MS -1, question re: what to expect next four years

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r2med

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Hi - am an accepted student for Class of 2025. Please excuse if these are stupid questions.

1. I know we start prepping for UG in like 10th grade, and for med school pretty much all of UG. What should I be doing (or not) to prep to land a residency in Harvard? (I know some of you may question why Harvard, but that is for a separate thread).
2. More naive question: do we select our specialty before the residency or during? Does one need to choose medical vs. surgery before residency application? And how about specific specialty like Neuro-onc or Neuro-surg?

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Hi - am an accepted student for Class of 2025. Please excuse if these are stupid questions.

1. I know we start prepping for UG in like 10th grade, and for med school pretty much all of UG. What should I be doing (or not) to prep to land a residency in Harvard? (I know some of you may question why Harvard, but that is for a separate thread).
2. More naive question: do we select our specialty before the residency or during? Does one need to choose medical vs. surgery before residency application? And how about specific specialty like Neuro-onc or Neuro-surg?
ok, medical school timeliine:
1) M1/M2 years are preclinical (bunch of stuff to learn "in classroom"). Good idea at this point is to make a list of specialties you want to explore and start shadowing them. The reason for that is because you need to have a vague idea about what you want to specialize in BEFORE M3 year, so that you can schedule electives accordingly. Its ok to not know though.
2) Between M2 and M3 years you take Step 1 (even though some schools push it till after M3).
3) M3 and M4 are clinical years. In M3 specifically you do a lot of rotations in a lot of different departments. It is a long LONG and intense year. By then majority of people have a vague idea what they want to consider as a specialty (at least, what population they want to work with, - kids, adults, etc, and if they want a procedural specialty, - specialty were you work with your hands a lot, - or non-procedural). Schools also have advisors that help you navigate through all this, and help you build us a resume that is competitive for the specialty you are considering. If by M3 you have no idea at all what you want, its ok. A lot of people do not. This is where all these rotations come handy - they help to get the feel for specialties and decide.
4) by the end of M3 you know what you want to do, you take step 2 after M3 year and start building up the resume. During M4 year you have more rotations, - more advanced stuff. In october of M4 year (at the same time as you are doing rotations) you submit residency application. Then interview season starts, you hopefully go to interviews. They look at you, you look at them. then, (i think in january? february?) you rank your choices, they rank you. And than the magic of match happens, when you find out where you will do residency.

some specialties require preliminary year, where you would have to spend a year in internal medicine before you start the official training for that particular specialty.

i would go to AAMC website, go to medical student tab, and look at resources there. THere are lists of programs, lists of residencies.
for example, the following are SEPARATE residencies: Internal medicine, pediatrics, pathology, psychiatry, general surgery, neuro surgery, ortho surgery, cardiothoracic (even though i think there are mixed programs and fellowship as well, not sure), plastic surgery, child neurology, urology, OB/GYN, and more. This is why it is a good idea for you to go there, find that list, and go through it, and slowly shadow whatever you are interested it.
 
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that being said, you really dont have to worry about it now, unless you WANT to look into that. During the first semester of medical school i would focus of school itself, adjusting to the rhythm of medical school. I dont care how well you did in undergrad, this WILL be different. then, after first semester, once you get comfortable, you can start looking into stuff.

about Harvard thing, - i really cannot help you here. And i do understand the ambition, and desire to succeed. And its ok to ask these questions on the forum. I would avoid mentioning things like these in person though, -this might give you a bad reputation among classmates. But hopefully someone can help you with practical advice on Harvard situation. It would be interesting to know, too. BTW Harvard is definitely not the best in all the specialties, so when considering prestige of the residency look at how they are ranked in different fields.
 
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Lol it’s not like prepping for med school. You can have a perfect app and still match somewhere else. And given your second question, you need to read a lot more. You can find a bunch of articles and threads on SDN that will explain the whole process and how everything works. I suggest you start there.
 
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Hi - am an accepted student for Class of 2025. Please excuse if these are stupid questions.

