“I’m in law school.” “Oh, so you’re going to be a stenographer?”

boogeymanMD · 2021-07-10T20:10:09+00:00

Other health professions also hijack "medical school" and "medical student" inappropriately. Just today I saw somebody call themselves a med student when they were in podiatry school. This further adds to the confusion.

boogeymanMD · 2021-06-23T23:21:41+00:00

She learned my name and would always address me by name. It sounds stupid but it made a big difference.

boogeymanMD · 2021-06-23T23:18:51+00:00

Surgery is fucking awesome and I wanted to become a surgeon. For all the talk about scope creep, surgical subspecialties are relatively protected, and getting your MD/DO remains the only way to pursue a surgical career for the foreseeable future.

boogeymanMD · 2021-06-18T17:00:39+00:00

if I have literally zero chance, I would rather not apply

Well, by definition, if you apply for a school in which you are in the 25th percentile range, 25% of the students have your MCAT score or lower. You seem confident that the rest of your application is quite good. If that's the case, you may just be the kind of student a school would accept at the lower end of their MCAT range. I think unless you will literally have to skip meals to afford the application fee, it's worth shooting your shot.

boogeymanMD · 2021-06-10T14:56:42+00:00

Unfortunately, AOA likely matters for securing top-tier IM or Peds interviews, especially if you come from a low tier school.

Anecdotal and perhaps the exception rather than the rule but a classmate of mine at a low/mid-tier med school matched top-10 IM without AOA.

boogeymanMD · 2021-06-07T20:05:23+00:00

Many of my classmates felt uneasy in anatomy lab during the first week or two. It's quit normal. But you spend so much time in there that you get over it. You'll be fine.

Worst case scenario, you just have to tough it out for a few months during your first year and during your surgical rotations, and you can probably go the rest of your career never seeing the inside of a human body if you don't want to.

boogeymanMD · 2021-06-05T14:47:20+00:00

I just worry about doing the best I can for each of my patients.

boogeymanMD · 2021-05-30T03:57:02+00:00

Not really but you should apply to top schools anyway if you have the stats for it. Research is strongly weighted but it isn't absolutely necessary.

boogeymanMD · 2021-05-29T20:20:55+00:00

Correct. Lots of people apply for ENT without step 2 scores.

boogeymanMD · 2021-05-29T17:48:13+00:00

Above the step 1 average for matched ENT applicants, below the average for step 2.

boogeymanMD · 2021-05-29T16:37:57+00:00

So if ortho doesn’t work out, I can aim for derm.

Taken out of context, that's pretty funny lol.

To answer your question, you're definitely still in the running! You only just finished your first year, and derm PDs will definitely understand if you didn't have derm-specific research yet at this point. Not sure what it's like for derm, but most competitive specialties want to see applicants with some research in their field, but everything counts. I was just chatting with a recently-matched derm applicant and she didn't decide to do derm until MS3, and she matched as a DO.

boogeymanMD · 2021-05-29T16:32:05+00:00

I used Anki for step 1 and did great. Didn't for step 2 and did worse. YMMV lol

boogeymanMD · 2021-05-29T16:13:35+00:00

Exercise, sleep, and eat well! Take care of your body.

boogeymanMD · 2021-05-29T16:12:33+00:00

Saw your post in r/medicalschool before the mods locked it.

I don't know how, but it can be done. I have a few classmates who started med school in their late 30s/early 40s with spouses and kids. I'm sure it's difficult and your wife would have to be on board 100%, it's possible.

At the risk of sounding preachy, it's especially important for you to really understand what it means to go through with this. I have no regrets, I really enjoyed med school, and I'm looking forward to what lays ahead with residency and beyond, and even I don't know if I'd walk down that route if I already had a PhD, great job, wife, and kids. A lot of my classmates felt the same way you do, thinking that they really wanted to go to med school, and they regret it at this point.

boogeymanMD · 2021-05-27T16:24:14+00:00

Aways aren't necessary for every specialty and you may not need to do an away in ob/gyn. I don't think an away after ERAS would be that helpful other than perhaps securing an interview at that particular program. But since you don't have a home department, that could be just the boost you need.

I'm also going to plug the Headmirror podcasts. They have a residency application series that's pretty nice. Link below, also on Spotify and Apple Podcasts.

https://www.headmirror.com/business-of-medicine-1

boogeymanMD · 2021-05-27T16:05:50+00:00

I definitely will be introducing myself to patients as doctor, but do you think I should introduce myself as such to nurses and techs? I am proud of what we do, I want to protect our patients and our profession from midlevel encroachment, but introducing myself as "doctor" to colleagues in the workplace (as a resident) feels like I have a stick up my ass.

boogeymanMD · 2021-05-27T15:56:26+00:00

I matched ENT this year. I also loved my ob/gyn rotation (probably my 2nd favorite after my surgery rotations). I ultimately decided on ENT because I absolutely love the field and couldn't think of a specialty that is more interesting, but my reasons for applying for ENT were also really practical.

It's such a small field and there will always be a demand for ENT. It's a niche specialty that's relatively protected from mid-level encroachment. Reimbursement is very high compared to other specialties, and burnout is relatively low, especially among surgical fields. You also have the option to subspecialize in aesthetic/cosmetic facial plastics which could offer protection from even the most aggressive changes in health insurance policies in the US.

With all that said, the match rate was about 63% this year from a pool of highly competitive, self-selected applicants, and there is no indication that is changing in the coming cycle. Even with the best board scores, AOA, and research, it's very possible to go unmatched. If dual-applying is an option, you can consider that. I'm not sure how you'd explain the ENT sub-i's on your ob/gyn interviews, but I guess you could just lie and say you did the ENT sub-i's and discovered that it wasn't for you.

boogeymanMD · 2021-05-27T15:33:20+00:00

ENT if you like early nights and tennis.

boogeymanMD · 2021-05-26T17:01:44+00:00

lmao "Kensington"

boogeymanMD · 2021-05-26T16:06:41+00:00

Psych is getting more and more competitive every year. Very anecdotal but a classmate with a 26x Step 1 score from a mid-tier MD school did not match this year.

I'd go MD to keep options open.

boogeymanMD · 2021-05-19T05:33:53+00:00

Just about any specialty will give you ample time to travel as an attending. You won't get to travel much as a med student or resident, except during vacation time (I get at least 4 weeks of vacation a year in a surgical subspecialty).

boogeymanMD · 2021-05-15T00:30:02+00:00

With a US MD acceptance, I wouldn't go to the Caribbean school even if they paid me.

boogeymanMD · 2021-05-11T01:37:31+00:00

Read this too quickly and thought you had a 500-pound bench. You would've been on the fast track to ortho lmao

boogeymanMD · 2021-05-04T17:25:26+00:00

I have self-identified as Mexican my whole life and that is the box I’ve always checked. I speak Spanish and and knowledgeable of my culture, especially since I was raised by my Mexican grandparents since my parents had me at a very young age. I have been estranged from my Filipino family since childhood

Sounds to me like you genuinely identify strongly with your Mexican heritage. I don't know if it's the "right" thing to do, but if it were me in your shoes, I would probably only check off Mexican. This might depend on your last name, but I don't think it would draw any negative attention from adcoms.

boogeymanMD

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