Starting first year in August...

[cleavagefurrow]

Hi, I am starting my first year in medical school this August. I am thinking about becoming an obgyn and possibly becoming a fetal and maternal medicine doc. I guess what I am asking is, how does one obtain top residencies (beyond GPA and boards)? Where do you get good letters of rec? What types of summer programs, scholarships, organizations... should I be looking at? Anything else I need to think about? I know that I may be thinking about this a little prematurely but I really would like to be as prepared as possible. TIA

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[TexPre-Med]

OB/GYN is not considered competitive. Relax, get good grades once you get here, do decent on the boards, etc. You have most of it.

However if you want to go real competitive (strong academic program) consider research in your uber amounts of spare time.

 

[8o8o8o8]

When you're on your Ob/Gyn rotation, let them know you're interested. Most likely people on the team will be more than happy to give you advice and if you're into research someone can point you in the right direction. If you really want to get a head start (not that you need to) you can shoot an email to your reproduction course director re: research opportunities during the summer after 1st year.

 

[sirus_virus]

Hi, I am starting my first year in medical school this August. I am thinking about becoming an obgyn and possibly becoming a fetal and maternal medicine doc. I guess what I am asking is, how does one obtain top residencies (beyond GPA and boards)? Where do you get good letters of rec? What types of summer programs, scholarships, organizations... should I be looking at? Anything else I need to think about? I know that I may be thinking about this a little prematurely but I really would like to be as prepared as possible. TIA

Lawyers

 

[Law2Doc]

Lawyers

LOL. That and an impossible to manage life schedule.


OP - relax. Nobody expects you to even know what you want to be yet. You may find that what interests you now won't in a couple of years. Most people change their minds at some point. Keep an open mind. Do your best in med school in case you decide that something more competitive is more appealing. And if you ultimately opt for OB, as a prior poster indicated, having done well should open a lot of doors -- it isn't exactly derm.

 

[Biscuit799]

OB/GYN is not considered competitive. Relax, get good grades once you get here, do decent on the boards, etc. You have most of it.

However if you want to go real competitive (strong academic program) consider research in your uber amounts of spare time.

Good advice, OB's not too hard to get into. Also, I've heard from the OB/GYN interest group as well as faculty that, as a general rule, OB residencies only care that you passed Step 1 on your first try. Beyond that, 3rd yr grades and Step 2 are more important.

 

[psipsina]

I want to second (or third) the idea of how important it is to keep an open mind coming into medschool, its great to have an idea of somthing you want to do but you certainly don't need to make a comittment in april before first year to your subspecialty.

After you find your medschool groove (hopefully sometime during first year) start looking for someone you can shadown in the specialty that you think may interest you. You can get a feel for it before 3rd/4th year and maybe get involved in some research.

I too came in with an idea of a specialty that I was interested in, but others have already piqued my interest. There are some that I didn't really know much about before meschool started. I'm spending the summer between 1st and 2nd year shadowing for a few weeks between some of these specialties, more to explore my curiosity rather than to get ahead in the residency game.

 

[MeowMix]

It's interesting that you all feel ob is "not competitive." Ob had a 99% match rate this year, with only 6 open spots out of 1155 left for the scramble. I know several people (US grads with clean academic records) who either did not get their first choice, or ended up in another specialty altogether.

All this just to point out that each specialty changes from year to year; by the time the OP goes into fourth year, his/her chosen field may be viewed as desirable, or not, and may become a whole lot more or less competitive. As others point out, there is a strong possibility that you will change your mind; third-year rotations do shine the light of reality on what previously looked like a fun career, and often make it look downright unattractive.

So the most important thing is to do what interests you, and it doesn't really matter what that is; you will learn from it, even if you end up going into another field. Become a student member of ACOG (free); get travel grants to go to regional and national meetings, where you will learn a lot that will be useful in almost any field of medicine. Do your best in your coursework, and take whatever opportunities you have for clinical work in the first couple of years.

 

[VALSALVA]

Hi, I am starting my first year in medical school this August. I am thinking about becoming an obgyn and possibly becoming a fetal and maternal medicine doc. I guess what I am asking is, how does one obtain top residencies (beyond GPA and boards)? Where do you get good letters of rec? What types of summer programs, scholarships, organizations... should I be looking at? Anything else I need to think about? I know that I may be thinking about this a little prematurely but I really would like to be as prepared as possible. TIA

Hey cleavagefurrow,

I was just wondering what you thought of my advice when you made your original post here: http://forums.studentdoctor.net/showthread.php?t=394183

 

[naegleria brain]

to answer one of your questions, your awesome LOR's are going to come from the attendings who love you when you rotate with them, not only third year, but during your away rotations that you'll schedule at sweet-ass places fourth year as well.
dont worry about impressing your biochem prof for a reccommendation; theyll come during your clinical years and when the time comes youll know who to go to

oh yeah, if you have spare time, research could help too.

