Hi,
Here is my situation. I will likely be starting at a relatively competitive DO school(UMDNJ-SOM) this month. I had a 32R MCAT and a 3.46 GPA. I applied to over 20 MD schools, was granted interviews to three and was accepted to none. I was accepted to several highly linked postbaccalaureate courses but I could not afford the tuition for one(didn't qualify for federal loans), one seemed wasteful in that I would be burdened with a debt of over 400k after paying for the master's program and then 4 years of out of state tuition at the MD program(EVMS), and the last I did not submit the deposit money before realizing completion of the program would qualify me for in-state tuition at Ohio schools(University of Cincinnati).
In any case, as a soon to be first year DO student I know that I will already have a handicap when it comes to residency applications. I am unsure as of yet what specialty I would like to pursue(probably not anything surgical) but just so I can try to have the best foot forward I would like to know what I should do for the next 4 years to ensure that I can have the best application for EM, Anesthesia, and Radiology. I am assuming that the three specialties named are the most competitive ones(especially the last) I could be able to obtain as a DO.
Psychiatry and IM are two others that I think would be interesting to me but since they are less competitive they might not be as difficult to match into coming from a DO school. At the same time if I wanted a more competitive or brand name program in the less competitive specialties what should I do? I would also like to stay in the northeast if possible....
I know that taking the USMLE step 1 and 2 and scoring well will be paramount. I think I would try to aim to have research and some publications under my belt too. However, how achievable is this during medical school? Would it be possible to get published over a summer research gig(between MS-1 and MS-2)? Since DO schools are weakly funded in the research arena, how do I go about obtaining a research position and getting published? Likewise, who should I ask for LORs?
Regarding the USMLEs how do I divide my time during second year so that I can study thoroughly for the USMLEs, COMLEX, and schedule these exams appropriately?
Basically, I want to have all my bases as reasonably covered as possible so that I can have as great an application as possible. I suppose it's the best I can do so that the DO degree blemish could be minimized and I would still have most of my options open in case I find out I would like to do something competitive or a residency in a competitive location.
Thanks so much in advance!
Here is my situation. I will likely be starting at a relatively competitive DO school(UMDNJ-SOM) this month. I had a 32R MCAT and a 3.46 GPA. I applied to over 20 MD schools, was granted interviews to three and was accepted to none. I was accepted to several highly linked postbaccalaureate courses but I could not afford the tuition for one(didn't qualify for federal loans), one seemed wasteful in that I would be burdened with a debt of over 400k after paying for the master's program and then 4 years of out of state tuition at the MD program(EVMS), and the last I did not submit the deposit money before realizing completion of the program would qualify me for in-state tuition at Ohio schools(University of Cincinnati).
In any case, as a soon to be first year DO student I know that I will already have a handicap when it comes to residency applications. I am unsure as of yet what specialty I would like to pursue(probably not anything surgical) but just so I can try to have the best foot forward I would like to know what I should do for the next 4 years to ensure that I can have the best application for EM, Anesthesia, and Radiology. I am assuming that the three specialties named are the most competitive ones(especially the last) I could be able to obtain as a DO.
Psychiatry and IM are two others that I think would be interesting to me but since they are less competitive they might not be as difficult to match into coming from a DO school. At the same time if I wanted a more competitive or brand name program in the less competitive specialties what should I do? I would also like to stay in the northeast if possible....
I know that taking the USMLE step 1 and 2 and scoring well will be paramount. I think I would try to aim to have research and some publications under my belt too. However, how achievable is this during medical school? Would it be possible to get published over a summer research gig(between MS-1 and MS-2)? Since DO schools are weakly funded in the research arena, how do I go about obtaining a research position and getting published? Likewise, who should I ask for LORs?
Regarding the USMLEs how do I divide my time during second year so that I can study thoroughly for the USMLEs, COMLEX, and schedule these exams appropriately?
Basically, I want to have all my bases as reasonably covered as possible so that I can have as great an application as possible. I suppose it's the best I can do so that the DO degree blemish could be minimized and I would still have most of my options open in case I find out I would like to do something competitive or a residency in a competitive location.
Thanks so much in advance!
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