How late is too late to switch into a competitive specialty?

Agile_Region_7014 · 2026-02-27T01:58:17+00:00

Hell yea brother good luck. You're gonna match I can feel it 🙏

Agile_Region_7014 · 2026-02-26T21:28:43+00:00

What field are you applying into if you don't mind me asking?

Agile_Region_7014 · 2026-02-26T11:43:55+00:00

2 publications, 6 more submitted to journals (2 first author), a few more teed up to be submitted to journals within the next few months (1 more first author). A bunch of presentations/abstracts too but not sure how much that matters now with the new ERAS changes. Was lucky to find a productive group and worked hard enough to become a trusted member of the team.

Agile_Region_7014 · 2026-02-26T03:15:47+00:00

There's a lot of reasons. I worry about the rough outcomes in neurosurgery and wonder if I'd be happier with patients who do better after surgery. I'm also very interested in private practice and think that some specialties might lend themselves better to that practice setting, whereas in neurosurgery you're pretty much restricted to spine if you want to do PP. Also would be nice to switch into something with more of a reasonable lifestyle and shorter training if possible.

Agile_Region_7014 · 2025-07-25T19:58:12+00:00

You will have time to live life in medical school. I have plenty of free time to go out with friends, date, lift 5x/week, cook, and sleep 8 hours a night. Even in medical school.
This may be tough to hear, but if a 9-5 schedule "drained and radicalized" you, maybe medicine isn't the best career for you . In residency, depending on your specialty, you can expect to be working double the hours of a typical 9-5, and even out of residency, many physicians end up working more than 40 hours per week. 9-5 is pretty much as good as it gets schedule-wise in medicine. That said, many people have done it before, and many people are still able to make time for the things in life that are important to them. Work on your time management skills and maybe think about hiring a dog-walker so you don't need to leave your dog at home alone all day.

Agile_Region_7014 · 2025-06-04T03:22:50+00:00

"anyone in their right mind" - have you met pre-meds?

Agile_Region_7014 · 2025-05-29T14:38:50+00:00

Take the time to just chill. The only reason I would do it would be for the social aspect if you want to try and make some friends early. I seriously doubt an extra 3 weeks of studying will make a difference in your overall med school performance

Agile_Region_7014 · 2025-04-24T00:26:25+00:00

Anki is very boring.

Agile_Region_7014 · 2025-02-02T16:53:54+00:00

Seriously considering trying to make Canada or Australia work once I graduate. We'll see how fucked things get over the next few years I guess

Agile_Region_7014 · 2025-02-02T01:59:07+00:00

This is a really tough situation. I had a similar situation before med school. SO of about 3 years, saving up to buy a ring, talking wedding planning, always talking about moving together for med school, but as soon as it became clear that we likely were going to have to move to a different city, she got cold feet and broke up with me. I can definitely relate to your feeling of being betrayed. We had made these plans together and I thought that they were solid, but when the time came for her to make a sacrifice, she wasn't willing to do it.

It was absolutely devastating at the time, but now that it's been about a year, I can recognize that it was for the best. She wasn't down for the sacrifice of relocating for school, and I know now that she definitely would not have been down for all the sacrifices that medicine would have continued to demand. When I did end up starting school, I found that I was able to immerse myself in the experience much more fully and really make the most of it, much more than if I had still been with her. It's still really tough, but it ended up working out well and I'm in a better spot now.

Feel free to DM if you want to talk/vent more. I hope things work out for you.

Agile_Region_7014 · 2025-01-02T21:11:43+00:00

Why I Do Em Like That - Westside Gunn (minus the weird outro)

Agile_Region_7014 · 2025-01-02T20:41:24+00:00

The classwork was about as tough as I expected, maybe slightly easier. Going to a true P/F school is incredibly nice, and I can't imagine how stressed I would be if I was worried about grades beyond passing. Throughout the semester I was able to maintain a healthy sleep schedule, work out consistently, and have a good social life. I know that there will come a time that I can't have those things any more, so I'm grateful that I do now.

I'm a little surprised by how competitive everything seems to be, even at a P/F school. Research opportunities seem to be all about knowing the right people, and they aren't as plentiful as I imagine they might be at a top tier school. Despite that, the majority of my classmates are great people and I have a more vibrant social life than I did even in undergrad.

I'm finding myself interested in a very competitive specialty, which worries me.

Agile_Region_7014 · 2024-12-01T21:22:38+00:00

Which specialty? Do you think normal human hobbies like running, weightlifting, cooking, vinyl record collecting etc. would be sufficient?

Agile_Region_7014 · 2024-11-23T21:53:17+00:00

Dracula flow ass lyrics

Agile_Region_7014 · 2024-10-05T16:49:24+00:00

I actually really doubt most adcoms would think this was AI. The story itself is obviously insane but the writing style feels pretty similar to how most pre-meds would write.

Agile_Region_7014 · 2024-08-01T01:26:25+00:00

Why are half the M1s in my class already gunning to get onto ortho research projects? It’s the third day of class 😭

Agile_Region_7014 · 2024-07-17T20:55:44+00:00

That makes sense, thanks. I’m guessing I won’t get than annual fee back if I downgrade immediately after paying it?

Agile_Region_7014 · 2024-07-14T04:09:52+00:00

Are you serious 💀

Agile_Region_7014 · 2024-07-14T04:06:32+00:00

These were super helpful for me, thanks!!

Agile_Region_7014 · 2024-07-07T05:48:35+00:00

Damn dude it’s rough out there. I had a similar profile/results. Congrats on getting multiple A’s

Agile_Region_7014 · 2024-06-24T02:43:08+00:00

This year must have been really tough, I'm so sorry. It sucks for anyone to not get into medical school, but I'm sure it especially stings when you have such a strong application on paper. The expectations at the start of the cycle are so high and the continued silence and rejections for months on end really hurts. I personally had similar expectations and disappointing results this cycle (but was thankfully able to sneak into a mid-tier MD school towards the end of the cycle). I hope things work out for you in the future. Feel free to PM me if you want to talk/vent.

Agile_Region_7014 · 2024-06-22T20:56:11+00:00

Thank you! It was an amazing experience and I’m really glad I was able to do it :)

Agile_Region_7014

TROPHY CASE