MD MS1 Looking Toward Rads

[Verappa_Mills]

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Hi all,

I'm crowdsourcing perspective because I'm a little lost based on information I've gotten so far.

I'm attending a T10 USMD with P/F preclinical and P/F clerkships. No AOA, no GHHS, few ways to meaningfully distinguish myself (especially as an MS1 with no faculty evals or anything). I'm set up with a research mentor who is not crazy productive but is cool and someone I like. I expect I'll probably have a low amount of pubs but probably I'll be first author on something before I graduate. If needed I could probably latch onto a resident and get something small published later on. My pace in med school ECs has been leisurely, I'm mostly focused on crushing step.

I'm hearing from some people "Well, that's it, you made it". Like I don't need to do anything from here other than following through on step and research. In general just...don't mess up the big stuff. Other people are telling me "no, it's go-go-go, keep piling stuff on, more research, join professional societies (...what do these do?), get leadership positions (wtf does club leadership matter??), invent a thing, find a way to fill community needs, etc", but I'm unsure how much is real and how much is "don't get comfortable/be aspirational"-type encouragement that is well-intentioned but blurs the lines between "need this to match" and "go out there and have fun". I'm engaged in things that I find fun right now, but I just don't want to learn that I have been misallocating my time way too late in the process when what they really meant was "you actually have to do way more stuff for professional advancement".

I've met with radiology folks at my institution but the vibe seems like "reach out to me in a year if you're still interested, this is very early" which I understand, keep learning about medicine/other specialties and don't box yourself in, but like...I don't actually know what that means for me in the meantime. What should I actually be doing? Is this enough? Learn stuff and follow whatever you think is cool?

Partially too, and I don't know if this is an answerable question--just how big is my advantage being at a school like this? There's no way to distinguish myself or mess up right now, my transcript will be a carbon-copy of my peers more or less. That will change a little bit on clerkship but tbh not much "Nice to work with. Keep reading. Final grade of Pass" or whatever. Is that it? That's like...dumb. Anyway, interested in folks' thoughts or help in reconciling what information I've received.

Edit: I should say, I'm almost an M2, not a new arrival to med school. Forgot we're so close to a new wave of students coming in.

 

[jambro]

Fortunately you dont really have to worry about all this stuff if your goal is mainly to match rads. Of course things can change in a few years but the AI hype is probably going to keep radiology to only something moderately (if that) competitive for the next few years. With a good step score, some demonstrated interest, and the T10 feather in your cap youre going to be more than fine as far as matching goes

 

[doc_J61]

Hi all,

I'm crowdsourcing perspective because I'm a little lost based on information I've gotten so far.

I'm attending a T10 USMD with P/F preclinical and P/F clerkships. No AOA, no GHHS, few ways to meaningfully distinguish myself (especially as an MS1 with no faculty evals or anything). I'm set up with a research mentor who is not crazy productive but is cool and someone I like. I expect I'll probably have a low amount of pubs but probably I'll be first author on something before I graduate. If needed I could probably latch onto a resident and get something small published later on. My pace in med school ECs has been leisurely, I'm mostly focused on crushing step.

I'm hearing from some people "Well, that's it, you made it". Like I don't need to do anything from here other than following through on step and research. In general just...don't mess up the big stuff. Other people are telling me "no, it's go-go-go, keep piling stuff on, more research, join professional societies (...what do these do?), get leadership positions (wtf does club leadership matter??), invent a thing, find a way to fill community needs, etc", but I'm unsure how much is real and how much is "don't get comfortable/be aspirational"-type encouragement that is well-intentioned but blurs the lines between "need this to match" and "go out there and have fun". I'm engaged in things that I find fun right now, but I just don't want to learn that I have been misallocating my time way too late in the process when what they really meant was "you actually have to do way more stuff for professional advancement".

I've met with radiology folks at my institution but the vibe seems like "reach out to me in a year if you're still interested, this is very early" which I understand, keep learning about medicine/other specialties and don't box yourself in, but like...I don't actually know what that means for me in the meantime. What should I actually be doing? Is this enough? Learn stuff and follow whatever you think is cool?

