question

[esth0001]

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I have a question? If you want to be more competative for general surgery, Does it help to do one year of prelimanry surgery and maybe some research and then apply for the following year for the categorial position or not?

 

[Smurfette]

I have a question? If you want to be more competative for general surgery, Does it help to do one year of prelimanry surgery and maybe some research and then apply for the following year for the categorial position or not?

IMO, unless you are an FMG, No. Try for a categorical spot. You'll get interviews if you apply to places that are appropriate for your competitiveness (and maybe some that surprise you). Doing a prelim year can help if you do a fabulous job...but you also may end up needing to repeat intern year, which would suck. There's no guarantees that you will get hired to replace a "fallen" categorical resident, or that you will match in gen surg the second time around. There are plenty of prelim spots to choose from during the scramble if you go unmatched for a categorical spot, and then at least you won't wonder "what if I could have matched if I had tried" when trying to do interviews and take time off as an intern.