Research in Different Surgical Specialty

[SilverLining1853]

I'm a fourth year at a top 10 med school interested in NS. How much does it hurt my chances to only have research in another surgical specialty? I did a research year in a different surgical field, and now I'm having doubts about that field and am seriously considering NS after exposure to the field during clinical rotations. My Step 1 score is decent (260ish), and my clinical grades are currently pending.

I see that the average number of research items is 13.4 for NS applicants who matched in 2016. I'll be pretty close to that figure when you factor in abstracts and book chapters, but I only have 4 actual peer-reviewed publications. All of my research is clinical and in another surgical field, so I guess I'm not sure if PDs will take me seriously or think my decision to apply to NS is not supported by my CV?

Unfortunately, my school doesn't have a NS department so I doubt I'll be able to crank out a NS case report/small research project by September. I always figured that research was the best way to demonstrate interest in a field so now I'm concerned that I won't be able to demonstrate interest in NS because I came to this decision late in the game after having done a research year in another surgical field!

I also know I'll have to obtain LORs from neurosurgeons (not sure how to go about this without a home program? How much weight do letters from private practice neurosurgeons who aren't well known in the field carry?).

All of this makes me wonder if the odds are stacked against me? TIA

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[neusu]

Research in another field shouldn't matter, so long as you get it published. Just have a good story as to why you picked that field. Namely, my school doesn't have neurosurgery, these guys are productive. Did you take a full year off to do research? If so, that may be a little bit of another question. That is, why didn't you spend that year doing neurosurgery research at a residency program? What field was your research in?

For letters, go on away rotations and get letters from those programs. I would have at least one letter from a home neurosurgeon, however it will likely carry significantly less value than an attending at a residency program.

 

[SilverLining1853]

Research in another field shouldn't matter, so long as you get it published. Just have a good story as to why you picked that field. Namely, my school doesn't have neurosurgery, these guys are productive. Did you take a full year off to do research? If so, that may be a little bit of another question. That is, why didn't you spend that year doing neurosurgery research at a residency program? What field was your research in?

For letters, go on away rotations and get letters from those programs. I would have at least one letter from a home neurosurgeon, however it will likely carry significantly less value than an attending at a residency program.

nvm