Hello all! This is my first post on SDN so i apologize if my formatting is not correct. Just wanted to talk to some peds people and gauge my chances of matching a solid residency. Super quickly, I am a 3rd year DO student out west. Originally from Northeast. Have all As on my 3rd year rotations, have solid evals + LORs, and a 250+ on step1. Have a lot of work and volunteer experiences albeit the volunteer experiences aren't "leadership roles." Have 0 research and 0 publications. Generally a very strong interviewer. The biggest thing for me is location ... i want to be close to my family after med school. My ultimate goal is to match to a solid spot in NY (really interested in NYU, maimonides, montefiore, NPP methodist, amongst others). I also have some family in LA so I am going to apply there as well, although I have heard this is probably the most competitive market in the country. Basically want I want to know is what i mentioned attainable for me? What do I need to do now before 4th year starts up that will make me stronger? Thank you for all of your help!
Peds Residency chances
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Honestly with that profile I think with that profile you're pretty golden. I can't speak to LA because I didn't apply to programs there, but the NY programs seemed receptive to someone who had trained out West but has ties to the NY area. The main thing now is to show your dedication to peds - keep up whatever volunteering or advocacy things you've done in med school, rock a pediatrics sub-i, and get a solid score on step 2 (just like 230+, no need to knock it out of the park like you did on step 1 
). At some programs you may encounter some anti-DO bias but hopefully that's the minority as there's plenty of fabulous pediatrics programs that have DO attendings, so don't let it hold you back. Now's not the time to get cocky but also don't underestimate yourself. In your shoes I'd take a look at Mt. Sinai too... Good luck!
). At some programs you may encounter some anti-DO bias but hopefully that's the minority as there's plenty of fabulous pediatrics programs that have DO attendings, so don't let it hold you back. Now's not the time to get cocky but also don't underestimate yourself. In your shoes I'd take a look at Mt. Sinai too... Good luck!
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You should be able to find a program with your geographic preference. Without intimate knowledge of those programs, I don't know as far as DO, but you can take a look through their current and potentially past resident lists, took a quick look at NYU and didn't see any for instance, but Montefiore did. Any of the more competitive programs are going to like to see more beyond the numbers, eg meaningful research, advocacy, etc. It might be worth tailoring your personal statements to the geographic region so the northeast programs know you're serious about moving from the west coast
Thanks so much! really appreciate the response and kind words.Honestly with that profile I think with that profile you're pretty golden. I can't speak to LA because I didn't apply to programs there, but the NY programs seemed receptive to someone who had trained out West but has ties to the NY area. The main thing now is to show your dedication to peds - keep up whatever volunteering or advocacy things you've done in med school, rock a pediatrics sub-i, and get a solid score on step 2 (just like 230+, no need to knock it out of the park like you did on step 1
That's great advice, thank you. My plan is to get in on 2-3 really meaningful community outreach opportunities within the peds field in the coming months before I submit to ERAS. Is research a must? I am so lost about how to even get in on a project now that its so late.
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Without taking a gap year (and I'm not recommending you do that) I agree it's unlikely you could participate substantively in a research project prior to eras. So I would do your best to just not worry about that too much because it isn't really modifiable one way or the other. A good general rule is the more competitive the place the more research is going to matter, but in general peds isn't that competitive or research focused. There will be program to program variance there
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I'd say throw yourself into advocacy and community work and that will be worth as much if not more than some perfunctory research project. Sometimes if you're really passionate on a topic you can even write an op-ed and get a publication that way.
I was in your exact situation as a DO. The best thing I did was an away rotation at my current program. It’s really hard for both you and the program you are visiting to hide your true colors for 4 weeks, and you will get an idea if the program is a good fit for you and vice versa. A really solid applicant they meet on interview day <<< a really solid applicant they saw for 4 weeks
They have to see something in your application that interests them, but it’s what you do/how you work while you’re there that makes the difference in the likelihood of matching there for residency
