board scores?

Any advice would be super appreciated, I'm currently stressing out about career decisions pretty much on a daily basis.

I think research years (in terms of matching into your "home" research program) are highly variable by institution. I met a ton of applicants on the interview trail who did research years at UCSF or Harvard who didn't even get an interview at their "research" year program. I've also met a ton of residents who did match at their "home" research program. Regardless, research years are very useful if you're productive and can set-up a good project with a well-known dermatologist, because they increase your chance of matching anywhere (even if it isn't that program). I'd make sure to be pretty up-front with your P.I. about your chances of matching to that program if you do a research year if that's your intention.

Having said that, limiting yourself to only dermatology programs in SoCal isn't practical. Especially with a below average Step 1 score for derm (I think median accepted is now 247....for Socal, UCLA even stated on FREIDA that their Step 1 minimum is 240 for consideration...so that's already 1/6 SoCal programs eliminated). SoCal is a popular place to live and MANY applicants to derm are from California or go to school in California and want to match there too for "family/personal factors". Applying into derm means you have to be open to the possibility that you're not going to get everything that you want out of the match process. It's just too competitive for assurances like that. Remember, though, that residency is only 3 years. As a dermatologist, you'll have a lot of flexibility to practice wherever you want to after you finish residency. Moving back to SoCal after residency won't be too hard.

 

[NotFrankUnderwood]

Hey dermie,
Thank you for the advice!I appreciate you taking the time. It was kind of as I suspected. Guess I have a lot of thinking to do.

 

[Dermione Granger]

Lol'ed at your name, love it

 

[qvc804]

I think research years (in terms of matching into your "home" research program) are highly variable by institution. I met a ton of applicants on the interview trail who did research years at UCSF or Harvard who didn't even get an interview at their "research" year program. I've also met a ton of residents who did match at their "home" research program. Regardless, research years are very useful if you're productive and can set-up a good project with a well-known dermatologist, because they increase your chance of matching anywhere (even if it isn't that program). I'd make sure to be pretty up-front with your P.I. about your chances of matching to that program if you do a research year if that's your intention.

Having said that, limiting yourself to only dermatology programs in SoCal isn't practical. Especially with a below average Step 1 score for derm (I think median accepted is now 247....for Socal, UCLA even stated on FREIDA that their Step 1 minimum is 240 for consideration...so that's already 1/6 SoCal programs eliminated). SoCal is a popular place to live and MANY applicants to derm are from California or go to school in California and want to match there too for "family/personal factors". Applying into derm means you have to be open to the possibility that you're not going to get everything that you want out of the match process. It's just too competitive for assurances like that. Remember, though, that residency is only 3 years. As a dermatologist, you'll have a lot of flexibility to practice wherever you want to after you finish residency. Moving back to SoCal after residency won't be too hard.

UCSF and Harvard have excellent research fellowships available to MD graduates. It doesn't help though for getting a spot at UCSF/Harvard unless you were an already perfect candidate to begin with. UCSF had Clinical Hair Research, HIV Dermatology, Psoriasis, and Melanoma/Cutaneous Oncology when I applied for their research fellowships.