1. I know we start prepping for UG in like 10th grade, and for med school pretty much all of UG. What should I be doing (or not) to prep to land a residency in Harvard? (I know some of you may question why Harvard, but that is for a separate thread).
2. More naive question: do we select our specialty before the residency or during? Does one need to choose medical vs. surgery before residency application? And how about specific specialty like Neuro-onc or Neuro-surg?
Do you even have a life lol? As someone who is applying for residency, one thing I regret is I did not enjoy my youth. I assume you start med school in July. The best thing you can do for yourself right now is to chill down and enjoy your life.
 
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Do you even have a life lol? As someone who is applying for residency, one thing I regret is I did not enjoy my youth. I assume you start med school in July. The best thing you can do for yourself right now is to chill down and enjoy your life.
This. Just take a break. Binge some shows. Play some videogames. Sleep 12 hours a day.

Well, don't let your grades collapse, but you know what I mean.
 
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Do you even have a life lol? As someone who is applying for residency, one thing I regret is I did not enjoy my youth. I assume you start med school in July. The best thing you can do for yourself right now is to chill down and enjoy your life.

This. Just take a break. Binge some shows. Play some videogames. Sleep 12 hours a day.

Well, don't let your grades collapse, but you know what I mean.
Thanks. Am very much doing all this, but am also finding out things to prep for the next four years. Would love to seek your expert answers to the posted questions, please.
 
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ok, medical school timeliine:
1) M1/M2 years are preclinical (bunch of stuff to learn "in classroom"). Good idea at this point is to make a list of specialties you want to explore and start shadowing them. The reason for that is because you need to have a vague idea about what you want to specialize in BEFORE M3 year, so that you can schedule electives accordingly. Its ok to not know though.
2) Between M2 and M3 years you take Step 1 (even though some schools push it till after M3).
3) M3 and M4 are clinical years. In M3 specifically you do a lot of rotations in a lot of different departments. It is a long LONG and intense year. By then majority of people have a vague idea what they want to consider as a specialty (at least, what population they want to work with, - kids, adults, etc, and if they want a procedural specialty, - specialty were you work with your hands a lot, - or non-procedural). Schools also have advisors that help you navigate through all this, and help you build us a resume that is competitive for the specialty you are considering. If by M3 you have no idea at all what you want, its ok. A lot of people do not. This is where all these rotations come handy - they help to get the feel for specialties and decide.
4) by the end of M3 you know what you want to do, you take step 2 after M3 year and start building up the resume. During M4 year you have more rotations, - more advanced stuff. In october of M4 year (at the same time as you are doing rotations) you submit residency application. Then interview season starts, you hopefully go to interviews. They look at you, you look at them. then, (i think in january? february?) you rank your choices, they rank you. And than the magic of match happens, when you find out where you will do residency.

some specialties require preliminary year, where you would have to spend a year in internal medicine before you start the official training for that particular specialty.

i would go to AAMC website, go to medical student tab, and look at resources there. THere are lists of programs, lists of residencies.
for example, the following are SEPARATE residencies: Internal medicine, pediatrics, pathology, psychiatry, general surgery, neuro surgery, ortho surgery, cardiothoracic (even though i think there are mixed programs and fellowship as well, not sure), plastic surgery, child neurology, urology, OB/GYN, and more. This is why it is a good idea for you to go there, find that list, and go through it, and slowly shadow whatever you are interested it.

that being said, you really dont have to worry about it now, unless you WANT to look into that. During the first semester of medical school i would focus of school itself, adjusting to the rhythm of medical school. I dont care how well you did in undergrad, this WILL be different. then, after first semester, once you get comfortable, you can start looking into stuff.

about Harvard thing, - i really cannot help you here. And i do understand the ambition, and desire to succeed. And its ok to ask these questions on the forum. I would avoid mentioning things like these in person though, -this might give you a bad reputation among classmates. But hopefully someone can help you with practical advice on Harvard situation. It would be interesting to know, too. BTW Harvard is definitely not the best in all the specialties, so when considering prestige of the residency look at how they are ranked in different fields.
Thank you very much for your detailed answer. I will follow your suggestions. Re HMS, I know it's a touchy subject. Will keep it to myself as much as possible
 
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Lol it’s not like prepping for med school. You can have a perfect app and still match somewhere else. And given your second question, you need to read a lot more. You can find a bunch of articles and threads on SDN that will explain the whole process and how everything works. I suggest you start there.
Thanks. Will start there
 
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Regardless, it was the funniest thing I read in the morning.
 
