My chances ...

[rme6]

Hi,

I do not usually do this but I am in a bit of a predicament right now. I am currently starting my M4 year and I previosuly thought I wanted to do another surgical specialty field up until a few days ago when I realized that plastics was the right field for me. I had pushed the thought away for a while but after many months I realize that I can't hide from the truth ... I would love to be a plastic surgeon. I have good scores but I have no reseaerch in plastic surgery. I have a few presentations/posters for other surgical specialties and medical research but nothing is published.

School : Not ranked (M.D. program)
USMLE Step1 ~250
Step 2 : pending
AOA : yes
Preclinicals: All honors.
Clinicals: All honors.
Class Rank: top 5 (rank has not come out but I think thats where I will be)
Publications: NONE
Posters/Presentations. Three posters/presentations in local areas, no national big-shot presentations.


So I know it is really late for me to switch since applications are being filled out now, but if I can get 1-2 away rotations and I have a letter or two available for me ... would it be too late to make a HUGE switch and apply to integrated plastics programs? I do NOT want to do general surgery for 5 yrs if I can avoid it. My biggest fear is just the lack of research and lack of interest (no clubs, groups, shadowing) in plastics during med school that is keeping me from doing this...

Please let me know your honest opinions.

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[hewmanoid]

Hey, rme6. I'm only an M3 now, so take my words with a grain of salt. Your numbers and grades look decent, so shouldn't be an issue at all. Does you school offer a PRS clerkship btw? The problem for you might be that there's simply not enough time to apply for aways since most people do so by the end of spring. Also I've talked to a few M4s who have matched into plastic and they all had at least 3 letters from plastic surgeons. You best bet might be to apply for an away that is still open if there's any and dual-apply for plastic and general surgery. Hopefully there's someone out there who can answer your Q's better. Good luck.

 

[Valadi]

Hey man,

Your academics are solid. If you want to go into plastics, I see no reason you should not at least apply. That being said, you'd be doing yourself a great disservice to not get as a solid letter of rec, like was said above. It's late in the game for aways - that's true - but if you call them up every so often you may catch a spot being switched around/dropped by other people who decide to take aways at other places or cancel for other reasons. The biggest predictor of success in the match (judging from charting outcomes, and said to me from my chair) is AOA status. And the section in charting outcomes that lists how many publications the average acceptee has is actually a combination of "Publications, Abstracts, and Presentations." If you're over 3, you're doing ok; if you can squeeze in 1 or 2 more, then that would be stellar.

The good part of not having a background that "smells like plastics," is that you will be looked upon more favorably by General Surgery spots. And you'd be a great pick for a place like Cornell/Columbia where they accept 1 GS resident into the PRS program after 3rd year (last I checked). I heard that Harvard has taken MD/PhDs for the last few matches, and I'm not sure if this will become their trend for the future, but that might be another excellent place to block off for general surgery.

If there's anything you can do to get your past research submitted, then you can list it on ERAS. Doing a review (while not as 'impressive' as another paper) is another quick way to throw out a publication and boost your CV.

I don't know what your prior surgical interest was, but if GS isn't your thing, remember that other surgical residencies can do PRS afterward as well.

Best wishes, and good luck!

 

[igap]

Hi,

I do not usually do this but I am in a bit of a predicament right now. I am currently starting my M4 year and I previosuly thought I wanted to do another surgical specialty field up until a few days ago when I realized that plastics was the right field for me. I had pushed the thought away for a while but after many months I realize that I can't hide from the truth ... I would love to be a plastic surgeon. I have good scores but I have no reseaerch in plastic surgery. I have a few presentations/posters for other surgical specialties and medical research but nothing is published.

School : Not ranked (M.D. program)
USMLE Step1 ~250
Step 2 : pending
AOA : yes
Preclinicals: All honors.
Clinicals: All honors.
Class Rank: top 5 (rank has not come out but I think thats where I will be)
Publications: NONE
Posters/Presentations. Three posters/presentations in local areas, no national big-shot presentations.


So I know it is really late for me to switch since applications are being filled out now, but if I can get 1-2 away rotations and I have a letter or two available for me ... would it be too late to make a HUGE switch and apply to integrated plastics programs? I do NOT want to do general surgery for 5 yrs if I can avoid it. My biggest fear is just the lack of research and lack of interest (no clubs, groups, shadowing) in plastics during med school that is keeping me from doing this...

Please let me know your honest opinions.

Your academic credentials are competitive on the face of it.

However you are coming from an unranked medical school, with no plastic surgery related research, or experience. Although you will likely get some interviews, there is a high likelihood that you will be lost in the shuffle when it comes to rank list time. The field is very small, and each spot is highly coveted. Consider that every year, applicants from schools with the biggest names in American medicine are fortunate to match at ANY program. This is a field where an applicant from Harvard might match at Albany and feel lucky about it.

