What kind of med school activities for someone interested in anesthesiology?

[Notasmartguy:(]

Hey guys! I was accepted to medical school and have an interest in anesthesiology. I was wondering what kind of experiences would make for a competitive program.

Specifically, I'm wondering what ECs, how much/what type of research, and other ERAS activities would make me a competitive applicant before residency applications?

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[voxveritatisetlucis]

Research of any type though anesthesia specific research would be a bonus, good letters, away rotations etc.

 

[Darrow O'Lykos]

You can check the NRMP charting outcomes to see what successfully matched applicants had in aggregate, as well as what PDs surveyed say they value in applicants.

Outside of that, do stuff you enjoy/can help keep you sane. Your scores/stats will get your foot in the door. Who you are as a person and potential future colleague/mentee is what they're going to look at in an interview.

 

[SweetBurger]

via anesthesia PD at my home program, they said they didnt care about research

 

[Notasmartguy:(]

via anesthesia PD at my home program, they said they didnt care about research

could i ask what they did care about? also was yours more of a community residency or academic?

 

[voxveritatisetlucis]

Getting more competitive with rapid school expansion so might as well just do research to be on the safe side

 

[Angus Avagadro]

Anesthesia is a small community within the OR community. Being teachable and able to get along within the small OR community is a huge plus. The usual, Step 2, class rank, LORs, and auditions are the biggest factors for.matching. Auditioning, working hard, accepting instruction, and getting along are very important qualities I used to look for. It's my job to teach this person, and would give preference to applicants I knew and could teach. Target programs you are competitive at and audition at your best choices. We were burned by a couple of high Stat applicants from T 10 programs with good LORs. The devil you know vs the devil you don't know.

 

[Tarsal-Tunnel]

Anesthesia is a small community within the OR community. Being teachable and able to get along within the small OR community is a huge plus. The usual, Step 2, class rank, LORs, and auditions are the biggest factors for.matching. Auditioning, working hard, accepting instruction, and getting along are very important qualities I used to look for. It's my job to teach this person, and would give preference to applicants I knew and could teach. Target programs you are competitive at and audition at your best choices. We were burned by a couple of high Stat applicants from T 10 programs with good LORs. The devil you know vs the devil you don't know.

What class rank would be considered a red flag? Is it something that can be overcome?

 

[Angus Avagadro]

What class rank would be considered a red flag? Is it something that can be overcome?

Like any residency, bottom quartile or 3rd. All good residencies want to recruit residents who will pass boards the first time. A board failure looks bad for a residency program.

 

[Notasmartguy:(]

Anesthesia is a small community within the OR community. Being teachable and able to get along within the small OR community is a huge plus. The usual, Step 2, class rank, LORs, and auditions are the biggest factors for.matching. Auditioning, working hard, accepting instruction, and getting along are very important qualities I used to look for. It's my job to teach this person, and would give preference to applicants I knew and could teach. Target programs you are competitive at and audition at your best choices. We were burned by a couple of high Stat applicants from T 10 programs with good LORs. The devil you know vs the devil you don't know.

thanks! could i ask what the "usual" is?

 

[Angus Avagadro]

Depends. Do you want to match ".Somewhere", or at a competetive program? Community programs will br easier, and uni programs more competitive. Follow Charting Outcomes for data on recent match rates.Typicall to match, you are upper 50% class rank. 248 Avg Step 2 CK. Good LORs. You are just starting out and the Match Game is changing rapidly. The key to matching is to play the Match Game well and make yourself the best applicant possible. Good luck and best wishes

 

[Esmolol]

Some schools have anesthesia externship programs - e.g. Carver. Look up if your school has something like that.

Leadership in the anesthesia interest group.

Some sort of research program with the department at your school.

 

[Just D.O. it]

kind of experiences would make for a competitive program.

Spending a lot time and dedication studying for step 2 and getting published research with authorships.

ECs are not gonna be a big factor here like they were in applying to med school.

 

[Angus Avagadro]

I'd like to match "somewhere". I'd definitely prefer a community program, but what counts as a community program? Is it just a hospital not affiliated with a medical school?

Uni programs offer all the subspecialties. Cardiac, Neuro, Transplants, Trauma, tertiary peds, etc. Uni affiliates may have some or all. You would then have to rotate out for say transplants. Community programs won't have all of the subspecialties and you will have to rotate out for them. That is not optimal as the program you rotate at will consider you a Ninja from St Elelsewhere and won't let you do much until you prove otherwise. This will dilute your training experience. Also, community programs are notorious for working you and not doing much in the way of teaching. They have a higher board failure rate. Lastly, anesthesia like many specialties is becoming more sub specialty oriented requiring fellowship training. So matching a fellowship will become more competitive. So to sum up, UNI>UNI AFFILIATE >COMMUNITY PROGRAM. Hope this helps.