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What to expect?

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What to expect?

GentleVariableApe-max-1mb.gif
I don't know if you were kidding or serious, but I do have a follow-up question on how to overcome the pain and land a successful residency at the end? Thank you in advance for your thoughtful response.
 
Bruh......😂🤣🤣🤣
It was a joke to this statement that I bolded “I know we start prepping for UG in like 10th grade, and for med school pretty much all of UG”...
 
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Hi - am an accepted student for Class of 2025. Please excuse if these are stupid questions.

1. I know we start prepping for UG in like 10th grade, and for med school pretty much all of UG. What should I be doing (or not) to prep to land a residency in Harvard? (I know some of you may question why Harvard, but that is for a separate thread).
2. More naive question: do we select our specialty before the residency or during? Does one need to choose medical vs. surgery before residency application? And how about specific specialty like Neuro-onc or Neuro-surg?

Hey! Welcome to the States!

There's nothing to do right now. The material is pretty simple and preparing now will not give you any advantages. When you start, focus on regular study and good habits and you'll be rewarded. Avoid going to any extremes.

Factors for Residency:
Tier 1: Step 2 CK Score, Clinical Grades in M3/M4, Scholarly Activity if interested in a surgical subspecialty, Visa Status
Tier 2: Class Rank, Letters of Recommendation, Performance during Interviews
Tier 3: Extracurriculars, Personal Statement, etc.

The best thing you can do now is to narrow down what specialty you are interested in so you can find research opportunities and mentors in your field who can advise you more in depth, write letters for you. In fall of 4th year, you submit scores, references, transcript, and CV to a centralized residency application where you choose a field *Note*: Some apply to multiple fields, usually a primary (ex. Orthopedic Surgery) and a back up (General Surgery). You will get/attend interviews and rank programs in order you like them and programs will do the same and you will be given a match in 1 specialty at 1 program and that's your placement.

Be nice everyone! He's probably not assimilated to the US education system, much less the U.S. medical education system.
 
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Do you even have a life lol? As someone who is applying for residency, one thing I regret is I did not enjoy my youth. I assume you start med school in July. The best thing you can do for yourself right now is to chill down and enjoy your life.

What’s the point if you can’t do residency at Harvard? Lol
 
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What’s the point if you can’t do residency at Harvard? Lol
I am intrigued why OP wants to go to Harvard...are they even top at any specialty besides they are the research powerhouse?
 
It was a joke to this statement that I bolded “I know we start prepping for UG in like 10th grade, and for med school pretty much all of UG”...

This was literally what I was saying. That you were likely just saying it as a joke. Not sure why that warranted an eyeroll.
 
Please read first message. Topic of why Harvard is a separate discussion. Thank you.

It's pretty related though. Like, why Harvard is important to know. Especially since you haven't even started medical school yet and don't really know how the application process for residency works, it's likely that you don't know that Harvard/MGH isn't the be all end all of residency programs for many specialties. If your reason for wanting to match there is because you think it's the number 1 program in a specialty, that's different than wanting to match there because your wife works there and you want to be together.
 
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Here are the important tidbits of preclinical years if you are gunning for "Harvard":

1. Do not get in trouble or have professional ism marks against you. This will tank your chances at any competitive residency/ institution.

2. Learn how to study efficiently. Incorporate Anki, Boards and Beyond, First Aid, etc in your preclinical studies.

3. Learn if class rank or AOA at you school factors in pre-clinical grades. If not, just pass comfortably. DO NOT fail anything.... ever.

