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- Thread starter The_DO_Master
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AnatomyGrey12
Just an MS3 DO interested in surgery so take this as you will, but we had a senior at the program affiliated with my school match CT to BWH (cardiac track) this year without research years. A few pubs in residency, but not many. They did do an away month at a bigger academic program and got a letter from the Chair there.
Would it be ok if I PM'd you? I could use some advice about some stuff.
Would it be ok if I PM'd you? I could use some advice about some stuff.
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deleted50541
It never hurts you to have research experience and any advantage you can get in this now very competitive match is a plus. I took a year off and did basic science research along with clinical research throughout residency with several publications and conference presentations. However, I was looking for a CT program that didn't put a lot of emphasis on research during training and matched accordingly.
I think a decent ABSITE score would be >70-80th percentile per year. I don't know how much weight other programs put on it, but consistent low scores compared to other equally qualified candidates will likely preclude you from an interview invite. Programs want folks whom they think will pass their board exams.
CT surgery after general surgery is considered a residency. Research is always welcomed especially at big academic programs. My PD was a big numbers ***** and loved people who made 90%+ on in service exams. Once you make it into CT, it is easy to get into transplant. People who want to do transplant usually do an extra year after CT residency and focus on cardiac/lung transplant surgery, VAD and other heart failure surgeries. Putting people on and managing ECMO patients usually is part of regular CT residency training and you can refine your strategies if you do that transplant year. Congenital cardiac surgery is a very difficult match. There are only 6 programs with 7 spots. Match rate is less than 50%.
At the end of the day, CT surgery is a very small world and who you know matters. If you don't have the connections, having decent numbers, being a good resident that everyone loves and having great letters of recommendations from CT surgeons will get your foot in the door in most places.
CT surgery match seems to have gotten a lot more competitive in the past few years so good luck.
The CT match is odd, I do think that you need to be reasonably well rounded on paper, but I don't think having a large research portfolio is a requirement. Do enough that people can look at your CV and take away that you do more than just show up to work. I'd say probably about 1/4 of the people that I interviewed with did dedicated research years, so the majority do not appear to do so. That said, most fellowship programs will expect you to be at least a little bit productive.
That said, I'm always shocked by the ends up not matching. Good, personable candidates seem to go unmatched every year. The match has been relatively stable though for the past few years and it seems like about 75% of people match these days. I think the interest is growing from general surgery residents and programs are re-opening accordingly after shutting down when CT interest was low.
That said, I'm always shocked by the ends up not matching. Good, personable candidates seem to go unmatched every year. The match has been relatively stable though for the past few years and it seems like about 75% of people match these days. I think the interest is growing from general surgery residents and programs are re-opening accordingly after shutting down when CT interest was low.
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Your focus should be to wow people. Period.
If someone said you don't absolutely need research, would you just not do any research? A better strategy would be to crush research and send out a 7-10 page CV with a dozen first author journal articles and another dozen middle author articles.
If someone said that ABSITE should be above 50%, would you just not study? You should probably just try to get in the 90th percentile. Period.
I get that you want to know whether you're competitive, but you should switch gears and make sure that you're the guy that all the programs want.
The number of congenital programs appears to vary from year to year as several programs are transitioning to a two-year fellowship. If you happen to be applying on an off year, you might not be so lucky.
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