asking PD for advice

[radiologygirl]

Hello everyone,

Just wanted to get some advice on what exactly to ask my PD as far as advice is concerned.....

That might seem a stupid question to be putting forward but I dont want to walk in and open my mouth only to make a fool of myself by spitting out some nonsensical verbal diarrhea.

I would like to make the most of the little time that I have....So how can I structure my questions?

By the way I am an FMG, my states are average at least (130 Step 1), no research.

Thanks to all those who take the time to reply

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[Bevo]

130? it goes that low

I've spoken to a PD before advice. It wasn't that helpful in terms of career guidance, but helped in terms of how they approach the match, etc.

I got more guidance from the residents and a different attending.


I'm a fmg myself.

 

[sepsis]

omg, your video is damn hilarious!

 

[Skeptic]

omg, your video is damn hilarious!

video is hilarious. my gf started crying from laughter. she's got this weird thing for cats, and tivo'ing those animal planet shows...

anyways, as far as the PD goes, it's sort of depends on how you'd like to approach the subject of matching. when i spoke with my rads pd, he said we could do it two ways. either i could tell him my stats, or he could give me ranges and say in particular what things they looked for. the flow of the conversation leaned towards the latter, so that's how we went. he basically said everything that's been said here:

1) Top tier look at about USMLE step 1 235/240 or greater, middle tier 225 or so...it's somewhat variable
2) clinical years are important, since you should have a good grasp on the material to be a good radiologist
3) AOA is always nice...duh
4) Research is particularly important for the academic institutions, since they want to train academecians. It's always good to have pubs under your belt. Does not have to be in the field of rads, since that may be a little unrealistic. but if it is, that's great.
5) Away electives are somewhat variable since you shouldn't expect to get letters after doing a 4th year one. Letters from known radiologists should already be anticipated before going into fourth year. For some, it may differ. But you can't expect to contribute much other than interest on a radiology elective, so don't do too many otherwise you'll look like a slacker.

If I recall correctly, that's what he told me. The thing he emphasized though, me being a 3rd year, was to do a radiology elective early to make sure i am cut out for the field. once that's taken care of, i think i'll go back to him and ask him to break down my stats and see what my chances are of each place. i think the match can work to your advantage, with little to no hitches, as long as you are realistic about your stats.