- Joined
- Mar 21, 2007
- Messages
- 106
- Reaction score
- 2
Here's the deal, I have the opportunity to take a year off of medical school, (btw my second and third years) and do some pretty high profile research. I have spent the last two summers in this lab, and I have got some pretty decent work done. The project that I am working on has serious potential to explode. (this is hard core basic science research, not clinical chart review crap)
My mentor is a former Nobel Prize winner and he owns many other awards given to people in academic medicine. The guy is powerful. I know it sounds funny, but I have been told that a rec letter from this guy will pretty much get you into any residency you want, (as long as your top half of your class and an average board score ~220). You probably think I am full of ****, but here are two stories to prove it. I can verify that these two stories are true as I have seen my schools match list for this year and I know the first guy. Keep in mind that both these students were MD/PhD - I will not, but I will have a MD with distinction in research.
1.) The kid had a GPA that just put him in the top half of the class and a Step1 score less than 230. Where did he match? UCSF - DERM (he interviewed at Yale, Stanford and Duke as well)
2.) The second kid applied for internal medicine, he applied to Mass General but got no love. My mentor asked the kid when his interview at mass general was, and upon hearing that he didn't get one, my mentor asked for the kid's cell phone number. Within 1 hour, the director of internal medicine called the kid on his cell phone asking him to come to boston for an interview. Where did the kid match? Mass Gen.
That's the kind of clout this lab has. When they submit papers to a journal, they don't have to wonder where the article is going to get published, they get in wherever they desire. (Obviously they don't try to publish crap in Science, but if they have a paper they feel is worthy, it will get in)
You probably think I am full of crap, but I am writing this to ask you whether I should take a year off and work in this lab. My mentor really likes me, (I don't know why, I really haven't done anything, I think he likes me because I speak English and he can pronounce my name) and everytime I see him, he asks me to stay another year. I am an average student who will probably score average on the boards, should I spend a year and buff up my application with his rec letter and a few publications? At the very least, I would be able to get a residency spot at my home institution in almost any field I want. Is a letter of rec that powerful?
Thanks for any advice.......
Oh, and I guess I should add, I am not looking to get into Harvard or UCSF, I just want a good program in a good place (dream = University of Washington (seattle))
My mentor is a former Nobel Prize winner and he owns many other awards given to people in academic medicine. The guy is powerful. I know it sounds funny, but I have been told that a rec letter from this guy will pretty much get you into any residency you want, (as long as your top half of your class and an average board score ~220). You probably think I am full of ****, but here are two stories to prove it. I can verify that these two stories are true as I have seen my schools match list for this year and I know the first guy. Keep in mind that both these students were MD/PhD - I will not, but I will have a MD with distinction in research.
1.) The kid had a GPA that just put him in the top half of the class and a Step1 score less than 230. Where did he match? UCSF - DERM (he interviewed at Yale, Stanford and Duke as well)
2.) The second kid applied for internal medicine, he applied to Mass General but got no love. My mentor asked the kid when his interview at mass general was, and upon hearing that he didn't get one, my mentor asked for the kid's cell phone number. Within 1 hour, the director of internal medicine called the kid on his cell phone asking him to come to boston for an interview. Where did the kid match? Mass Gen.
That's the kind of clout this lab has. When they submit papers to a journal, they don't have to wonder where the article is going to get published, they get in wherever they desire. (Obviously they don't try to publish crap in Science, but if they have a paper they feel is worthy, it will get in)
You probably think I am full of crap, but I am writing this to ask you whether I should take a year off and work in this lab. My mentor really likes me, (I don't know why, I really haven't done anything, I think he likes me because I speak English and he can pronounce my name) and everytime I see him, he asks me to stay another year. I am an average student who will probably score average on the boards, should I spend a year and buff up my application with his rec letter and a few publications? At the very least, I would be able to get a residency spot at my home institution in almost any field I want. Is a letter of rec that powerful?
Thanks for any advice.......
Oh, and I guess I should add, I am not looking to get into Harvard or UCSF, I just want a good program in a good place (dream = University of Washington (seattle))