Is it better to have the Theme/Narrative of your application revolve around a certain specialty or Medicine in general ?

[JSV889]

Kind of confused on what is meant by the Theme/General Narrative tip I see being discussed here.

Since I want to go into Orthopedics should I structure my application around this or Medicine in general ?

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[Mr.Smile12]

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[aspiringdoc111]

I would say in general. I asked for similar advice and was told it is fine to mention you have an an interest in ortho but having a breadth of experience shows maturity as you are likely to change your mind. Same goes for interviews—-don’t have blinders on

 

[LunaOri]

Medicine in general. You can mention your interest in ortho, but since you have no idea whether you will be competitive for that specialty, or even whether you will still be interested in ortho after exploring other specialties, it’s best not to limit yourself.

 

[LizzyM]

I'd say yes if you were interested in PEDS or women's health or geriatrics and had a three or more experiences with that population. Ortho, plastics, derm -- avoid it if you actually want to be admitted to med school.

 

[Goro]

Walk the walk and talk the talk.

 

[elevatormusic]

I'd say yes if you were interested in PEDS or women's health or geriatrics and had a three or more experiences with that population. Ortho, plastics, derm -- avoid it if you actually want to be admitted to med school.

Is this vein, would an application focused on mental health (in my case, community mental health) also fair well? Technically from this angle I my trajectory could still be PEDS or family medicine, instead of being limited to psychiatry.

 

[Med Ed]

Kind of confused on what is meant by the Theme/General Narrative tip I see being discussed here.

Since I want to go into Orthopedics should I structure my application around this or Medicine in general ?

It's a theme if a plurality of your ECs involve children/adolescents. Or hospice/palliative care. Or geriatric populations +/- dementia. In those cases your actions would expose an underlying interest in something that would be appealing in a future doctor.

Ortho does attract a certain type (D1 athlete with sky high test scores), but a lot of premeds are drawn to it for superficial reasons (it sounds cool and compensation is high). The same goes for derm and certain other specialties. Of course, the world does need orthopedic surgeons, and someday you may become one, but fixating on a highly competitive specialty with a limited perspective is not a great move.

 

[Hollow Knight]

I'd say about 50% of the med students I meet are mercenaries- they're just incredibly smart people who want to make as much money as possible by working the fewest hours. It's why ROAD specialties are INSANELY competitive and getting worse every year.

The other 50% actually meant all the stuff they said in their personal statement.

There's nothing wrong with being in the first 50% as long as you do your dang job and uphold your oath, but those of us in the latter 50% are who end up in academics and on adcoms, so you should hide the fact you're here for the money or we won't admit you. Sorry.

Now, the flipside- I wrote I wanted to do rural primary care in my personal statement, and I'm convinced it hurt me at T20s (had a 100th percentile MCAT score and all the achievements/etc, and didn't get in anywhere fancy). The thing is, because I'm sincerely interested in rural primary care, I probably wouldn't have gone to Harvard or Hopkins anyway because I would get inferior training at those institutions for more debt. I instead got accepted to a nice little rural primary care school, and life is good now.

All of that to say- just be honest, and stuff works itself out. Unless you're a mercenary- then if you want to get in, you should probably lie I guess. I couldn't sleep at night doing that, but it seems to be pretty common in medicine these days unfortunately.

 

[JSV889]

I'd say about 50% of the med students I meet are mercenaries- they're just incredibly smart people who want to make as much money as possible by working the fewest hours. It's why ROAD specialties are INSANELY competitive and getting worse every year.

The other 50% actually meant all the stuff they said in their personal statement.

There's nothing wrong with being in the first 50% as long as you do your dang job and uphold your oath, but those of us in the latter 50% are who end up in academics and on adcoms, so you should hide the fact you're here for the money or we won't admit you. Sorry.

Now, the flipside- I wrote I wanted to do rural primary care in my personal statement, and I'm convinced it hurt me at T20s (had a 100th percentile MCAT score and all the achievements/etc, and didn't get in anywhere fancy). The thing is, because I'm sincerely interested in rural primary care, I probably wouldn't have gone to Harvard or Hopkins anyway because I would get inferior training at those institutions for more debt. I instead got accepted to a nice little rural primary care school, and life is good now.

All of that to say- just be honest, and stuff works itself out. Unless you're a mercenary- then if you want to get in, you should probably lie I guess. I couldn't sleep at night doing that, but it seems to be pretty common in medicine these days unfortunately.

I agree with the 50% thing that sounds about right. Correct me if I'm wrong but the ROAD specialties are the ones that have good lifestyle right ? Things like EM, Derm, Rads etc. Ortho doesn't really have good lifestyle so I dont think it would be ROAD. Competitive nonetheless.

Also holy cow dude 100% MCAT ! . Nice Job.

Do you have any study tips for someone who's going to start studying in a couple months ?

 

[JAK2-STAT3]

You can have a theme without explicitly saying that you want to go into that particular specialty. I had a theme that arose from doing things I genuinely enjoyed and that featured prominently in my research and non-clinical volunteering. My application probably screamed "X specialty" but at no point did I say "I want to be an X-ologist." Be yourself but don't verbally box yourself in.

 

[Hollow Knight]

I agree with the 50% thing that sounds about right. Correct me if I'm wrong but the ROAD specialties are the ones that have good lifestyle right ? Things like EM, Derm, Rads etc. Ortho doesn't really have good lifestyle so I dont think it would be ROAD. Competitive nonetheless.

Also holy cow dude 100% MCAT ! . Nice Job.

Do you have any study tips for someone who's going to start studying in a couple months ?

ROAD = radiology, ophthalmology, anesthesia, and derm. Lots of $$$ for less hours and call. But I’m also thinking stuff like ENT etc.

Studying- just do what works for you. I know it’s a trope on this website, but I would have been better off never going to class and doing Anki with videos from pathoma, BnB, and sketchy.

Also- your medical school won’t prepare you to pass step 1. Probably. That’s probably more to do with the test having ridiculous questions on it; it doesn’t mean your medical school is a bad school. But if you fail that test, you’ll have a hard time becoming a doctor, so put the work in to study for step 1 in addition to your school’s curriculum.