Dual apply or commit to ophthalmology?

[kamikaze1992]

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[kamikaze1992]

Hi, I’d like to bump this thread. Would appreciate any perspectives on this.

 

[Gonio5]

It depends on how badly you want to do ophthalmology. It is not unreasonable to apply only to ophthalmology if one's record is decent then dual apply the next time, particularly if the second choice specialty is not too competitive.

Step 1 scores and grades are not spectacular but it can partly be offset by good recommendations and good physical appearance. Do not laugh, looks matter. In the case of men, height + not too fat + looks. I plead guilty, meaning my looks is not hideous and greater than the 50th percentile but not in the 99th percentile.

very competitive residency program

versus

not a competitive family medicine residency program

The 2 residency programs were selected then photos sought, not vice versa. So not cherry picked.

 

[PLA2]

 

[Slide]

It depends on how badly you want to do ophthalmology. It is not unreasonable to apply only to ophthalmology if one's record is decent then dual apply the next time, particularly if the second choice specialty is not too competitive.

Step 1 scores and grades are not spectacular but it can partly be offset by good recommendations and good physical appearance. Do not laugh, looks matter. In the case of men, height + not too fat + looks. I plead guilty, meaning my looks is not hideous and greater than the 50th percentile but not in the 99th percentile.

View attachment 375620
very competitive residency program

versus
View attachment 375621
not a competitive family medicine residency program

The 2 residency programs were selected then photos sought, not vice versa. So not cherry picked.

I have no dog in this fight, but careful with the overgeneralizations. I can tell you from first hand experience on both sides that the attendings who've subconsciously ranked applicants based on looks get bit/played at the end. Highly competitive specialties tend to be sought out by younger applicants who are US graduates; people going into primary care tend have less traditional applicants as well. Also, kind of a douchey thing to say implying a group of real residents as not good looking.

 

[Equality]

I applied to IM and ophthalmology. Made sure to get IM recs for IM and ophtho recs for ophtho. It was a busy interview season.. When I early-matched ophtho in January, I withdrew from the regular match.

I only did this because i genuinely liked both IM and ophtho and would've been happy doing either one. If you love ophthalmology and only ophthalmology, don't apply for something else as a backup because if you match into the backup, you might be miserable.

 

[medschoolaspirant]

I applied to IM and ophthalmology. Made sure to get IM recs for IM and ophtho recs for ophtho. It was a busy interview season.. When I early-matched ophtho in January, I withdrew from the regular match.

I only did this because i genuinely liked both IM and ophtho and would've been happy doing either one. If you love ophthalmology and only ophthalmology, don't apply for something else as a backup because if you match into the backup, you might be miserable.

Thanks for your perspective, its encouraging. I am in same boat Applying this seaon. I can indeed see myself doing both. If you dont mind, will you be able to share your stats and schools you received interviews ? Were you applying to same schools for both? How did you manage to juggle both interviews? Any tips on prioritizing?

 

[Equality]

I found out early on that I had a guaranteed spot for my med school's IM program (top 5), so I didn't interview at that many IM places. That allowed me to pick and choose which IM interviews to attend. I think I went to 5 or 6 IM interviews total. Because I matched into ophthalmology, I guess my stats were more than good enough for IM.