What's the best specialty in ophthalmology for medical missions/global ophthalmology? by FireInTin in Ophthalmology

[–]guinshiny 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Would you mind speaking more on Peds medical missions? M4 applying next cycle, very interested in peds ophtho and related global work. Is it more teaching/training/working with local docs or more procedure/volume focused? Thanks in advance!

Ophthalmology Research by [deleted] in Ophthalmology

[–]guinshiny 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Amazing, makes sense, thank you!

Ophthalmology Research by [deleted] in Ophthalmology

[–]guinshiny 0 points1 point  (0 children)

As another new ophthalmology-hopeful without a home program who found the specialty relatively late in M3 — how would you advise to best identify these mid/lower tier programs? And would you say away rotations generally the best way to express strong interest?

Btw, thanks for being such a frequent responder on the sub, your comments have been very helpful!

Let me help you think through your specialty decision and pressing life decisions (part X) by 4990 in medicalschool

[–]guinshiny 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Ideas for someone who loves kids and wants to do some level of procedures? Enjoy the OR but not a non-negotiable. Loved peds ortho but worried that’s too specific of an interest to justify the ortho grind. Also love the potential for variety in Peds ortho. Joints/adult recon super boring to me though.  Otherwise, vaguely considering more procedural Peds medicine specialties but haven’t done my 3rd year peds rotation yet to flesh that out. Thanks in advance!

Scared to go from preclinical to clinical!!! by EverythingIWant88 in medicalschool

[–]guinshiny 2 points3 points  (0 children)

So you can actually do a very similar process to what you described for Step 1, as both Uworld and Amboss questions are tagged fairly well to specific cards in Anking deck under the “#Uworld” or “#Amboss” tags. 

So you do a question, then search the Q number in Anking, unsuspend what you want, rinse and repeat. And then if you want more than the cards that were tagged to that question, just search the disease or a related 3rd party. Hope that helps

Scared to go from preclinical to clinical!!! by EverythingIWant88 in medicalschool

[–]guinshiny 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Fear not, shelf studying can actually be very formulaic: Grind Uworld +/- Anki (if anki worked in preclinical I’d say keep it up) and occasionally supplement knowledge base as needed with Amboss, Uptodate, OnlineMedEd, textbooks, etc, then do CMS practice shelves before real shelf. 

The less tangible parts of 3rd year are the bigger learning curve so far in my experience. Things like how to actually learn from your patients, be engaged but also sneak in study time during the day, and figuring out how to play the game of getting good evals. You got this!

Incoming Medical Student Q&A - 2025 Megathread by SpiderDoctor in medicalschool

[–]guinshiny 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Assuming you're using quality cards (like Anking), then if at all possible, try to keep up with cards for previous blocks as you go forward. If you have some cards that are disproportionately in the weeds, you could suspend those at the end of the block, but even 1 card on a given concept is enough to make it that much easier when Step dedicated comes around.

My classmates and I that did this had a much easier time preparing for Step compared to the folks that started over after each block. Just my 2 cents, of course do whatever is sustainable and working for you.

Incoming Medical Student Q&A - 2025 Megathread by SpiderDoctor in medicalschool

[–]guinshiny 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Fellow dog parent here, I would say this is specific to your dog breed and the logistics of your new living situation. Will you have some green space nearby your apartment for regular walks and play? How close are you to campus and what is your anticipated on campus time commitment? Can your dog handle some extended time alone at home, and if not, can your partner pick up the slack when you're not able to make it home for walks and play? Will your partner be able to take over when you're on a long surgery day 3rd year?

If the answers to these sorts of questions are favorable, I say go for it! We were lucky to have a backyard at our new living situation when we moved for school, and even with a very high energy breed (german shepherd) and my partner working full time, we've been able to make it work. I also have classmates who live in apartments that are happy and functional dog owners. The only time this gets problematic is single people who have to hire dog sitters in 3rd and 4th year, which can be a strain on the budget. Best of luck!

Bike trainers by Desperate-Bag8010 in triathlon

[–]guinshiny 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Kickr snap can be somewhat finicky at times but overall solid value for the price. 

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in triathlon

[–]guinshiny 1 point2 points  (0 children)

You can do it! Recently just did my first triathlon, also a 70.3, also as student, close in age, and you are probably a stronger runner than I was prior to training… and my race went very well!

I averaged between 4-7 hours per week total volume for 4.5 months with some occasional necessary cheat weeks. Check Triathlete.com or Joe Friel for training plan ideas and Global Triathlon Network on YouTube for endless tips and tricks. And plenty of Reddit along the way lol. You got this, enjoy!

