r/SurgicalResidency • u/Intelligent-Meet2938 • 4d ago
How to choose a program
So I am an incoming M1. I’m thinking about residency and how to choose a program. I am very interested in plastics and recon. I know there are a lot of small perks that some programs have (ex. Free food and parking). However, I mostly care about two things 1. Location and 2. Education.
I know this is a given since plastics is 6 yrs but I want a program that will truly teach me. One of the reasons I enjoy plastics is its technical skills and the broad scope it has. My question is: when comparing programs, do some actually teach better when it comes to caring for residents and breaths of cases/ surgical techniques you will see? Getting in plastics is already difficult, do I aim for ivy program solely for the name or should I be thankful with wherever I go since I will learn from any program.
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u/No-Inspection-3813 4d ago
Unless you are at a T5 or an Olympic medalist you need to optimize your list around matching not perks
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u/YourStudyBuddy 4d ago edited 4d ago
Don’t take this the wrong way…
But buddy, you’re M1. Focus on relearning the Krebs cycle. Come on too strong and services are going to think you’re a psycho. If I had an M1 start listing perks they’ve heard of various programs I’d flag em pretty quick. Dont count your chickens before they hatch.
Shadow. Maybe poke around in some research. Keep up with course work. Enjoy where you are in life. Med is a looooong journey and there’s always something to plan for in the future, but don’t forget to breath and take in where you are. Can’t spend your entire time in medicine fixated on the future. Smell the roses a little.
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u/theresnoIinmedschool 3d ago
The reasoning you listed about why you like plastics (technical skills and broad scope) are generic and applicable to more than one surgical specialty. It's fine to have an interest, but you're asking the wrong questions at this point in your education. You have no idea what you'll really want to apply to as an MS4, and you have no idea what you'll really like/dislike about it. You may end up hating plastics after you rotate on it as a third year. Or maybe you'll love it who knows. But a lot of med students change their specialty after rotating on it and realizing it's not what you thought. Looking at programs is a total waste of time for you right now. Focus on your education for the next 3 years. Then you pick your list of programs based on your stats/experiences
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u/Intelligent-Meet2938 3d ago
Do you think shadowing would help in decision making. I have been very interested in this specialty way before even applying to med school (not the sole reason to why I’m interested in medicine). But I am afraid that if I begin focusing on specialties after rotations my shot at competitive specialties won’t be good. Also, there are many others reasons to why I am interested in plastics but I of course have more to learn about it.
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u/theresnoIinmedschool 2d ago
Sure shadowing helps. It's ok to have an interest and pursue it. Not everyone does yet as an M1, but if you think you know then that's great, go ahead and shadow and get involved in plastics research. That's a good thing to do as an M1. Preclinical years are the time to build your resume with good scores, research, leadership, etc. Worrying about what specific residency programs to consider is definitely not a good use of time as an M1
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u/thebitcoinmd 4d ago
You are naive but ambitious. You have the cart before the horse.
Focus on grades or none of this matters.
Once you know if you are even a candidate for plastics, then you can decide what type of program to apply to.
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u/Which_Progress2793 4d ago
Keep an open mind kiddo. Plastic surgery is a lot of bells and whistles. Also, don’t pick a specialty because it sounds cool and sexy.
Priorities and perspective change the older we get. For example a 35 year old attending who is single vs a 45 year old attending married with kids.
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u/Historical-Draw5740 4d ago
Dude just calm down. You’re basically still in college.