Need advice elective choices

[PANDATLANTA]

Hey everyone,

Long time lurker, first time poster. I was hoping I could get some advice as everything I have read in the past has been of utmost value from this community.

I'm an IMG, Step 1 score 23X, need visa, will graduate next year. I want to do primary care- FM would be my first choice but I would be ecstatic to do IM. So far, I have secured 4 weeks each in FM and IM in the US.

1) What would be a solid third 4-week elective that would look good to both IM and FM programs? I was thinking EM? Possibly derm?
2) Am I competitive to apply to both IM and FM with the electives I've chosen? I don't want to give the impressions either is a backup and shoot myself in the foot for each speciality by not completing "focused" electives for either IM or FM.


Thanks guys!

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[Amygdarya]

The main goal of doing away electives is to get your foot into the door of that program - to show them that you'll make a good resident, you're a nice person to have around and to get LoRs. As such, the single best thing for you is to do FM and IM electives at programs you're competitive at, the more the merrier. Don't do a dermatology elective, nobody will be impressed with that on your transcript (if anything, people may take it negatively as derm is a notoriously easy rotation). Don't try to schedule electives at places you're not competitive at (eg. Mayo clinic etc) in hopes of getting a LoR that will impress other programs; there is no guarantee that you will receive such letter and you will just waste a month you could have used to impress a program you have a chance of joining.
I'm sorry for being a little harsh but that''s the way things work.

 

[PANDATLANTA]

The main goal of doing away electives is to get your foot into the door of that program - to show them that you'll make a good resident, you're a nice person to have around and to get LoRs. As such, the single best thing for you is to do FM and IM electives at programs you're competitive at, the more the merrier. Don't do a dermatology elective, nobody will be impressed with that on your transcript (if anything, people may take it negatively as derm is a notoriously easy rotation). Don't try to schedule electives at places you're not competitive at (eg. Mayo clinic etc) in hopes of getting a LoR that will impress other programs; there is no guarantee that you will receive such letter and you will just waste a month you could have used to impress a program you have a chance of joining.
I'm sorry for being a little harsh but that''s the way things work.

Thanks Amygdarya! That all makes sense. No need to worry about being harsh- I'm just glad to know.

Is there a 3rd elective that you recommend I do to be competitive for both FM and IM? Maybe Derm isn't the best (I actually didn't know it was considered easy)- would EM or geriatrics be a better option?