An old thread from 2003 discussing the competitiveness of ped surg matching stated that competition was going down, with match rates more like 1:1. How difficult would you say it is to match today?
The match statistics are easily available from NRMP. While the competitiveness has gone down, its not 1:1. One-third of applicants last year did not match:
http://www.nrmp.org/fellow/match_name/ped_surgery/stats.html
I don't care what program I would match into; I just want to be a pediatric surgeon. Are even the less desirable (less prestigious, unpopular locations) just as competitive?
Well, I would consider Little Rock less geographically desirable, as njbmd notes, there really aren't any undesirable programs with a non-match rate so high. Most people are glad they match anywhere.
Also what would you add or strike from the list of ideal applicant qualities:
top general surgery training
AOA
board scores?
numerous publications
resident level research in pediatric surgery
I'm an MS3 and want to know what I can do now to prepare.
You don't necessarily have to be at a "top" general surgery program, although it certainly helps. My program was not a top one, but we've gotten anyone who wanted to go into Peds Surgery into a fellowship. What does help, as you've noted, are publications (although "numerous" would be stretching it) and what you haven't mentioned: connections. In a small field, who you know and who pulls for you matters. Thus, you need to train at a general surgery program that actually has pediatric surgeons with a Children's Hospital.
As for board scores, having good ones is great, but most fellowships don't take those into account (as they are taken quite early in your medical career). I'd be interested in knowing whether or not ABSITE scores (the in-training exam, its not a "board" exam, per se) were asked about during Peds Surg fellowhip applications. Similarly, I don't think anyone cares about AOA - stuff from medical school is less important.
I would also recommend you wait awhile and see what you fancy during general surgery. Peds surg sounds great to almost all of us; that is, until you do it and really deal with the families, the emergencies, the numerous add on cases, the trauma, etc. Not so fun, IMHO.
