Really need help deciding electives :(

[eastMD511]

---

Members do not see this ad.

Hey, everyone - i'm a third year med student...recently decided I wanted to do ophtho and seriously need some advice soon 🙁

I really hope i'm not too late with this but I need to set up my electives for next year and would like advice and which programs to ask. I don't even know what kind of deadlines I need to be meeting for this.

I also don't want to waste my time at places that will get me no where in terms of where I apply - my step 1 is 243, so far in my third year I have a pass in medicine, honored surgery, and I'm expecting a pass in family practice - currently doing psych. I have no publications to speak of though I did do some research in ophtho this past summer to get some experience but the project never really got too far. I have two projects set to work on in the next couple months though I dont expect to get any publications in time of interviews towards the end of the year. I do have quite a bit of extracurricular involvment - I DJ as a hobby and have done that for a bunch of med school related events. I've been involved in some student exchanges (did a rotation in egypt) and trying to set up foreign medical exchanges at my school. Recently been active with the ophtho interest group at my school as well.

I really have no clue how competitive this all makes me or what type of programs I should be looking into and am desperate for some guidance. In terms of location, I am quite indifferent at this point and would just like to get a good experience and a good opportunity to show myself to programs that would consider me.

Thanks 🙂

 

[MAYOphtho]

you sound like quite an excellent candidate. if you are set in applying this year, just continue to work towards completing your publications and doing as well as you can in your rotations. i think international work can only HELP an application...just my opinion

 

[eastMD511]

that's very very reassuring to say the least, thank you.

one thing I should add is that, i have an interest more biased towards surgical training as opposed to more academically geared programs.

Any advice programs I'd be a reasonable shot at or should be looking into?

 

[BruinEye]

First off, you sound like a great candidate. People's opinions differ, but I am of the belief that way to much emphasis is placed on away rotations. Most people end up matching at a place other than where they rotated at. I think where they can be helpful is if you do one at a place where most importantly, you think you have a shot, and/or you can get a good LOR. LORs are extremely important and are most often what delays your app. I would assume you could get one from someone in Surgery since you honored, and the person you did ophtho research with. So you basically need one more, such as a big wig from your ophtho dept or one of the other clerkships you did in third year. There is plenty of time to get your rotations set and your LORs, but always try to ask for letters early. Like MAYOphtho said, an international rotation might be a good idea for nothing else than it gives you something to talk about in the interviews. Hope that helps!

 

[aleezay]

Is step 1 score as important in ophtho as it is in, say, derm? if you have a score in the 230s will it be tougher for you to get looked out by the top programs (assuming you have good clinical scores, some research, you're a decent person, ECs)? Or do the top programs really prefer 240+?

sorry to hijack, just wondering!

 

[MAYOphtho]

Is step 1 score as important in ophtho as it is in, say, derm? if you have a score in the 230s will it be tougher for you to get looked out by the top programs (assuming you have good clinical scores, some research, you're a decent person, ECs)? Or do the top programs really prefer 240+?

sorry to hijack, just wondering!

i know one person who was in the 230s that matched at Doheny (she did go to Hopkins though)...and speaking of hopkins...if you look at the match thread, someone with a 230 somethin matched at wilmer (dont know where they went to med school)...so i guess take that for what it's worth

 

[Incandescent]

Hey, everyone - i'm a third year med student...recently decided I wanted to do ophtho and seriously need some advice soon 🙁

I really hope i'm not too late with this but I need to set up my electives for next year and would like advice and which programs to ask. I don't even know what kind of deadlines I need to be meeting for this.

I also don't want to waste my time at places that will get me no where in terms of where I apply - my step 1 is 243, so far in my third year I have a pass in medicine, honored surgery, and I'm expecting a pass in family practice - currently doing psych. I have no publications to speak of though I did do some research in ophtho this past summer to get some experience but the project never really got too far. I have two projects set to work on in the next couple months though I dont expect to get any publications in time of interviews towards the end of the year. I do have quite a bit of extracurricular involvment - I DJ as a hobby and have done that for a bunch of med school related events. I've been involved in some student exchanges (did a rotation in egypt) and trying to set up foreign medical exchanges at my school. Recently been active with the ophtho interest group at my school as well.

I really have no clue how competitive this all makes me or what type of programs I should be looking into and am desperate for some guidance. In terms of location, I am quite indifferent at this point and would just like to get a good experience and a good opportunity to show myself to programs that would consider me.

Thanks 🙂

you sound like an excellent candidate - you have interesting things to talk about (international experiences, upcoming research) and your board score won't hold you back in any way!

how much clinical ophtho experience do you have? some away electives offer a lot more student teaching/learning/responsibility than others where we mainly "observe." Try and find a place that has a resident run clinic or Eye ER where students get to try their hand at the inital work-up and exam, and present to the higher-ups. I can't tell you how much I learned on my two months of away ophtho rotations - I got much more comfortable using the 90 and the indirect (though definitely had better luck with the former 🙂 ) and learned a lot about common presentations and ocular emergencies. Places that come to mind are WashU (students do a LOT in the clinics and learn a ton) and Wills (have an Eye ER that students participate in).

I've also heard ocular pathology is a great elective and introduction to ophthalmology (you'll become comfortable with all the crazy little things to know about the eye's anatomy and manifestations of disease). I hear Iowa has a great oculopathology elective for medical students.

I mentioned very competitive places, but it might be beneficial to have one reach away and one not-so-reach away........if you work hard and wow them, you just never know!

good luck.

Hope this helps.

 

[twintiger32]

check out the annual match statistics located on one of the sticky's on this forum...will give you a general idea how recently matched applicants compare with you.

also, to answer your question about board scores, the answer is "no." board scores don't mean as much in ophthalmology as they do in say, dermatology or ENT. what school you come from, the strength of your home ophthalmology program, and who you know (research and LOR's) probably matter more. this is partly the reason the average board score for those that match in ophthalmology is "only" 232 as compared to mid 240's for derm and high 230's for ENT. You'll have an easier time matching into Doheny, etc. with a 230-240 coming from Hopkins, then you will with a 250-260 coming from an unranked school.

hang around these forums, and you'll get a pretty good idea of what you need to do to match into ophthalmology.