newly interested in rads

[lame_brain]

---

Members don't see this ad.

I'm in my third month as an MS IV and to my surprise, I love my rads elective. In one month, I'll be taking a break from fourth year to do a one-year MPH in epidemiology. I will return to med school next June and will apply at that time. I'm wondering what kind of chances I would have at a rads residency. I have to admit I'm more than freaked out by some of the info I've gotten from fellow students and other sources (I aced my boards and published 20 papers but still didn't match, etc.)

I'm at a top med school and have a strong, but not phenomenal, Step I score (232/94). Half of my grades from third year aren't back yet but I know I got at least three "honors." I can pick a radiology-related topic for the MPH project (perhaps something in decision analysis); however, this is not the same as a year of research with publications. How badly would this be viewed? Would I have any shot at university programs? Any other suggestions for someone who is new to this field?

 

[f_w]

- ignore most advice you get from your fellow students
- ignore the 'advice' on stats and chances you get from the medstudent board on AM.com.
- go for it. don't limit yourself in the scope of residencies you are applying to
- do your MPH on a radiology related theme. academic programs love that stuff.

Good luck ! We need more radiologists with some statistics/research methodology background. It is still possible to get incredibly poorly designed research even into our major journals. If you have a thing for the academic life, there will be ample opportunities for you.

 

[ears]

- ignore most advice you get from your fellow students
- ignore the 'advice' on stats and chances you get from the medstudent board on AM.com.
- go for it. don't limit yourself in the scope of residencies you are applying to
- do your MPH on a radiology related theme. academic programs love that stuff.

Good luck ! We need more radiologists with some statistics/research methodology background. It is still possible to get incredibly poorly designed research even into our major journals. If you have a thing for the academic life, there will be ample opportunities for you.

Hear, hear!

I suspect that many academic programs would love to get an MD/MPH resident. With the stats you describe (decent board scores, good third year grades, good med school), I imagine that you'd have a great shot at almost any program in the country. You just need to make sure to package yourself appropriately.

And I'd don't think a radiology project is necessarily the best way to go for your MPH stuff; my experience with research is that the mentor is everything. Find somebody good to work with; you'll be happier and more productive. Maybe you can find a radiology angle within whatever your mentor's interest is. Then, in your personal statement and your interviews, you can talk about wanting to bring the approaches you learned to the field of radiology. I bet academic programs would eat that up.

And f_w is absolutely correct; 90% of everything on SDN and AM is crap (Sturgeon's Law, you know). Good luck to you.