Obviously, straight PRS is hard as hell to match into, but I really don't like the idea of gen surg. as a back up. What are your thoughts on that?
Not to butt in on Max's postings, but I suggest you consider your reasons and motivations for being a plastic surgeon. As you may have read elsewhere in this forum (and perhaps the plastic surgery mentor forum), life as a plastic surgeon is not like on TV...at least not for the vast majority. Getting into a residency or a fellowship takes time, serious committment, and motivation to put up with a process that's not always fair. There are plenty of folks in plastics who are not in that rare segment of the population that's considered "intellectually brilliant" (myself included), but instead they worked their butts off to get where they wanted to be.
This includes people who, like me, worked like a fiend during five years of general surgery because their Step scores weren't high enough to get in out of medical school. Then there are those that did an additional fellowship year after surgery in hand or micro or burn to get a spot. Not to mention some of the IMGs that may have done a surgery residency in another country, came to the U.S and did ANOTHER surgery residency, and even then may have had to do an extra fellowship year or be a lab slave in order to get into plastics.
I know I can't speak for everyone, but I can't help but feel that most of us in plastic surgery wanted surgery as a career. I would have been happy with my life as a general surgeon had I not gotten a fellowship. In other words, it wasn't a choice between IM and surgery.
So again, it comes back to what's motivating you. If it's something surgical, there's ortho, ENT, uro, etc. If it really is plastics, then be prepared to do what it's going to take to get there.
--M
