Unique Applicant?

[Sunshine1025]

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[JMK2005]

Hi everyone - I'm an M1/almost M2, and I'm looking for some advice. I'm interested in ophthalmology but everyone says how competitive it is so I'm pretty intimidated. I'm not honoring my classes which means I won't AOA - I'd guestimate I'm in about top 20% of my class, though, so I'm right there on the edge. I don't plan on doing research, and haven't done any yet. I am doing a a couple externships over the summer, however, probably not in ophthalmology. Without going too much into detail, where my 'uniqueness' comes in is that I was born with a coloboma and have a strong desire to enter the field based on my personal experiences with ophthalmology, rather than than what actually makes it a competitive specialty (the lifestyle). Would this help at all while applying to an ophthalmology residency? I'm trying to be realistic when picking my future career path and don't really know where to start. I'm definitely not going to be in the top few percent of my class, and I'm definitely not going to have any spectacular research which scares me. I realize I don't need to be picking a specialty yet, but I'm beginning to think about options...

Thanks 🙂 Happy Spring!!

You say you want to do ophthalmology because you have a coloboma, but have no interest in doing research & shadowing. In other words, you have no interest in ophthalmology and no interest in learning more about it.

Pick another specialty.

 

[Sunshine1025]

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[JMK2005]

I was just looking for advice..

What specific advice are you looking for?

 

[Sunshine1025]

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[JMK2005]

If it would make a good personal statement topic for why I'm initially interested in ophthalmology, be unique to my application, etc?

Coloboma could be interesting but can also be very cliché. It depends the story surrounding it and how it got you interested in ophthalmology. A coloboma by itself is not interesting.

 

[speyeder]

Being in the top 20% of your class isn't too shabby. I wouldn't worry about AOA too much. Not everyone in ophthalmology is AOA. Just study as hard as you can for Step 1. This seems to be the great equalizer and most programs will use the score to screen applicants.

Many personal statements that I have read have included accounts of the applicant or family members being afflicted with an eye condition, so having a coloboma and using it as a segue into why you became interested in ophthalmology is not unique.

I would suggest that you squeeze in at least 1 or 2 ophtho electives and try to do some sort of research in ophthalmology. These are better ways to show your interest in the field. Even though you may like research per se, it does seem to be a fairly important component in the application process.

 

[Slide]

My experience with the process recently is that if you don't have any research, it may not necessarily open many more doors for interviews but it will definitely shut a lot of them down. The process is so competitive just about everyone has some sort of research, whether it be an abstract or just some time spent in the lab to several first-authored papers. Not having research will make you stand out, and in a bad way.

As far as personal experiences in ophthalmology leading you to pick the field, you need to have a better reason in it, not just for the admissions committees but also for yourself. You are by no means unique when you say your personal health issues have led you to ophthalmology. You won't know the true feel of ophthalmology until you spend some time shadowing and watching surgeries. Even then, you need to have a innate or natural curiosity towards it or your interviewers will see right through you.

The good thing is that you're asking about ophthalmology early, but the bad thing is that you seem to not be taking the right steps to see if it's for you. It's ok that none of your externships are in ophthalmology since you're just an M1, and I understand what's it like to be open-minded about what you want to go into, but if you really want to see what it's like, why aren't you at least immersing yourself in the field? Luckily at this stage you still have plenty of time to think about the field because there are still people who will ultimately go into the field but have not even started 3rd year yet.

 

[orbitsurgMD]

Hi everyone - I'm an M1/almost M2, and I'm looking for some advice. I'm interested in ophthalmology but everyone says how competitive it is so I'm pretty intimidated. I'm not honoring my classes which means I won't AOA - I'd guestimate I'm in about top 20% of my class, though, so I'm right there on the edge. I don't plan on doing research, and haven't done any yet. I am doing a a couple externships over the summer, however, probably not in ophthalmology. Without going too much into detail, where my 'uniqueness' comes in is that I was born with a coloboma and have a strong desire to enter the field based on my personal experiences with ophthalmology, rather than than what actually makes it a competitive specialty (the lifestyle). Would this help at all while applying to an ophthalmology residency? I'm trying to be realistic when picking my future career path and don't really know where to start. I'm definitely not going to be in the top few percent of my class, and I'm definitely not going to have any spectacular research which scares me. I realize I don't need to be picking a specialty yet, but I'm beginning to think about options...

Thanks 🙂 Happy Spring!!

The coloboma won't impress anyone and it won't make you unique in any way that will help your application. If you were doing research in congenital oculofacial disease and someone asked why you chose that particular area of research, and you said you found it interesting and said you yourself had a small personal experience with a coloboma, then it would be an interesting minor note. Someone might follow to ask how the coloboma affected your vision, though, which in this field is a reasonable question.

In your application, play to your strengths. Saying you have a coloboma should not have a center place in that application and giving it one will make you seem unique only by making you appear oddly self-focused. I am sure you would not want that.

 

[200UL]

I agree with orbitsurgMD - if you mention that you have a coloboma in your application you must state this has NOT impacted your visual function. If you have an iris change that can be noted in casual conversation, I would consider bringing it up in the application and again stating that it has not impacted your vision. Why? Because I would be wondering what the visual function of your eye is during the entire interview (many people with coloboma develop amblyopia related to untreated astigmatism early in life.... Often times the nerve and macula can be impacted leading to reduced vision potential.....).

