Preparing for Residency Post-Acceptance

[SpideyMD]

Hello all,

I was just wondering how I can begin to make myself a competitive residency applicant as an incoming MS1. I have heard of some important factors such as research, connections, AOA, starting a non-profit organization, step scores.

How can I begin to make myself competitive?

Thanks!

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[Med Ed]

Start by learning medicine.

 

[SpideyMD]

Start by learning medicine.

What do you mean by that?

 

[Mr.Smile12]

Pass your classes including learning the unwritten curriculum. You won't get to any residency if you get dismissed from school.

 

[SpideyMD]

Pass your classes including learning the unwritten curriculum. You won't get to any residency if you get dismissed from school.

yes but I start classes later this year. Just wondering what I should do in the mean time to increase my competitiveness for residency. Or what I can do during med school, in addition to passing my classes, to set myself up for success in the specialty of my choice

 

[Mr.Smile12]

yes but I start classes later this year. Just wondering what I should do in the mean time to increase my competitiveness for residency. Or what I can do during med school, in addition to passing my classes, to set myself up for success in the specialty of my choice

Medical school will give you the networking to help you make those decisions. But you don't need to preemptively join SIGs or journal clubs before you get there. You also need to understand the different environments and expectations by talking to the residents and attendings you'll meet during rotations and those SIGs.

It is absolutely okay to rest, relax, and fulfill your orientation requirements like vaccinations and technology needs. Find a good apartment and make it as comfortable as possible.

You won't get a chance to relax like this once you start medical school. Cherish that time.

And don't forget your top priority is to pass your classes.

 

[Rachapkis]

The formula is simple in concept but can be hard to execute: Focus on becoming a great doctor. Do well in medical school (both in the preclinical and clinical years). Establish excellent working relationships with your professors and mentors. Leverage those relationships to obtain excellent LORs. Show that you are committed to your chosen specialty and patients in that specialty through your research, extracurricular activities, and community work. Do well on board exams, especially Step 2. That said, while it is good to zoom out and focus on the big picture, it is also good to focus on the task immediately in front of you, which is acclimatizing to medical school and doing as well as you can in your first-year classes.

 

[obiwan]

Hello all,

I was just wondering how I can begin to make myself a competitive residency applicant as an incoming MS1. I have heard of some important factors such as research, connections, AOA, starting a non-profit organization, step scores.

How can I begin to make myself competitive?

Thanks!

You can worry about that once you start medical school. Yes, all those things you mentioned are factors in determining your competitiveness but the most important thing for you is learning to become a good clinician. In the meantime, don't be one of those who tries to read things like anatomy before school starts. Just enjoy the time you have before matriculation because once medical school starts, you will experiences levels of stress that you will have never encountered before in your academic life

 

[Goro]

yes but I start classes later this year. Just wondering what I should do in the mean time to increase my competitiveness for residency. Or what I can do during med school, in addition to passing my classes, to set myself up for success in the specialty of my choice

Don't waste your time

 

[drthedude]

focus on that when you get to school.

 

[Med Ed]

What do you mean by that?

It means that starting medical school is a big adjustment, and your job as a first semester medical student is to adjust. New place, new people, new systems, new expectations, and the material is going to come at you faster than you presently understand. Whatever the curriculum looks like, your number one job in first semester is to learn the basic and foundational clinical sciences and perform well on your exams. Everything else comes after that.

Every year I have at least one student who spreads themselves far too thin far too early, and they end up in serious academic trouble (which, by the way, is not good for one's pursuit of their specialty of choice).

 

[SpideyMD]

It means that starting medical school is a big adjustment, and your job as a first semester medical student is to adjust. New place, new people, new systems, new expectations, and the material is going to come at you faster than you presently understand. Whatever the curriculum looks like, your number one job in first semester is to learn the basic and foundational clinical sciences and perform well on your exams. Everything else comes after that.

Every year I have at least one student who spreads themselves far too thin far too early, and they end up in serious academic trouble (which, by the way, is not good for one's pursuit of their specialty of choice).

Thanks for the advice. That is similar to starting premed first semester so I will definitely focus on school for the first semester before gathering more responsibility. Thanks again

 

[Moko]

If you haven't already, consider shadowing broadly even in specialties you're not too interested in. That way you can start medical school (or M2) with a better understanding of what specialty you will pursue, which in turn will help guide the research and other ECs you do. If you let faculty know you're an incoming medical student (or M1), they're much more likely to allow you to shadow. Just my thoughts.