4. Shadow competitive specialities (Derm, ortho, neurosurgery) or specialities with little clinical year exposure (PMR, Radiology) early. Ask the attendings and residents what they like amd dislike about their work. Start making connections early. This will allow you to join a research group or projects early and have higher chance of publications by residency application time.

5. If you are still unsure about your field and want to pursue research, join a productive lab. Learn about the game of publishing BS clinical studies and start pumping out papers.

6. Don't waste your time being a secretary/ treasurer of clubs. If you can start a meaningful advocacy initiative/ organization, certain specialities will look upon you favorably ( eg IM, Peds).

Lastly, realize not all Harvard hospitals are equally reputable. In radiology for example, reputation of MGH ~BWH >> BIDMC >>>>>>>> Mount Auburn.
 
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Best way to train at Harvard is to go to med school at Harvard. Same thing for Hopkins, UCSF ("U Can Stay Forever"), or whatever big academic center you like best.

If you just mean you want to match as best as you can, then you should focus on boards, clinical grades, research, and depending on specialty, potentially away rotations.

For the first semester of MS1, though, all you really need to figure out is how to stay on top of your studying.
 
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Expect regret
 
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Do you even have a life lol? As someone who is applying for residency, one thing I regret is I did not enjoy my youth. I assume you start med school in July. The best thing you can do for yourself right now is to chill down and enjoy your life.
This is such an underrated comment. It never really gets talked about, but probably your most important asset in medical school I'm my experience is your sanity/willpower which aren't infinite. Take the time to relax now, you'll be happy you did later, and the extra energy is worth more than any headstart.
 
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This is a common SDN archetype. A newbie comes in guns blazing and people question his odd/unsustainable methods & goals. OP either disappears (sometimes even getting banned due to personality issues) or keeps up his attitude while maintaining ToS and becomes an SDN caricature.

Nothing you say no matter how insightful will get through. Sometimes experience is the only teacher. Provide these people with the best advice for their stated mission and move on. Questioning motives (i.e. coaching) is wasted time on people who lack insight and it just leads an endless :beat: thread when time's better spent on substantive threads.
 
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Damn, I started prepping for UG a week before apps were due and prepping for med school like junior year of college.

Just gotta chiiilll. Also if you've been accepted already but still are confused about residency/specialty selection I highly suggest to start there - google and peruse the forums and become acquainted with the match process.
 
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This is such an underrated comment. It never really gets talked about, but probably your most important asset in medical school I'm my experience is your sanity/willpower which aren't infinite. Take the time to relax now, you'll be happy you did later, and the extra energy is worth more than any headstart.
Point taken and being followed.
 
Damn, I started prepping for UG a week before apps were due and prepping for med school like junior year of college.

Just gotta chiiilll. Also if you've been accepted already but still are confused about residency/specialty selection I highly suggest to start there - google and peruse the forums and become acquainted with the match process.
Thanks. People select specialties and know all about residency before starting med school?
 
This is a common archetype here. Newbie comes in guns blazing and people question his odd/unsustainable methods. OP either disappears or keeps up his attitude and becomes an SDN caricature. Nothing you say no matter how insightful will get through. Provide these people with the best advice for their stated mission. Sometimes experience is the only teacher.
Thanks for your support. I do read all comments and use the ones that are not annoying. Several replies here have been very insightful.
 
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I won't say trail parks or a southern state as often quoted by an adcom, but there is lot of inbreeding at top schools so getting admission to Harvard medical school is best way to get Harvard residency.
 
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Thanks for your support. I do read all comments and use the ones that are not annoying. Several replies here have been very insightful.
Glad to hear that! Good luck with your goals.
 
Thanks. People select specialties and know all about residency before starting med school?
Yeahhh i was kinda surprised honestly about the questions but it makes sense if you are unfamiliar with the american educate system in general. I am also class of 2025 accepted so kind of in the same boat as u. definitely read as much as you can on this website and on the acme website about the different specialties and match process. also theres a ton of informational youtube videos about every single one of these subjects. even "day in the life of a harvard resident" is something you might find. check it out.
 
