Starting my first year...

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cleavagefurrow

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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 start 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:oops:. TIA

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Which school will you be atteneding? That is one of the starting points.
tcom200901
 
While OB/Gyn is not considered a competitive specialty, I think you will find that just about everything is competitive at top-notch, university based programs. In your post, you touched on what I would argue are the two most important factors -- GPA (along with class rank) and board scores. Research is something that will also help you if you can find the spare time to devote to a project. Good LORs will come from your third year rotations- for now, enjoy your summer and get ready to hit the ground running this fall! Good luck.
 
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Just a few thoughts for the OP:

1. Work hard but don't overestimate the importance of class rank. By all means...do as well as you can, but pre-clinical grades are somewhere around the 5th or so most important thing in an application.

2. Board scores are pretty big. With that in mind, begin using board review materials early on for course studying. Obviously, most of the board review books don't go into enough detail in biochemistry (for example), but they do hit most of the things that you'll see on your course exams. No matter what school you attend, the same concepts and facts are key no matter what and will be tested on exams AND boards (e.g. Starling curve or the coagulation cascade).

3. Get involved in things YOU want to be involved in...not just because you think it might look good later on. Feel free to do research in ANYTHING you want to. Do intramural sports if that's your bag. Hanging out with an OB/GYN once in a while might not be a bad idea, but stay diversified!

4. Getting good (and meaningfull) letters will probably come during your fourth year. During that year you'll want to schedule elective rotations in OB/GYN at places you think you might want to do your residency. You'll want to make sure that these electives are done at respected institutions with respected academic and/or clinical faculty. Those folks will write your letters and that may be the most important part of your application (besides your interview day, perhaps). Obviously, if you attend a school that is affiliated with a great OB/GYN program, then you can get a letter during your required third year rotation.

5. Nobody gets into anything that's fairly competitive without doing well during your core clinical rotations. Be sure to do your best on every rotation during your third year. Remember that most rotations only last one month so even if you hate the service you are on, it's only temporary and ANY medical student can fake being happy and helpful for one month!! :D

If you have any further questions or comments, feel free to PM me.

VALSALVA
 
Just a few thoughts for the OP:

1. Work hard but don't overestimate the importance of class rank. By all means...do as well as you can, but pre-clinical grades are somewhere around the 5th or so most important thing in an application.

2. Board scores are pretty big. With that in mind, begin using board review materials early on for course studying. Obviously, most of the board review books don't go into enough detail in biochemistry (for example), but they do hit most of the things that you'll see on your course exams. No matter what school you attend, the same concepts and facts are key no matter what and will be tested on exams AND boards (e.g. Starling curve or the coagulation cascade).

3. Get involved in things YOU want to be involved in...not just because you think it might look good later on. Feel free to do research in ANYTHING you want to. Do intramural sports if that's your bag. Hanging out with an OB/GYN once in a while might not be a bad idea, but stay diversified!

4. Getting good (and meaningfull) letters will probably come during your fourth year. During that year you'll want to schedule elective rotations in OB/GYN at places you think you might want to do your residency. You'll want to make sure that these electives are done at respected institutions with respected academic and/or clinical faculty. Those folks will write your letters and that may be the most important part of your application (besides your interview day, perhaps). Obviously, if you attend a school that is affiliated with a great OB/GYN program, then you can get a letter during your required third year rotation.

5. Nobody gets into anything that's fairly competitive without doing well during your core clinical rotations. Be sure to do your best on every rotation during your third year. Remember that most rotations only last one month so even if you hate the service you are on, it's only temporary and ANY medical student can fake being happy and helpful for one month!! :D

If you have any further questions or comments, feel free to PM me.

VALSALVA


Excellent post. :thumbup:
 
1. Clinical rotation grades (especially at the places you are applying)
2. Board scores
3. Grades
4. LOR
5. Research
6. Professional memberships/clubs/ECs

Rotate where you will be applying for residency, get LOR from people who have influence and work hard.

:thumbup:
 
Just a few thoughts for the OP:

1. Work hard but don't overestimate the importance of class rank. By all means...do as well as you can, but pre-clinical grades are somewhere around the 5th or so most important thing in an application.

Agreed

2. Board scores are pretty big. With that in mind, begin using board review materials early on for course studying. Obviously, most of the board review books don't go into enough detail in biochemistry (for example), but they do hit most of the things that you'll see on your course exams. No matter what school you attend, the same concepts and facts are key no matter what and will be tested on exams AND boards (e.g. Starling curve or the coagulation cascade).

:thumbup:

3. Get involved in things YOU want to be involved in...not just because you think it might look good later on. Feel free to do research in ANYTHING you want to. Do intramural sports if that's your bag. Hanging out with an OB/GYN once in a while might not be a bad idea, but stay diversified!

True

4. Getting good (and meaningfull) letters will probably come during your fourth year. During that year you'll want to schedule elective rotations in OB/GYN at places you think you might want to do your residency. You'll want to make sure that these electives are done at respected institutions with respected academic and/or clinical faculty. Those folks will write your letters and that may be the most important part of your application (besides your interview day, perhaps). Obviously, if you attend a school that is affiliated with a great OB/GYN program, then you can get a letter during your required third year rotation.

Probably more important that we think. WHO you know!

5. Nobody gets into anything that's fairly competitive without doing well during your core clinical rotations. Be sure to do your best on every rotation during your third year. Remember that most rotations only last one month so even if you hate the service you are on, it's only temporary and ANY medical student can fake being happy and helpful for one month!! :D

If you have any further questions or comments, feel free to PM me.

VALSALVA

Awesome post VALSALVA!
 
Just a few thoughts for the OP:

1. Work hard but don't overestimate the importance of class rank. By all means...do as well as you can, but pre-clinical grades are somewhere around the 5th or so most important thing in an application.

2. Board scores are pretty big. With that in mind, begin using board review materials early on for course studying. Obviously, most of the board review books don't go into enough detail in biochemistry (for example), but they do hit most of the things that you'll see on your course exams. No matter what school you attend, the same concepts and facts are key no matter what and will be tested on exams AND boards (e.g. Starling curve or the coagulation cascade).

3. Get involved in things YOU want to be involved in...not just because you think it might look good later on. Feel free to do research in ANYTHING you want to. Do intramural sports if that's your bag. Hanging out with an OB/GYN once in a while might not be a bad idea, but stay diversified!

4. Getting good (and meaningfull) letters will probably come during your fourth year. During that year you'll want to schedule elective rotations in OB/GYN at places you think you might want to do your residency. You'll want to make sure that these electives are done at respected institutions with respected academic and/or clinical faculty. Those folks will write your letters and that may be the most important part of your application (besides your interview day, perhaps). Obviously, if you attend a school that is affiliated with a great OB/GYN program, then you can get a letter during your required third year rotation.

5. Nobody gets into anything that's fairly competitive without doing well during your core clinical rotations. Be sure to do your best on every rotation during your third year. Remember that most rotations only last one month so even if you hate the service you are on, it's only temporary and ANY medical student can fake being happy and helpful for one month!! :D

If you have any further questions or comments, feel free to PM me.

VALSALVA

As an MS0.5 starting this summer, I will definitely keep these in mind.
 
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