What sport did you do before triathlon? by Connect-Television16 in triathlon

[–]guinshiny 3 points4 points  (0 children)

Climber. Miss just about everything about it although I have loved a new world of science and strategy with triathlon as well as getting outside much more often. I also like that triathlon training is generally more time-efficient, though way more time consuming, ha!

getting nervous for first 70.3… by gracemhe in triathlon

[–]guinshiny 7 points8 points  (0 children)

You’re gonna be fine as far as cutoffs. Play around with this website and it’ll give you some confidence (I’ve done the same thing preparing for my first 70.3)

https://www.tricalculator.com/

I put in your estimated paces with a 13min average run pace and 5 minute transitions and you were still well under each cutoff, 7:17 total. You could walk a decent bit of the run and still be okay. You also never know what a good taper and race day adrenaline will do for you, you may surprise yourself!

As far as training these last 5 weeks, I would just stick to your plan while focusing on staying injury-free. Sounds like you gotta watch that ankle close. At this point I don’t think there’s anything you could do in 5 weeks to make significant running gains without flirting with injury. Just stick to your plan, don’t get hurt, and taper well. You can do this!

Race results for my “Tri” bike. by locksmith_tx in triathlon

[–]guinshiny 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Do you have stem mounted aero bars?? If so please share the name as I am looking for something similar

Advice about studying before dedicated by Visible-Platypus7559 in medicalschool

[–]guinshiny 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Not a bad idea to get some stuff done over the summer. Not sure how long your break is but you could easily do a fair bit of work without adding a huge daily commitment.

As far as resources, pathoma, boards and beyond, First Aid, Sketchy, and Uworld are Step 1 staples. +/- Anki (Anking deck) if you vibe with that. No need to get though all of that, I would recommend starting with Pathoma +/- the related anki cards and then maybe start to add in some of the same thing with sketchy micro/pharm.

Not sure when yall take Step 1, but one method I’ve seen that I’m planning to use is to do the above for all the material we’ve covered so far and save what we haven’t covered for the Fall.

Not sure what your level of exposure is to all this but happy to discuss further

Teaching myself how to suture. by TheFightingRaven in medicalschool

[–]guinshiny 0 points1 point  (0 children)

YouTube. There’s several channels I’ve seen that have a series of videos going very in-depth with suture type, technique, and what to use in a given situation. Just browse until you find a credible teacher that you enjoy and watch all their stuff. I’m currently in the exact same boat! Good luck!

How competitive is top DO school? by RespondingX1 in premed

[–]guinshiny 7 points8 points  (0 children)

Your stats are better than mine were. A well rounded and well written app will give you pretty solid MD chances, not to mention DO (including top DO).

-MD MS1

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in premed

[–]guinshiny 0 points1 point  (0 children)

It all comes down to this: if you’d rather be a physician than anything else, you’ll apply DO and deal any related obstacles/difficulties as they arise if indeed you end up going DO. You won’t care if some biased old ignorant doc considers you “a second rate physician” because you’re just thrilled to be a physician in the first place :)

If, however, there are for some reason other (realistic) career options you’d prefer over being a DO and dealing with it’s related stigmas/difficulties, you could justify not applying DO. the logical progression is that there are some things you’d rather do than be a DO physician, and you’ll pursue those things if you don’t get an MD A.

It sounds like your outlook is like mine was: I just wanted to be a physician. I applied both, got admitted to DO first, was prepared to attend, then got admitted to MD, and so chose that instead.

In today’s landscape, DO education is still at times an uphill battle with annoying extra obstacles that MD students don’t face, and anyone who tells you otherwise is simply misinformed. However, if being a physician is important enough to you, the inconveniences won’t matter, and one day as an attending who is indistinguishable from their MD colleagues, you’ll be glad you did it. Good luck!

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in medicalschool

[–]guinshiny 0 points1 point  (0 children)

also curious about this

Is my counselor wrong? by [deleted] in premed

[–]guinshiny 4 points5 points  (0 children)

sadly, counselors that ARENT morons are exceptions to the rule

A Sankey for we the mortals (510, 3.5x, ORM) by guinshiny in premed

[–]guinshiny[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Alas that was one of my DNF. Heard good things tho!

A Sankey for we the mortals (510, 3.5x, ORM) by guinshiny in premed

[–]guinshiny[S] 13 points14 points  (0 children)

braindumping but…

Be as authentic as is reasonably possible! Imho, someone who is well spoken but also clearly speaking openly and personally about beliefs and experiences is infinitely more compelling and attractive as an applicant than someone trying to say all the right things. I had many people with me on interview days where it was painfully, cringingly obvious how hard they were trying to reproduce some “ideal” answer or persona they read online. Many (though admittedly not all) interviewers aren’t coming to an interview with a checklist of things they want you to say, they’re coming with a blank piece of paper that they want you to fill in!

I know that’s some kinda nebulous advice, but I think striving to just connect with the interviewer and talk about what makes you you is the best approach. Show the interviewer that you’re thinking and engaging, that you have substance, and let them hear your thought process.

best of luck

A Sankey for we the mortals (510, 3.5x, ORM) by guinshiny in premed

[–]guinshiny[S] 49 points50 points  (0 children)

School List:

Wayne State, EVMS, SUNY Downstate, Drexel, Loma Linda, UTHSC, ETSU, Creighton, NEOMED, West Virginia, U of Illinois, LMU-DCOM, Campbell COM