Transitional/Prelim Year before applying - does it help

[Chiq]

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Hi there,
I'd like to apply for rads. I'm a somewhat competitive applicant, but I'd like to include the research I am doing this year (just graduated med school) to strengthen my app. I was thinking I would apply for a transitional or prelim med year only this ERAS season.
Then, by next year's ERAS, I could include this year's research pubs + corresponding LOR & maybe a LOR from my intern year (if it's any use)

I received advice that if you were rejected, that your chances were slim the next time around, so I thought based on that, might be best to just apply one time, when I had the research finished by next year's ERAS, versus this year...

Would anyone have any thoughts/experience on whether this approach will be beneficial at all?

The other complication from this route is that I believe it means another year 'off' between my intern year and PGY2 rads, which is a huge pain. Not sure what I would do about that. Or is there any way to circumvent this at all, apart from looking around for any open PGY2 spots (which I'm sure are few and far between)?

Thank you for the advice! Would be greatly appreciated.
Chiq

 

[Gute]

As applicants, I think we have pretty rosy-colored glasses about the concept of research and how much programs really want it. I think its important to do it, but there are lots of things that also come into play and this one factor probably isn't worth another year of your life off to make your application more ideal.

I think there is alot of downside: applying to rads during intern year when you would have a harder time to do every interview you get offered, having that awkward year b/t pgy1 and 2 that you need to explain what you are going to do with/probably not have an income.

Very little upside: chance to present work at a conference (but you might be an intern by then and probably spent all vacay on interviews, so it'd be even more difficult to squeeze in the presentation), maybe have publication in time for the next application cycle but this isn't a given.

Those upsides are pretty marginal, especially since research isn't the chief thing most programs look at, and even then, you have already demonstrated that you are devoting your year off to rad research anyway.