I'm looking to apply for plastics this upcoming year and wanted to get some feedback on my competitiveness for integrated. Step 1: 241, upper 1/3 of my class, let's just assume not AOA, multiple research projects but not in the plastics realm. Any thoughts?
OldNo7:
step 1 is fine, don't dwell on it. good enough but not shoo-in for an interview.
upper 1/3 of class: again, good enough, doesn't mean you'll match.
non-AOA: not a deal-breaker. case in point, my med school had 4 candidates, we all matched, only 1 was AOA (not me!). and some AOA peeps may suck b/c they come across as social *****s (arrogant, rude, no tact), use that to your advantage
multiple research but not plastics: good but not ideal. crank out easy projects in plastics that at least are submittable/abstract quality. your non-plastics stuff is great, but not as useful as pertinent plastics work. be good as spin doctor to correlate your non-plastics work to plastics (e.g., i cultured adipose stem cells ad nauseum, useful for fat grafting work)
even if you mitigate any and all factors, it's a crapshoot. "being a good fit" may be the dealbreaker. interview well, don't be a douchebag, and have important people go to bat for you at the right time (late Jan/early-to-mid Feb). seriously, don't be a douchebag - you may match but kill chances at an academic job 6 yrs from now...don't burn bridges. humility good/par, arrogance/cockiness BAD BAD BAD.
plastics is such a small field that politics/networking ability can make the difference btw plastics-matching and matching in an outstanding gen surg (but obviously non-plastics) residency. have a fallback plan (gen surg, ortho, ENT) and even still account for a backup to your backup (research fellow position or some 'handshake' agreement for a match next year).
do NOT do a prelim. possible to match in gen surg, MAYBE, but MUCH harder (kick ***** on ur ABSITEs) and the game continues w/ interviews next yr. sorry to insult current/future prelims...