Surgery Prelim?

[frog4brooke]

OK-So my ERAS is in and I have been offered a couple of interviews in EM, including some 2-4 programs. I was looking at doing a surgery prelim year because surgery is something that I like (I was going back and forth EM vs surgery for quite a while).

So, is this a good option that will help me further on in my residency (vs transitional and IM)?

And-What do I need to do for ERAS-all of my LOR?s are EM geared (1-IM, 1-trauma surg and 2-EM) Do I need to alter my personal statement?

Thanks!!

Brooke

---

Members don't see this ad.

 

[gimmedog]

I was advised by my medicine clerkship director that I didn't need to dramatically alter the PS--programs understand you're on your way to something else. I plan to just alter it enough to include what I want to get out of my prelim/trans yr.

 

[grouptherapy]

If you insist on doing a surgery prelim, apply NOW. Interview slots are being alotted as you read this post. You have little choice, but to assign whatever LORs that are currently uploaded to the sx. programs. some high powered programs require the chairman's rec. Remember that you can deassign an SLOR or IM rec if you get your hands on a chairman of surgery rec and replace accordingly. check the program requirements so that you don't waste 15 bucks.

everyone handles the PS differently. some ppl add an extra paragraph at the end explaining their intentions. I imbedded one extra sentence in the third paragraph of my EM essay and that was it.

good luck with your interviews.

 

[ERMudPhud]

As someone who did a medicine prelim year I have to say I can't imagine doing a surgical internship. A surgery internship will clearly be the most work and I think probably the least education. Most surgical interns I knew spent huge amounts of time on preop and postop care with very little OR work. A great deal of surgical education and work takes place in the subsequent years which you will be missing. In the ED the majority of what you see even in a level 1 trauma center will be medicine. The people in my program who had done surgical prelims were few and far between and I thought ended up with gaping holes in their medical knowledge that took years to close. That being said, if you really like surgery and really want to be a surgical intern then go ahead, it will all probably end up equal by the time you finish your residency.