 

[SpideyMD]

If you haven't already, consider shadowing broadly even in specialties you're not too interested in. That way you can start medical school (or M2) with a better understanding of what specialty you will pursue, which in turn will help guide the research and other ECs you do. If you let faculty know you're an incoming medical student (or M1), they're much more likely to allow you to shadow. Just my thoughts.

Thats a good idea. Maybe I can find some virtual shadowing, but in-person shadowing is so hard to come by as a first-gen. Thanks

 

[mdphdhopefully]

I'm a fellow applicant/incoming matriculant, but as someone who's taken a few gap years I'm relearning some of my undergrad/MCAT anki cards in hopes that I can hit the ground running in med school (on the advice of a friend who's in med school). So far I've mostly unsuspended cards relating to central biochemistry pathways and concepts so far (glycolysis, TCA, etc) and some cell bio. It's so easy to relearn anki cards which I once knew by heart so I'm really only spending ~45 mins/day on this

 

[showkayaker]

Thats a good idea. Maybe I can find some virtual shadowing, but in-person shadowing is so hard to come by as a first-gen. Thanks

I think maybe they were suggesting you reach out to faculty affiliated at the school you will be attending. I am sure the faculty is more receptive to students of the medical school they are affiliated with and they can help you get inside the office!

 

[SpideyMD]

Right now, have as much fun and spend as much time with family/your SO as physically possible. Also, if you think you know what you want to do, go shadow to make sure. Being set on a specialty early on is viewed as silly, but it can take a lot of pressure off. I want to do rural Family Med- med school is hard, but I'm working hard because I want to be a good doctor, and that's infinitely more sustainable than working to get a higher score then the guy next to you by memorizing one more enzyme.

Once you get in- have perfect grades, a crazy high step 2 score, glowing letters of rec from outstanding attendings with connections in your specialty, and publish as many high-impact articles as possible. Oh, also be working on your clinical skills constantly in preclinical so you can honor all your rotations and crush your aways. Oh, and start a nonprofit in your copious free time that brings clean water to communities in need around the world.

Knowing "what" to do is simple. Actually pulling it off is wild. I'm a high B/low A student working well over 80 hours a week, and I'm not that involved. For me to do the above flawlessly I'd be working like 120 hours a week and hating my life. But I'm also not as smart as most med students haha I just really know how to study and I'm a workhorse.

MOST IMPORTANTLY- learn what YOU want, and plan accordingly. If you want to do internal med at a community program, why hate your life for 4 years? If you want to do MOHS surgery, better start maturing AnKing now haha. (kind of kidding, kind of serious).

so the only thing I can do for now is enjoy my time and work on starting a non-profit organization?

 

[Youngscrappyhungry]

so the only thing I can do for now is enjoy my time and work on starting a non-profit organization?

Please please please don’t start a non-profit just so you can say you started a non-profit. There are several non-profits already in existence that would be better off if they combined efforts and resources versus siloing and splitting resources. Idk I’ve just personally seen a lot of vanity and ulterior motives in the NP world leading to more harm than good. Also most adcoms (and I’m assuming PDs) can sniff out this sort of disingenuous behaviors.

 

[Angus Avagadro]

First, to be a competitive applicant, you need a competitive application. That depends on the specialty. The match game is evolving rapidly, especially with the rising number of med school graduates and residency spots not rising at the same rate. So you need to be an excellent student the first 2 yrs. Easier said than done. Then pass Step 1, and get a good score on Step 2. Networkimg helps. LORs from attending at the program helps,or attendings/Chairmen known to the residency. Class rank will also be considered, so academic honors are noticed, AOA, etc. Basically it's like getting elected, all the boxes need to be checked. So, you need to begin with doing well in preclinical before looking too far down the road.

 

[EdgeTrimmer]

Please please please don’t start a non-profit just so you can say you started a non-profit. There are several non-profits already in existence that would be better off if they combined efforts and resources versus siloing and splitting resources. Idk I’ve just personally seen a lot of vanity and ulterior motives in the NP world leading to more harm than good. Also most adcoms (and I’m assuming PDs) can sniff out this sort of disingenuous behaviors.

Staring non-profits is out of date for admissions

 

[ron_johnson]

OP you should just chill and live life don't worry about residency rn