Peds competitiveness at the top

[NWwildcat2013]

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Im talking Cincy, CHoP, Boston Children's, UCSF, etc. What type of scores do these residents likely have? Also, how necessary is research to match at a place like that if the rest of your application is solid with good Step and strong grades?

I recently rotated through peds and was surprised by how much I liked it. I don't like outpatient at all, but I loved inpatient. It was one of the few times I saw lots of zebras and rare textbook stuff that I like. I also like the physiology that you see in newborns.

Basically it seem to me like it is IM but without all the boring DM2, CHF, COPD. Peds has its own boring inpatient stuff like RSV and constipaiton but it feels more tolerable.

 

[Mountaineer12]

Being in the thick of interview season, this stuff seems pretty hard to pin down. I applied to CHOP, Boston Children's, and Cincy and didn't get any love from them. I have a 239, 248, not AOA, but high 2nd quartile with really strong LORs. My school isn't the most well known in the US (WVU) so that may have been part of it. I also only had one peds case report + a few random anatomy abstracts and one paper in press, so research was possibly lacking for these places. I did get some love from top 20 programs (4 interviews, 2 in top 10). Seems like you have to have something a little extra for the places you listed above. Good luck! There's lots of amazing programs out there, I ended up loving some of the smaller programs more than some of big academic centers so stay open minded!


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[Mountaineer12]

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[mvenus929]

There's not as much need for the name in pediatrics. Yes, there is some, but there are some really good programs that train you very well that are not well known to med students, but are in pediatrics in general. It really is about the fit at the end of the day, though if you want to go to a super competitive fellowship, the name might give you a slight leg up.

Also, keep in mind that the big names are big programs and tend to have a lot of fellowships (and thus produce a lot of research). Being in a fellow heavy program may not give you the best residency experience.

 

[SurfingDoctor]

Im talking Cincy, CHoP, Boston Children's, UCSF, etc. What type of scores do these residents likely have? Also, how necessary is research to match at a place like that if the rest of your application is solid with good Step and strong grades?

I recently rotated through peds and was surprised by how much I liked it. I don't like outpatient at all, but I loved inpatient. It was one of the few times I saw lots of zebras and rare textbook stuff that I like. I also like the physiology that you see in newborns.

Basically it seem to me like it is IM but without all the boring DM2, CHF, COPD. Peds has its own boring inpatient stuff like RSV and constipaiton but it feels more tolerable.

Some places may have a specific cutoff, but I would guess somewhere in the 240+ range for Step scores. I don't know about medical school grades but also in the upper portion of the class. AOA definitely helps.

Additionally, several residents at those places have significant extracurricular activities, including MPH, MBA and PhD. You should definitely have research or some project and probably have at least 1 publication. And of course, strong LORs.

However, I would agree with the previous sentiment that these names do necessarily offer better training or experiences than any other program and will not really lead to better job opportunities in the future. Your residency and the success you achieve is far more dependent on you than where you trained.