Best way to train at Harvard is to go to med school at Harvard. Same thing for Hopkins, UCSF ("U Can Stay Forever"), or whatever big academic center you like best.

I won't say trail parks or a southern state as often quoted by an adcom, but there is lot of inbreeding at top schools so getting admission to Harvard medical school is best way to get Harvard residency.
Thanks, but this is not what was said in my other post re: this subject. There I was told top schools have 1/3rd to half residents from non-top schools. No?
 
Yeahhh i was kinda surprised honestly about the questions but it makes sense if you are unfamiliar with the american educate system in general. I am also class of 2025 accepted so kind of in the same boat as u. definitely read as much as you can on this website and on the acme website about the different specialties and match process. also theres a ton of informational youtube videos about every single one of these subjects. even "day in the life of a harvard resident" is something you might find. check it out.
Thanks. Good luck to you as well.
 
Thanks, but this is not what was said in my other post re: this subject. There I was told top schools have 1/3rd to half residents from non-top schools. No?
Yeah, but you are competing with remaining 191 medical schools students for Harvard residency. Anything possible (my spouse went from IMG to community residency program to T5 fellowship), GL!
 
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Hi - am an accepted student for Class of 2025. Please excuse if these are stupid questions.

1. I know we start prepping for UG in like 10th grade, and for med school pretty much all of UG. What should I be doing (or not) to prep to land a residency in Harvard? (I know some of you may question why Harvard, but that is for a separate thread).
2. More naive question: do we select our specialty before the residency or during? Does one need to choose medical vs. surgery before residency application? And how about specific specialty like Neuro-onc or Neuro-surg?
 
Yeah, but you are competing with remaining 191 medical schools students for Harvard residency. Anything possible (my spouse went from IMG to community residency program to T5 fellowship), GL!
Thanks. Competition has been part of our life!!!
 
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Thanks, but this is not what was said in my other post re: this subject. There I was told top schools have 1/3rd to half residents from non-top schools. No?
Being from HMS is pretty much a slam dunk to match into the Harvard hospital system for the major specialties - usually at Partners (MGH + the Brigham) but if not then Beth Israel.

But, that's only possible because within a given field in a given year there will only be a handful of HMS students choosing that field and staying in Boston.

It is true that 1/3 or more of the seats at big name residencies are filled by alumni of mid-tier/state schools. But, they won that spot in competition with hundreds of other applicants, without the home field advantage HMS students have.
 
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Yeahhh i was kinda surprised honestly about the questions but it makes sense if you are unfamiliar with the american educate system in general. I am also class of 2025 accepted so kind of in the same boat as u. definitely read as much as you can on this website and on the acme website about the different specialties and match process. also theres a ton of informational youtube videos about every single one of these subjects. even "day in the life of a harvard resident" is something you might find. check it out.

Those channels exist and you can check them out. They're not telling lies, but their primary objective is to popularize their own YouTube channel (using their academic prestige) rather than to provide a practical blueprint to replicate their success. Also, a day in residency at MGH vs. any other major hospital should be no different. As we've all said, there's no point fetishizing Harvard. OP doesn't even seem to know what Harvard is in the medical world as there's no reference to MGH, BWH, BID, or Mt. Auburn in his posts.
 
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Hi - am an accepted student for Class of 2025. Please excuse if these are stupid questions.

1. I know we start prepping for UG in like 10th grade, and for med school pretty much all of UG. What should I be doing (or not) to prep to land a residency in Harvard? (I know some of you may question why Harvard, but that is for a separate thread).
2. More naive question: do we select our specialty before the residency or during? Does one need to choose medical vs. surgery before residency application? And how about specific specialty like Neuro-onc or Neuro-surg?
Congratulations on your acceptance! I remember how excited I was last year when I knew I was starting med school! As a rising MS-2, I still don’t know everything about this process, and that’s ok because you will figure it out as you go. As other have said, focus on your grades year 1, it’s not important for residency really, but it’s your base for everything else to build on. Don’t do anything this summer except relax. As far as a Harvard residency, the thing with residency is you don’t make the final decision. You apply to residency programs, you match it one and that’s were you go. It’s a much different process then med school where you get offers from schools to be part of their program and you ultimately decide where you’d like to attend. Good luck with med school! It’s going to be awful for a while and then amazing!
 