Partially too, and I don't know if this is an answerable question--just how big is my advantage being at a school like this? There's no way to distinguish myself or mess up right now, my transcript will be a carbon-copy of my peers more or less. That will change a little bit on clerkship but tbh not much "Nice to work with. Keep reading. Final grade of Pass" or whatever. Is that it? That's like...dumb. Anyway, interested in folks' thoughts or help in reconciling what information I've received.

Edit: I should say, I'm almost an M2, not a new arrival to med school. Forgot we're so close to a new wave of students coming in.

Sorry for quoting.

Why are you interested in rads? I read a lot in your post but not why you're interested in rads.

As far as matching goes, the following are important (in order):
1) Step scores
2) LoRs (super, super, super important)
3) Phone calls to/on your PI's behalf (if you can swing this or if it seems feasible)
4) Away rotations

You are right; extracurricular activities and societies are not that important at this point.
Try to do high yield research i.e. work at a lab that churns out pub after pub after pub.

I am not exactly sure what you are asking. If you are getting good grades, good evals, high rank in your class, etc., then what is there to worry about? Do you have a mentor or someone that you can talk to about these things? That's my best recommendation as far as things go in general. Find some people above you who are willing to take you under their wing. Follow instructions. Keep your head down and fly under the radar. The worst thing that can happen at this point is like an interpersonal conflict. You seem like you are doing all the right things. Now find some people to vouch for this (other than me). 🙂

 

[Verappa_Mills]

Why are you interested in rads? I read a lot in your post but not why you're interested in rads.

Part of it is just that there's a reflexive "Cool!" factor I feel when looking at images. Before med school I worked in a place where physicians interpreted their own imaging (this was within their scope) and it became the most fun part for me, a lot of information to sort through between the patient and the images, and satisfying to put together. Rads from shadowing seems like that but more dense. In general I want to see a large volume of weird or difficult stuff, it's rewarding to talk out hard problems, pattern recognition is a nice dopamine rush, and I don't want to cut. IM is on my radar also for a similar reasons.

If you are getting good grades, good evals, high rank in your class, etc., then what is there to worry about?

It's mostly that I am doing well, but it doesn't really matter yet (edit: for the purposes of like, apps). My performance isn't really evaluated beyond P/F until clerkship, and the textbook knowledge will only be quantifiably put to the test on Step 2, in like 2 years. It's an anxiety-producing feeling like...what now? Research I guess, since the ECs seem superfluous (I had a hunch). This is probably just me looking a gift-horse in the mouth.

You're right that this would probably be helped by making some more connections/talking it out. So far it's been like "when you're ready, maybe sometime next year or a few months, this is a good contact person". It's appreciated though very measured, kind of feels like a mix of "pump the breaks" and respect for the fact that I may not have committed yet. Not sure if it would be foolish to proceed full-steam ahead.

 

[AJS59]

Fellow rads interested M2 student here. From what I can gather it sounds like you're doing well in school and focusing towards being prepared for clinicals and step eventually, which is always a good thing.

That being said...rads (even IR, although somewhat indirectly because of the whole ESIR thing) isn't like the Ortho/Neurosurg/Plastics/Derm/ENT level of competitiveness where there's a real chance of not matching. Generally, if you're able to: 1 - get a solid-great step 2 score and otherwise do well academically, 2-have some amount of research (more for connections rather than actual pub numbers) and 3-do aways/network if you're targeting specific programs, you'll be more than fine for the Match.

My advice would be this:
1. While you might be very interested in rads now, keep an open mind throughout rotations in what you see.
2. If you have time and capacity, getting involved in research is a good idea, but again, focus on using that to make connections rather than just churn pubs to say you churn pubs.
3. Also don't forget to take some time for yourself ESPECIALLY when you're still in preclinical years. As someone just over the halfway point of my rotations, trust me enjoy the preclinical period where/while you can.