Hi everyone,
I'm an MD/PhD student currently working on research, and I'm wondering if people could offer their opinions on a scheduling question. I'm trying to keep an open mind, but am pretty sure I want to specialize in ophthalmology. My current plan is to start clinical rotations in September 2012, with a short ophtho home elective in February-March 2013, and to finish rotations by that August (2013). I'd then take Step II (want to have the score in time for applications since my Step I was in the mid 220s) and try to do at least one ophtho away elective before interviews start. However, thinking purely about the match, a few factors are making me wonder if it would be better to continue with research for another year:
1) My research may take longer than planned, meaning I would have to start sometime in October-December 2012, finishing later the following year. If this happens, I won't have as many clerkship grades, and may not have my Step II score by the time interviewing starts. It would also mean I'd have less time to study for Step II.
2) I could complete more publications in my lab (by end of summer 2012, I will have one first authorship, but there are other projects that are 60% done that I could complete if I continue research past September 2012) would have to give up if I finish research in the next few months)
3) I could brush up on my clinical skills, do some ophthalmology shadowing, and maybe even do some research in ophthalmology before starting clerkships. This would put me in a better position to do well, and add some stuff to my CV.
My question: what would you do in this situation? In particular, I'm wondering how much the additional research would add to my application (my current research involves optics, but is not related to ophthalmology otherwise), and if applying without all my rotation grades/only one ophtho elective would put me at a disadvantage.
Thanks in advance for your input.
I'm an MD/PhD student currently working on research, and I'm wondering if people could offer their opinions on a scheduling question. I'm trying to keep an open mind, but am pretty sure I want to specialize in ophthalmology. My current plan is to start clinical rotations in September 2012, with a short ophtho home elective in February-March 2013, and to finish rotations by that August (2013). I'd then take Step II (want to have the score in time for applications since my Step I was in the mid 220s) and try to do at least one ophtho away elective before interviews start. However, thinking purely about the match, a few factors are making me wonder if it would be better to continue with research for another year:
1) My research may take longer than planned, meaning I would have to start sometime in October-December 2012, finishing later the following year. If this happens, I won't have as many clerkship grades, and may not have my Step II score by the time interviewing starts. It would also mean I'd have less time to study for Step II.
2) I could complete more publications in my lab (by end of summer 2012, I will have one first authorship, but there are other projects that are 60% done that I could complete if I continue research past September 2012) would have to give up if I finish research in the next few months)
3) I could brush up on my clinical skills, do some ophthalmology shadowing, and maybe even do some research in ophthalmology before starting clerkships. This would put me in a better position to do well, and add some stuff to my CV.
My question: what would you do in this situation? In particular, I'm wondering how much the additional research would add to my application (my current research involves optics, but is not related to ophthalmology otherwise), and if applying without all my rotation grades/only one ophtho elective would put me at a disadvantage.
Thanks in advance for your input.