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Congratulations on your acceptance! I remember how excited I was last year when I knew I was starting med school! As a rising MS-2, I still don’t know everything about this process, and that’s ok because you will figure it out as you go. As other have said, focus on your grades year 1, it’s not important for residency really, but it’s your base for everything else to build on. Don’t do anything this summer except relax. As far as a Harvard residency, the thing with residency is you don’t make the final decision. You apply to residency programs, you match it one and that’s were you go. It’s a much different process then med school where you get offers from schools to be part of their program and you ultimately decide where you’d like to attend. Good luck with med school! It’s going to be awful for a while and then amazing!
Thanks.

Would you mind explaining why you said "it's going to be awful"? Is that because of the hours?
 
I'm going to go very contrary to what a lot of people on SDN say:
Definitely take the longest break you can before med school, but if you need to burn anxious energy, learning bugs and drugs via Sketchy and Anki would be a nice little leg up on the material that is memorization-heavy.

If you don't use Anki, going through the Anking Youtube channel and deciding if it's something you want to try is also a decent use of time.

Certainly focus on breathing and having fun, though! I went to Colorado myself.
 
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Being from HMS is pretty much a slam dunk to match into the Harvard hospital system for the major specialties - usually at Partners (MGH + the Brigham) but if not then Beth Israel.

But, that's only possible because within a given field in a given year there will only be a handful of HMS students choosing that field and staying in Boston.

It is true that 1/3 or more of the seats at big name residencies are filled by alumni of mid-tier/state schools. But, they won that spot in competition with hundreds of other applicants, without the home field advantage HMS students have.
Do you recommend taking T3 over other T10s or T20 even with merit if no loans are involved to retain this advantage?
 
Thanks. People select specialties and know all about residency before starting med school?
It's not safe to "select a specialty" before med school, as most people do end up changing - but most people I know understand the process of specialty selection and residency before entering med school. You will of course learn more about it, but if you were accepted and know you'll be entering C/O 2025 it'd be prudent to look into it now so you're not confused and understand the expectations of certain specialties.

It's more important if your interest falls into something competitive, which yours clearly does (Harvard, regardless of the competitiveness of the specialty is a highly competitive residency location)
 
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Do you recommend taking T3 over other T10s or T20 even with merit if no loans are involved to retain this advantage?
Lol no. At a T20 school, you will have all doors open, so don't indebt yourself.
 
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Do you recommend taking T3 over other T10s or T20 even with merit if no loans are involved to retain this advantage?
Finances being equal, there's no reason not to take the "higher ranked" school over another. Unless location is absolutely dreadful. But in the T20, finances not being equal, I'd choose the cheapest 99.98% of the time.
 
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Hi - am an accepted student for Class of 2025. Please excuse if these are stupid questions.

1. I know we start prepping for UG in like 10th grade, and for med school pretty much all of UG. What should I be doing (or not) to prep to land a residency in Harvard? (I know some of you may question why Harvard, but that is for a separate thread).
2. More naive question: do we select our specialty before the residency or during? Does one need to choose medical vs. surgery before residency application? And how about specific specialty like Neuro-onc or Neuro-surg?
First off, stop the mindset displayed by #1.

Your first semester will be learning how to learn. Med school will be a different beast than UG, mostly in dealing with the sheer volume of info. Then you can at least start seeing if there's any research doable on campus (summer M1 is the best time for this).

2) Yes, you target your residencies based upon your specialty of interest. But be forewarned that you will be changing your mind at times. You may be gung-ho for, say, Neurology but then fall in love with the OR and the target Gen Surg. Or vice-versa!
 
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