Are there a lot of rivalries between programs in cities/states? How does this manifest?

Impossible.

I’ve noticed that the different programs and hospitals have different scrubs. I prefer green over blue. Do you ever wear your own scrubs like figs or something if you don’t like the hospital ones?

What do you guys think of MCW program?

is it possible to do both functional and tumor? Will I need fellowships in both to be more desirable both to future employers and future patients?

Dear all, please consider applying to a new position being offered by the University of Maryland Department of Neurosurgery:

Neurosurgery Research Fellow
 
Type: Full-time
Location: University of Maryland Medical Center, Baltimore, MD
Period: July 1, 2021 - June 30, 2022
Salary: Competitive salary and benefits

Description: The University of Maryland Department of Neurosurgery is seeking a qualified candidate to become the inaugural Dr. Charles Bagley Jr. Neurosurgery Research Fellow. Dr. Bagley was an early contributor, with colleague and mentor Dr. Harvey Cushing, to the field of neurosurgery in North America.  Dr. Bagley started the Neurosurgery service at the University of Maryland Hospital (previously  called the “Baltimore Infirmary of Medical University”) in 1930, and promoted scholarship and innovation to improve the neurosurgical care of patients. The Bagley Fellow will engage in clinical research in the Department, with the goal of advancing ideas and information to improve neurosurgical techniques and patient care. It is expected the Fellow will maintain current clinical databases, and build and maintain new databases derived from the busy clinical practices at the University of Maryland. In collaboration with our research team, the Fellow will leverage these datasets to explore unanswered and new clinical questions. Current neurosurgery residents and faculty are actively engaged in many projects to which the Fellow will have the opportunity to contribute.  In addition, the most successful fellows may bring new ideas to explore and create additional projects with the neurosurgery research team. Access to clinical data is available in the specialties of neurotrauma/neurocritical care, brain and skull base tumors, open and endovascular neurosurgery, functional and epilepsy neurosurgery, and spine surgery.  If the Fellow plans to apply for residency training in neurosurgery or another specialty, letters of recommendation can be provided based on performance. The Fellow will not be responsible for any direct patient care.
 
To apply: Please submit the following
Cover Letter
Curriculum vitae
Two letters of recommendation
USMLE Step 1 and Step 2 CK score reports

Qualifications:

Medical school graduate OR current U.S. Medical Student
Passed USMLE Step 1 and Step 2 CK exams
Prefer strong background in database management and familiarity with statistics
Prefer track record of successful scholarship in neurosurgery or related disciplines

Apply here: Job Description - Neurosurgery Research Fellow (2100006J) (taleo.net)

Current recommendation from the AAMC (subject to change until April 15th) is that unless required for graduation requirements or due to lack of a home program, we can only do one away rotation starting in August or later. Importantly, it's just a recommendation that does not supersede the judgment of med schools or residency programs, although they do encourage retaliation for multiple away rotations by saying "Residency programs are encouraged to take into consideration if a learner exceeded the one-away-rotation limit during the residency selection process." 

Is there any consensus yet as to whether or not residency programs are likely to be bothered by applicants doing more than one away rotation, for example one in August and another in September? I imagine that neurosurgery will be on the forefront of bringing back multiple away sub-i's given how important it is to determine good fit in a field like this.

On another note, any hints about whether we'll have to do 8-week home sub-i's again, or a general surgery rotation like last year?

I'm sure everyone has a touch of anxiety headed into match day. I've had around 25 interviews, but am still contemplating back-up options. Already took a research year and had solid step one score. Step 2 scores delayed and likely not available until mid-march due to various scheduling issues this cycle.

In the event of no match, should I plan to SOAP into a prelim position and reapply or take more time for research to get different letters? Can't imagine doing any other specialty.

Hey all. Long time lurker. Currently a US M4 at a mid-tier institution. Had 15+ interviews and jived well with many programs. Good stats, and in theory I have a decent shot at matching based on numbers alone. 

I bought Bitcoin like two years after I started medical school (I’m MD/PhD, so started in 2014). Used money that my grandma gave me (roughly 150,000 USD) and dumped it all in. I got in for about 470 USD per Bitcoin, and just yesterday cashed out 75 percent of my earnings. In total, before taxes, 75 percent of my gross earnings came out to north of 10m.

Before this Bitcoin jump of 2020, I was sitting on maybe 3m?  not enough to retire on. But now I have 11M (before taxes), plus the other 25 percent I still have in the Bitcoin came. I feel like a dickwad turning down a potential match offer, but am unsure if I’m down to stick with 7 years of hard knocks residency when I’m financially in a place that allows me to a do a lot of other fun things...

My question is: do I wait to see if I even match and then decide how I feel, or do i back out early given that I’m already feeling some type of way?

I always thought I couldn’t be happy doing anything else, that the OR is my happy place, and that I wouldn’t trade a chance at nsgy for anything...now I’m wondering if that was just something I convinced myself into believing to motivate myself to get the stats I got. Thanks for the opinions; and to the asshole who want to diss me; knock it off. I got lucky. Yea. I get it.

Is this a good program with Frank Hsu as chair? Looks like they have 2 per year. Does anyone know how the quality of training is?