late switch ophtho 4th year. need advice

[texaspremed1]

hello all

so i was between ophtho and ortho third year and ended applying to ortho. after doing my sub i's, i decided ortho is not for me and want to apply ophtho next year since it is too late to apply at this point. should i do a research year next year or preresidency fellowship? i have a home program but want to approach the PD with some sort of gameplan before meeting him. i have 6 pubs 2 of which in ophtho the rest are ortho related. high 250s step 1 high 260s step 2. honors in 7/8 clerkships. i did an ophtho elective third year. wondering how i should go about applying next year? is it better to delay graduation? any advice appreciated. thanks!

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[ball123]

You’re in a solid position to match ophtho! I would delay graduation and do lots of research! The goal should be to get as many pubs as you can and get solid LORs! I think it’d be better if you can find an independent research mentor and just research with him or her. I think you need to graduate to do a pre residency fellowship at Iowa, Utah, Bascom etc.

 

[texaspremed1]

thanks for the reply!

what is the advantage of delaying graduation? i can still try to do research up till graduation and continue after. dont have much requirements. will doing that plus a preresidency fellowship set me up to be competitive? or just doing research year. looking for best solution since it is already November and not even sure if i can delay graduation at this point.

 

[idkididk]

I think the reason to delay graduation is so that you can apply as a US senior, rather than someone who's already graduated, which may raise a few eyebrows

 

[texaspremed1]

hmm not sure it would be possible to delay graduation this late...so youre saying research year>preresidency fellowship?

 

[ball123]

I would definitely try to delay graduation if possible. Talk to you advisors, student dean, etc. I've seen plenty of students delay graduation at this stage. It's possible and it's in your best interest! You'll be at an advantage as a M4 applying than someone who took a gap year - for whatever reason.