Quick Question...

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JPagan

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When do you have to decide which residency you want to apply for? Do you decide during your MS-4? To be competitive do you have to know during MS-1? Thanks for any insight all of might have!!
 
Most people start to figure things out by the end of their third year if they haven't already. Or, they do a couple of end-of-third-year/early-fourth-year electives to narrow down their final decision. If you know early on, great...you can get involved in area specific activities that show interest. But, most programs understand that people may not know what they want to do until they do a particular rotation. Most of the people I know ended up changing their minds from what they originally considered at the beginning of med school. Heck some people switch between fields as residents; although, this isn't the most envied time to make a switch, but it's better than being stuck in a field that you turned out not to like.

Just keep an open mind about the various fields, and you likely won't go wrong.
 
For the most part, waiting until the end of your third year, or early fouth year is perfectly fine. You will have plenty of time during the first three months to get letters of recommendation and get your application together.

That being said, for those interested in some of the competitive specialties, especially via the early match, it would be advantageous to at least have an idea when scheduling your third year courses. If it is possible to do an elective as a third year in a given specialty, you could spend your summer doing auditions and getting to know other big names in the specialty. This may not be necessary, but I don't think it could hurt.

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