Which is better for a more competitive application?

[milomohamed]

I'm an international student, class of 2018.

Planning to apply to match 2019 or 2020, I have an obligatory year as a house officer that ends in Feb 19, I know GS is getting competitive every year and I'll apply as soon as I have my final diploma.

No USMLE scores yet, but will have step 1 score in hand when I apply for next year, the step is in 8 weeks and hitting 250+ in the NBMEs but nothing is certain of course until I get the final score report, aiming for 265+.

Planning to take 2 months in the states in 2015 but not sure which bears the most weight in the application:
1. Research electives at JHU for 10 weeks.
2. Observership, not electives, for 8 or 10 weeks.

Note: I can only take 6 months max in the states, so 2 research and 4 USCE or all 6 USCE.

Any input about this is highly appreciated and any input about my application and tips for me are always welcome

---

Members don't see this ad.

 

[Winged Scapula]

I would recommend you wait until your final year (2018) and apply for US clinical electives as those will carry much more weight than either research or an observership.

 

[milomohamed]

I would recommend you wait until your final year (2018) and apply for US clinical electives as those will carry much more weight than either research or an observership.

Thank you for the rapid reply.

The thing is: my school only permits only 2 months a year, so I only can get 2 months worth of electives in final year. Is that enough, or should I try to get the maximum exposure before that?!

And about electives: can I apply to start them before the final year directly?, i.e. I'd have finished the 5th year and would be officially a final year student.

 

[milomohamed]

How many months of electives are competitive for a categorical position in a large community hospital?

Is it worth postponing the obligatory year as a house officer for 6 month? I can only postpone it for 6 months, but that way I'll totally miss 2019 match and may even miss 2020.

Sorry for bombarding you with questions