Would my stats so far make me a competitive applicant?

[shoneek]

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Here are my stats:

Average 88% during years 1 and two (most year 2 scores being in low 90%s)
Step 1: 244
A summer of wound healing research (I'm also somewhat interested in derm)
No anesthesia research as of yet, however.
Currently doing well on wards, though not the superstar.

As I would like to relocate to a place like San Diego for anesthesia residency (my home town) I would sincerely appreciate your opinions on how I can make my anesthesia application more competitive (besides the requisite research) Are lots of anesthesia rotations helpful, etc? Would it be suicide to apply to anesthesia AND derm (like having someone from one discipline find out about the other)? Your thoughts are really appreciated! 🙂

 

[bigdan]

That's a very nice step 1 score.

dc

 

[shoneek]

That's a very nice step 1 score.

dc

Hey DC, are you an anesthesia resident, by any chance?

 

[bigdan]

nope. Not even close.

dc

 

[veetz]

Here are my stats:

Average 88% during years 1 and two (most year 2 scores being in low 90%s)
Step 1: 244
A summer of wound healing research (I'm also somewhat interested in derm)
No anesthesia research as of yet, however.
Currently doing well on wards, though not the superstar.

As I would like to relocate to a place like San Diego for anesthesia residency (my home town) I would sincerely appreciate your opinions on how I can make my anesthesia application more competitive (besides the requisite research) Are lots of anesthesia rotations helpful, etc? Would it be suicide to apply to anesthesia AND derm (like having someone from one discipline find out about the other)? Your thoughts are really appreciated! 🙂

If you're a US senior, which I suspect you are, you'll probably be able to go wherever you want, granted you don't suck at interviewing... 😎

 

[shoneek]

If you're a US senior, which I suspect you are, you'll probably be able to go wherever you want, granted you don't suck at interviewing... 😎

Actually I'm an MSIII... and thanks for your reply. The purpose of this thread was not for compliment fishing, but for advice, I guess, from maybe current CA-1 thru CA-3s, on if my current profile is lacking anything (for instance, I have no anesthesia research, but I'm wondering if that will be necessary to go to a place like san diego, etc.) If I am lacking something, it's better that I know now as an MSIII than later... that way I can make it a priority to correct it (i.e. do research, etc.).

 

[UTSouthwestern]

Shoneek, your grades and Step 1 will make you very competitive for any program you apply to. The west coast schools have traditionally been very competitive especially for location so doing rotations at programs you are interested in joining would be highly recommended. In essence, you are giving them a month long audition and your enthusiasm, preparation, and dedication can go a long way towards securing a position at UCSD, UCSF, etc.

Research definitely helps you, especially with strong academic programs like UCSF, but it isn't absolutely necessary and not having anesthesia or anesthesia related research shouldn't hurt you.

I would also recommend that you peruse your home program's faculty list and see if any of them trained on the west coast and might have connections that you could tap into to help guide your program search as well as help with arranging away rotations.

Strong letters of recommendation are worth their weight in gold so take every opportunity to show your faculty supervisors that you are dedicated, determined, and well read. Don't be an ass kisser but do show that you are eager and willing to accept teaching however it may come.

 

[VentdependenT]

Shoneek, your grades and Step 1 will make you very competitive for any program you apply to. The west coast schools have traditionally been very competitive especially for location so doing rotations at programs you are interested in joining would be highly recommended. In essence, you are giving them a month long audition and your enthusiasm, preparation, and dedication can go a long way towards securing a position at UCSD, UCSF, etc.

Research definitely helps you, especially with strong academic programs like UCSF, but it isn't absolutely necessary and not having anesthesia or anesthesia related research shouldn't hurt you.

I would also recommend that you peruse your home program's faculty list and see if any of them trained on the west coast and might have connections that you could tap into to help guide your program search as well as help with arranging away rotations.

Strong letters of recommendation are worth their weight in gold so take every opportunity to show your faculty supervisors that you are dedicated, determined, and well read. Don't be an ass kisser but do show that you are eager and willing to accept teaching however it may come.

Always the diplomat UT...

 

[cytoskelement]

shoneek,

here's to seeing you on the interview trail next year. i've got my crosshairs on UCSD as well. great location, great education - i think Miller is still there, avacados, spongin' on days off, sunsets... ahhh. check out scutwork for limited insight on the program.

i'm going to start some research very soon and hope to get 1-2 published by this time next year. nothing huge, but hopefully interesting. my grades are decent 1st two years, good board scores. we shall see. i'm definitely going to try to get an away rotation scheduled there.

good luck to you. i'll try to keep you posted if i find out anything else during my adventures. it seems that there isn't a tremendous amount of info on this board regarding that program specifically.

 

[EW1779]

Miller is at UCSF. The current chair at UCSD is Gerard Manecke. Great guy. You should contact him if you're really interested (ie, it would be your top choice.) Research is good but not essential, most of the guys in the calss ahead of me matched at top programs (USCF, Hopkins, Penn) with no research at all.

 

[EW1779]

one more thing....they don't take away rotations into consideration for residency purposes. don't take my word for it:

scroll to the bottom

so, if you have four weeks to do a rotation do it somewhere else. that's what i did.

one more cool thing that i forgot to mention about ucsd...they get to put the animals at the SD zoo to sleep. i thought that was cool.

 

[EW1779]

when i say to sleep, i mean anesthetize them, not euthanize them. sorry, poor choice of words.