In general, mentioning your "potential" disabilities in an ophthalmology residency application is a bad idea (or any surgical subspecialty). I have seen multiple WELL-QUALIFIED applicants mention they had strabismus as a child - bad idea. I have had many mention their retina problems - bad idea. They could have had the potential to best surgeon in the world, but they were removed from consideration at our program because of bragging in the application that they had eye problems. You don’t have to take my word for it – many programs request eye exams before offering interviews – I am not sure if this is unfair discrimination, but these programs have obviously been burnt in the past. To graduate an ophthalmologist in 2011, programs must state you are competent in surgery.

There are so many well qualified applicants - programs are looking for a way to eliminate applicants for interview consideration. In other words, I would not announce to the program, "I have a health condition that may make microsurgery difficult for me."

 

[orbitsurgMD]

I agree with orbitsurgMD - if you mention that you have a coloboma in your application you must state this has NOT impacted your visual function. If you have an iris change that can be noted in casual conversation, I would consider bringing it up in the application and again stating that it has not impacted your vision. Why? Because I would be wondering what the visual function of your eye is during the entire interview (many people with coloboma develop amblyopia related to untreated astigmatism early in life.... Often times the nerve and macula can be impacted leading to reduced vision potential.....).

In general, mentioning your "potential" disabilities in an ophthalmology residency application is a bad idea (or any surgical subspecialty). I have seen multiple WELL-QUALIFIED applicants mention they had strabismus as a child - bad idea. I have had many mention their retina problems - bad idea. They could have had the potential to best surgeon in the world, but they were removed from consideration at our program because of bragging in the application that they had eye problems. You don’t have to take my word for it – many programs request eye exams before offering interviews – I am not sure if this is unfair discrimination, but these programs have obviously been burnt in the past. To graduate an ophthalmologist in 2011, programs must state you are competent in surgery.

There are so many well qualified applicants - programs are looking for a way to eliminate applicants for interview consideration. In other words, I would not announce to the program, "I have a health condition that may make microsurgery difficult for me."

Some years ago, one of the premier medical schools graduated a blind student. The story made the news and they reported that he planned to work in psychiatry. It was very inspiring, as a story, but as anyone familiar with medical school and residency knows, it simply isn't possible to function at the level normally expected of a physician without vision. How would a psychiatrist be able to judge affect without being able to see?

Being able to see well, with good stereopsis, is important in ophthalmology. Some have made adjustments to the loss of stereopsis and other physical disorders once in practice, but fitness and disability are constant matters for certification on license renewals. Any residency, knowing how valuable the resource a resident slot is would be loath to waste a spot on someone who might discover too late that they simply didn't have the physical ability to function in independent practice.

 

[eyesupply]

Some years ago, one of the premier medical schools graduated a blind student. The story made the news and they reported that he planned to work in psychiatry. It was very inspiring, as a story, but as anyone familiar with medical school and residency knows, it simply isn't possible to function at the level normally expected of a physician without vision. How would a psychiatrist be able to judge affect without being able to see?

😱

I did a report on that as a kid! It was David Hartman, M.D., who graduated in 1876..oh, I mean 1976 from Temple and is a psychiatrist in Roanoke, VA.

You can function as a MD and be blind....work for an insurance company, sue someone as a MD/JD, work for the FDA. Maybe even as a psychiatrist doing psychotherapy. I've heard of a deaf ophthalmologist, so deaf that he can't do phaco and blinded a few veterans trying to do phaco.

 

[4ophtho]

I agree with orbitsurgMD - if you mention that you have a coloboma in your application you must state this has NOT impacted your visual function. If you have an iris change that can be noted in casual conversation, I would consider bringing it up in the application and again stating that it has not impacted your vision. Why? Because I would be wondering what the visual function of your eye is during the entire interview (many people with coloboma develop amblyopia related to untreated astigmatism early in life.... Often times the nerve and macula can be impacted leading to reduced vision potential.....).

In general, mentioning your "potential" disabilities in an ophthalmology residency application is a bad idea (or any surgical subspecialty). I have seen multiple WELL-QUALIFIED applicants mention they had strabismus as a child - bad idea. I have had many mention their retina problems - bad idea. They could have had the potential to best surgeon in the world, but they were removed from consideration at our program because of bragging in the application that they had eye problems. You don’t have to take my word for it – many programs request eye exams before offering interviews – I am not sure if this is unfair discrimination, but these programs have obviously been burnt in the past. To graduate an ophthalmologist in 2011, programs must state you are competent in surgery.

There are so many well qualified applicants - programs are looking for a way to eliminate applicants for interview consideration. In other words, I would not announce to the program, "I have a health condition that may make microsurgery difficult for me."

What about disclosing vision problems to your possible future professors and colleagues? I am sure things like poor vision and/or stereopsis would become apparent during residency to your attendings and upper-levels. If you withheld pertinent information about your eyesight in an interview or application, wouldn't that come across like you were being dishonest? Could a program kick you out for that kind of purposeful omission?

 

[200UL]

If you have a visual disability, your concern should be on your ability to perform ocular surgery (microsurgery). My feeling is you must be honest with yourself. Do I have the level of vision to be successful? If yes, don't advertise things that create questions in the minds of the selection committee. If you do not know, feel free to discuss this with trusted ophthalmology attendings.

We all likely know outstanding ophthalmologists who operate with one eye only. However, I do not know many residency programs who dream of bringing in 6 one eyed residents each year.

I feel peds and oculoplastics demand less stereopsis than other subspecialties. How many seconds of arc are needed to do intraocular surgery? - I do not know, but I doubt it is 20.... The bottom line is there is more to becoming an excellent surgeon than seeing 9 out of 9 circles. Having this ability, however, does not hurt and programs realize this.

 

[Sunshine1025]

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