To leverage your application effectively, you need to have some type of research project going. Get yourself hooked up with a project with a plastic surgery attending so that at least you can be involved and have some type of research to discuss.

You will also need strong letters of recommendation from the plastic surgery attendings at your institution. This is going to be hard to do at this point since you do not have any time to establish relationships with your attendings. Many applicants will have spent the last couple of years of medical school hanging out the plastics departemtn, going to their grand rounds, conferences, etc. The best thing to do is to meet individually with each attending that you would like a letter from, and explain your very good reasons for deciding at the 11th hour to apply for plastic surgery. If you are honest, and sincere, this might get you some good letters. The field of plastic surgery is always looking for the best applicants, and an honest explanation of your motivation may go a long way toward getting you good letters. Your attendings are real people who understand different circumstances.

Try to get some away rotations. For someone in your position this is an excellent opportunity to essentially audition for the spot. If you do get one at this late date though, prepare like heck for it and work harder than you have ever worked before. Aways can backfire if you clash with a resident or attending, but in your case the benefits of gaining exposure outweigh the risk of ticking someone off.

You will need a backup that you will do well in, be happy with, and that will prepare you to get an independent plastic surgery training position. General surgery is the obvious choice, and with your qualifications you will have an easy time securing a great GS residency. You can then use the early years of this residency putting in time with the plastics guys, writing some papers, and doing well on your inservice exam. YOu will then be a competitive applicant for the independent pathway.

If you feel that general surgery is not acceptable to you, then consider ENT. Some of the most successful plastic surgeons were ENT trained, and then did an independent plastic surgery residency.

 

[rme6]

Thank you everyone for all your help. I really appreciate it. I will try exactly what you all have suggested and I hope it all works out in the end. Here's to a long next few months!! Thanks again!

 

[foxycat15]

Hey so I have a similar question. I'm at an unranked MD program. I'm AOA, allo honors the first 2 years with strong LOR from the plastics and burn reconstruction team here, but I only scored a 239 on step one and I have no research in plastics. I am doing 2 aways in plastic surgery at great programs, but I am still really nervous about matching. I would love to match in plastics, and most people I talk to say that I can, but I think that they are just being nice and dont want to hurt my feelings. I am applying to gen surg programs to, but I would much prefer to go into plastics, does anyone have any good advice?

 

[Valadi]

Hey so I have a similar question. I'm at an unranked MD program. I'm AOA, allo honors the first 2 years with strong LOR from the plastics and burn reconstruction team here, but I only scored a 239 on step one and I have no research in plastics. I am doing 2 aways in plastic surgery at great programs, but I am still really nervous about matching. I would love to match in plastics, and most people I talk to say that I can, but I think that they are just being nice and dont want to hurt my feelings. I am applying to gen surg programs to, but I would much prefer to go into plastics, does anyone have any good advice?

Do you have any research? Even not in plastics.

Although having research in plastics is great, a residency director told me that they really want to see that "you can get the ball to the other end of the field." So to speak.

 

[foxycat15]

I do have research, in ortho and gen surg, but no publications there. I have one publication from my first year, but it is in radiology, but I am the first author on it. Does that help?

 

[Knobles]

You can definitely match, have you taken step 2? Your step one score isnt amazing for plastics, but isn't a game breaker. You can redeem yourself with a strong step 2. Also most plastics programs are looking at your personality and whether you fit with their program....so once you get an interview it's all about how you fit in with them. In addition, work hard during your aways, those programs will be your best shot at matching (that is true for all applicants)

 

[foxycat15]

I haven't taken step 2, I couldn't fit it in this fall with the aways and home school requirements. I am an infamously bad standardized test taker, I scored a 27 on my MCAT and so getting a 239 was more than a dream. I appreciate all advice, I just want to be realistic with myself and not get my hopes up. I know that a lot of schools use step 1 as a cut off point, does anyone know what numbers they use to weed people out? Will a 239 make it to an interview?

 

[PRSres85]

Yes you can get interviews with a 239. I matched last year with a 235 step 1 and 258 step 2. Got 13 interviews. You will be fine.

 

[Valadi]

Agree with above posts. If you did well on your clinical rotations, you're likely going to do pretty well on step 2. Putting it off may get you the interview if you were to not do well on it, but from what I've read from some of the moderators on this site, they still look at step 2 scores when it comes time to ranking. This means you're going to have to lock it up either way.

The research does help. According to charting outcomes most people that matched had 5 or more "Abstracts, presentations, OR publications." Again, they want to see that you can move from project -> poster -> abstract -> publication (-> book chapter, for those who are so inclined).

AOA is apparently a big deal for a lot of programs, so that is another point in your favor.

There are obviously no guarantees in applying PRS, but if it's what you want to do I would definitely at least apply. Good luck!