 

[Tired]

Hi, I am starting my first year in medical school this August. I am thinking about becoming an obgyn and possibly becoming a fetal and maternal medicine doc. I guess what I am asking is, how does one obtain top residencies (beyond GPA and boards)? Where do you get good letters of rec? What types of summer programs, scholarships, organizations... should I be looking at? Anything else I need to think about? I know that I may be thinking about this a little prematurely but I really would like to be as prepared as possible. TIA

Ignore the foot-stomping from the Ob/Gyn set about how they are getting competitive; they're not. This year was tougher than last year, but that's a bit like saying a 10k run is "really far" compared to a 5k run. Sure, but neither is a marathon. Ob/Gyn will never be like Derm or Ortho, so relax a little, you don't have to do fantastic to get a spot.

MFM is a fellowship however, and I don't know off-hand how competitive it is. If it is hard to get into (ala - GynOnc), you need to focus a little more on the quality of the program you get in to. Just as in IM, there are a bunch of mediocre little Ob/Gyn community programs anyone can get in to, but the top programs require killer scores and quality letters to have a shot.

People seem to forget that fellowships can be very competitive. I have a couple classmates who want to be GI docs, but figured they didn't have to work that hard since IM isn't particularly competitive. But seriously, if you're coming out of Podunk Community IM Residency, what makes you think GI is going be interested in you? If you want a competitive fellowship, better beat yourself over the head to get into a good program. If you don't care, and just want to do normal Ob/Gyn work, screw it, that's not a problem as long as you're in the mid-range of Step 1 scores and have decent grades.

 

[MeowMix]

To the OP: Valsalva's reply to your other post covered everything you need to know. There is no need to double-post.

 

[cdql]

Hi, I am starting my first year in medical school this August. I am thinking about becoming an obgyn and possibly becoming a fetal and maternal medicine doc. I guess what I am asking is, how does one obtain top residencies (beyond GPA and boards)? Where do you get good letters of rec? What types of summer programs, scholarships, organizations... should I be looking at? Anything else I need to think about? I know that I may be thinking about this a little prematurely but I really would like to be as prepared as possible. TIA

I think you've already got most of the answers.

Top residencies? If you've got good grades (esp clinical grades) and boards, you're nearly there already. The rest is just icing.

Good letters of rec? These normally come 4th year but if you have a 3rd year attending who wants to write you a letter, by all means take it!

Summer programs? Not really important. I'd suggest using the 1st summer to do research or just enjoy yourself.

Scholarships? I don't think these help in the application process but they'll certainly help your wallet. I'd apply to any and all that I'm eligible for.

Organizations? These are highly overrated. I'd pick a few just to get involved and not drown in a sea of constant studying. But it's more important to join the ones you're interested in as opposed to joining as many as possible.

 

[SeaBreeze12]

My advice.... SIMMER DOWN! You are gonna be so overwhelmed with getting use to medical school that you aren't gonna be able to think about what you are doing next week, let alone 4 years from now. Just work on making good grades and developing good relationships with your classmates and good study habits right now!

 

[megadon]

I have a hard time remembering which day of the week it is. Usually I can remember what shows I watched the night before for clues. If it was House, it's Wednesday. Thursday is hardest cause nothing good is on Wednesday.

My other point is, it's good you think you have an idea what you want to do. I thought I wanted Peds. Now I want internal medicine (so I can go GI and play with scopes) or family medicine. I still haven't done my clerkships, so that is up in the air too. Also common factor, they are all non-competitive specialties. Unless you want to be on the ROAD to success (radiology, opthamology/orthopod, anasthesia, dermatology), simmer down. You're going to get it, unless you really blow something. You have the luxery of being able to be on the C=MD path, while your gunner buds are sweating everything else. So just go to school and learn, it will all work out. Save your stress for exams, or else you're going to have a MI, and have coagulative necrosis. See, review for my path test tomorrow.

 

[mshheaddoc]

cross posted ... please respond here