I’m looking for every bit of advice, guidance, and criticism y’all have, so don’t hold back. I’m an M2 at a low-tier, primary care-focused MD school with an interest in pathology, particularly clinical pathology. Since entering med school, I’ve envisioned an academic career at a place such as the CDC or a similar institution. That being said, my aspirations and my medical school’s philosophy don’t jive too well – I have received almost zero helpful career advice…which is why I’ve come to the internet to ask strangers to help me make some career decisions.
I was offered a post-sophomore fellowship spot at a top 5(?) program. And before everyone says don’t do it, it’s a waste of time (which honestly is how I'm feeling currently because honestly who wants to spend an extra year in medical school) my thoughts are this:
Pros:
-it has 6 months of research built in which will give me an opportunity to add to my CV since I only have a couple of oral presentations, a poster presentation, and an abstract submitted currently.
-it might allow me to get a good, “high-powered” recommendation letter which I won’t get from my home institution
-it will allow me to get some experience and show that “this is what I want to do” since at my school we only have a 2-week elective in third year and we aren’t guaranteed to even get our first choice, so I wouldn’t have any pathology experience until july/august of fourth year
Cons:
-another year I’d have to spend in medical school
-have to pack up the wife and dog and move them about as far away from home as you can get in the continental US to a much more expensive area
-speaking of moving away from home, close family member has a terminal illness and I’d be that much further away and see them that much less
Basically, I’ve read everything I could find regarding these year-long programs and it seems the consensus is that nowadays, they are pretty worthless unless you are trying to decide if you actually want to do pathology. But for me, I know I want to do it, I just want to use it as a multi-focal tool to improve my lackluster application coming from a sucky school with a not-so-good research track record...just can't decide whether that's worth it.
I was offered a post-sophomore fellowship spot at a top 5(?) program. And before everyone says don’t do it, it’s a waste of time (which honestly is how I'm feeling currently because honestly who wants to spend an extra year in medical school) my thoughts are this:
Pros:
-it has 6 months of research built in which will give me an opportunity to add to my CV since I only have a couple of oral presentations, a poster presentation, and an abstract submitted currently.
-it might allow me to get a good, “high-powered” recommendation letter which I won’t get from my home institution
-it will allow me to get some experience and show that “this is what I want to do” since at my school we only have a 2-week elective in third year and we aren’t guaranteed to even get our first choice, so I wouldn’t have any pathology experience until july/august of fourth year
Cons:
-another year I’d have to spend in medical school
-have to pack up the wife and dog and move them about as far away from home as you can get in the continental US to a much more expensive area
-speaking of moving away from home, close family member has a terminal illness and I’d be that much further away and see them that much less
Basically, I’ve read everything I could find regarding these year-long programs and it seems the consensus is that nowadays, they are pretty worthless unless you are trying to decide if you actually want to do pathology. But for me, I know I want to do it, I just want to use it as a multi-focal tool to improve my lackluster application coming from a sucky school with a not-so-good research track record...just can't decide whether that's worth it.
