summer research in cardiothoracic surgery between MS1/MS2

[PoorMD]

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Hi all,
I am an MSI student now considering general surgery as my #1 option (mainly because I absolutely love anatomy and physiology, and essentially despise biochem and all that 'endocrine' drudgery). There are other interesting surgical fields such as ortho, urology, and optho; but my grades are only average and i don't see myself at the 'top of the class' anytime soon..

However,
I was recently accepted into a (semi) competitive paid summer program, involving research with a Cardiothoracic surgeon at an academic hospital. His project is focused on perioperative renal management in patients undergoing open heart surgery. I don't know much more about it, as they've only sent me the 'congrats, here's your project title' ... I do know it will be a good mixture of cardiac, and renal physiology as well as post and pre-operative analysis with recovery statistics and other variables that the lead investigator may be interested in. I am really excited about this, since it's my first true exposure to surgical variables!!!!!!!!

To those of you who participated in a summer surg externship between MS1 and MS2, I wanted to ask: What should I expect this summer? Will I have the opportunity to scrub in on a decent number of cases? I would hope that there is a balanced mix of clinical exposure as well as plenty of 'studying and reading' time spent in the libraries with literature at the hospital. Also, do you have any tips for a successful match in general surg? (my grades are right at the class average, and sadly I am only an average standardized test taker.. I'm predicting a 205-215 on step 1.) granted thats just a prediction, who knows...

Anyone with past experience, care to comment? Thanks.

 

[drrouz]

PoorMD:

Congratulations on getting this externship. If you stay focused and finish the project they give you, it will be a tremendous help when it comes to applying for residency. The summer will go by much faster then you think. If you want to accomplish anything meaningful you will not have much time to scrub in. At your level of training, you would not get much out of scrubbing in anyway. If you just want to see what that is like, arrange it with a surgeon at your home institution before you leave for the research externship. Anyway, concentrate on working hard, impressing your research mentor (they can be a great source of letter of recommendation, or an advocate when you apply to their program in 3 years), and don't forget to enjoy your summer when you can (life can't be all work and no play). Study hard during your second year to be prepared for step 1 (I don't care what people say, it is very important). Good luck!

 

[Frictionbaby]

For what it's worth...

I was involved in a research project the summer between my M1 and M2 year. I agree with the previous post. As far as research goes, I've always felt that what you "bring to the table" is what you will get out of it. It sounds like you are aiming to work hard, studying and researching in your own time, in addition to the time spent on site with the post-op patients. Observing the surgeries would be considered a bonus for your own personal benefit, but in agreement with the previous post, it will likely add little to your overall research.

Thus, spend your time on the pertinent details of the project...remember, you have a particular segment of the project that they are wanting you to be responsible for. Know your project inside and out. Spend time with some good journal articles and reviews that summarize your research project. ASK QUESTIONS!!! Question as much as you can. Show that you are invested in this project. Sometimes the biggest help to these expert MDs and PhDs is a fresh new mind thinking about a topic and adding ideas that they've never considered because they are so far removed. Don't just do the status quo. Show that you are willing to go above and beyond the call of the project and you will be rewarded for your efforts. Don't wait to be told to do something. Play with your data, organize your spreadsheets, summarize your results yourself and compare with their interpretations, do stuff that will make the investigator's lives easier so they don't have to. Make sure you are included in any publications, and if you have the opportunity, see if they will let you present the findings at a conference, research day, etc.

Believe me, the summer will fly by for you. Make sure you have a good time in the meantime. As far as grades go, do your best, and thats all you can do. You may have the opportunity to really improve your grades when you get out of the classroom and into the wards. Some people perform better on the wards than they do in the classrooms. I had decent grades but really excelled when I got to the wards and did much better on step I and II than my grades would have suggested (99s on both!) So you can do fine on USMLEs despite lackluster grades, again its all in how much you are willing to prepare and "what you bring to the table". Good luck, and if you have any questions, feel free to pm me.

 

[PoorMD]

Thanks for the posts, that's awesome. I appreciate you sharing your experiences, as well as letting me know what to expect. I agree, OR procedures are way over my head right now- it would only be for my 'excitement' factor and lend very little to the project. I might understand WHY the procedure is being done, but as for surgical technique i know nothing.

As for the reading and learning on my own- I was very lucky to be assigned to something I find interesting!! Also, the fact that the project is centered on open heart surgery patients insists that a lot of the learnings will be the post-op and pre-op variables which most of us MSI's know very little about. The elective dialysis component, as well as the heart failure will require me to freshen up on those fields of phys/anatomy. That is real cool, man.. I may never see a single patient, may not scrub once, but the theme here is meaningful results- those can be achieved without the clinical exposure that, say, a preceptorship or something like that might offer. That would be nice I think but its essentially just shadowing all summer and I would rather CONTRIBUTE my brain to a project at large!

 

[Ergo]

Do the research, because any research you do looks good when its residency interview time. They will be turned on by your ability to do research and your interest in research, even if its in derm and you go into surgery.
Write something anytime you get the chance, ask people for things to help them write - even on rotations you arent going for as a career. Every once in a while youll land a case report, a reviedw article, or a small book chapter.

I know this from personal experience. The research in an unrelated subject makes your application competitive, even with average grades.