My Thoughts on Matching.
Ophthalmology match appears to be determined by 5 things.
1) Step 1 sometimes Step2 if Step1 is subpar
2) Clinical Grades
3)Letters- Particularly from Big Wigs
4)Applying EARLY!!!!
5)Interview.
Im no expert, but in the next page or so, Id like to try and distill the useful (and sometimes contradictory) advice I have received over this process from those in the know. If youd like my back story, you can easily look up some of my old posts. I have tried to make the advice general. I hope this may be of use to some of you. Here goes. If you didnt match, you really need to assess your current standing in each of these 5 categories, and your Plan B needs to be designed in a way that addresses the identified deficiency. This is more complicated than it sounds.
Example: If your clinical grades are mediocre (or borderline below average), yes you could do a research year, but herein lies the problem. Even if you publish (arguably the lauded goal of research), your one-year research experience might not adequately address concerns the residency programs may harbor about your ability to manage patients and integrate information. Am I discouraging you from research ? No, but Im suggesting that research isnt a sure road to success. You may publish in a huge impact journal. You may be so industrious and productive that your PI is absolutely enamored with your performance. He may indicate that in your letter, and usually that does the trick . A residency program looks at that letter and says OK, this guy can do research.
If its a big name program that likes research you might actually get invited to an interview despite your clinical grades. But guess what ? You have to absolutely blow them away in your interview (admittedly a difficult task) to get ranked high (or have your PI call and pull a favor also a difficult task). Why ? because your research just gained you admission to an even more competitive pool. Now a smaller less competitive program may not care about research, they may care about how much of risk youll be (are you going to be a potential headache in clinic, always behind, always slow, always being remediated . Nobody wants that in their programgoes without saying). So you might gain interviews at programs at which you have low odds of matching and miss interviews at programs at which you might be more competitive.
The strategy you choose matters. So you have to ask yourself, are you the kind of person who is comfortable with increasing his/her interviews by 2 or 3 spots knowing full well that they will have to smash homeruns on each of those interviews ? If you arent that individual, then you may want to think about actually addressing the clinical grades. What does that mean? It means doing intern year at a program that is within your reach and absolutely outperforming your Categorical peers. A letter from your program director stating your performance as an intern rivals pGY2s in IM will go a long way in erasing fears about your clinical acumen and workrate. Now this might seem impossible to some of you, but it has been done. You just have to realize that unless you are at some known academic institution your new letters attesting to your Clinical Sainthood may only have pull locally (not even regionally!). Are you comfortable with that choice. If not, you may have to be content to 1) hope for an opening and hope the pool is weak enough for your entry or 2) finish up 3 years in IM and apply for ophtho in PGY2.
The above is convoluted, but Im attempting to describe the complexity of the paths /potential outcomes that lie before you.
Ophthalmology match appears to be determined by 5 things.
1) Step 1 sometimes Step2 if Step1 is subpar
2) Clinical Grades
3)Letters- Particularly from Big Wigs
4)Applying EARLY!!!!
5)Interview.
Im no expert, but in the next page or so, Id like to try and distill the useful (and sometimes contradictory) advice I have received over this process from those in the know. If youd like my back story, you can easily look up some of my old posts. I have tried to make the advice general. I hope this may be of use to some of you. Here goes. If you didnt match, you really need to assess your current standing in each of these 5 categories, and your Plan B needs to be designed in a way that addresses the identified deficiency. This is more complicated than it sounds.
Example: If your clinical grades are mediocre (or borderline below average), yes you could do a research year, but herein lies the problem. Even if you publish (arguably the lauded goal of research), your one-year research experience might not adequately address concerns the residency programs may harbor about your ability to manage patients and integrate information. Am I discouraging you from research ? No, but Im suggesting that research isnt a sure road to success. You may publish in a huge impact journal. You may be so industrious and productive that your PI is absolutely enamored with your performance. He may indicate that in your letter, and usually that does the trick . A residency program looks at that letter and says OK, this guy can do research.
If its a big name program that likes research you might actually get invited to an interview despite your clinical grades. But guess what ? You have to absolutely blow them away in your interview (admittedly a difficult task) to get ranked high (or have your PI call and pull a favor also a difficult task). Why ? because your research just gained you admission to an even more competitive pool. Now a smaller less competitive program may not care about research, they may care about how much of risk youll be (are you going to be a potential headache in clinic, always behind, always slow, always being remediated . Nobody wants that in their programgoes without saying). So you might gain interviews at programs at which you have low odds of matching and miss interviews at programs at which you might be more competitive.
The strategy you choose matters. So you have to ask yourself, are you the kind of person who is comfortable with increasing his/her interviews by 2 or 3 spots knowing full well that they will have to smash homeruns on each of those interviews ? If you arent that individual, then you may want to think about actually addressing the clinical grades. What does that mean? It means doing intern year at a program that is within your reach and absolutely outperforming your Categorical peers. A letter from your program director stating your performance as an intern rivals pGY2s in IM will go a long way in erasing fears about your clinical acumen and workrate. Now this might seem impossible to some of you, but it has been done. You just have to realize that unless you are at some known academic institution your new letters attesting to your Clinical Sainthood may only have pull locally (not even regionally!). Are you comfortable with that choice. If not, you may have to be content to 1) hope for an opening and hope the pool is weak enough for your entry or 2) finish up 3 years in IM and apply for ophtho in PGY2.
The above is convoluted, but Im attempting to describe the complexity of the paths /potential outcomes that lie before you.
