Mayo Rochester

[Guest]

(12-03-2021, 02:57 PM)Focus Wrote:

(12-02-2021, 09:09 PM)Guest Wrote:

(12-02-2021, 02:43 PM)Focus Wrote: You mean make it more fair such as having a standardized exam that levels the playing field for all applicants? Sounds nice, too bad we got rid of (part of) it. In a world where you can't trust clinical grades because of grade inflation and pass fail standardized tests there are limited objective metrics. We can't have every applicant do a sub i at every program. Even research output is biased due to proliferation of publications, paper swapping, and the fact that research output is also tied to school rank. So, yes, coming from a top 20 institution gets you an extra few points on my interview sheet because if nothing else it is objectively harder to get into Harvard then a low tier medical school and I have very little else to grade people on anymore.

Thank you good sir for another forthright and considerate response. I come from a bottom of the barrel med school. I am currently working with a NS at a well-respected place (virtually, as the NS is hundreds of miles away) on some chart reviews and stuff. In addition to passing my classes and not causing problems, is their anything else I can be doing to improve my competitiveness?
MS1 currently. 

Thank you again.

What the poster to above me said and also take a year or more off for research.

I strongly disagree with telling an MS1 to plan on taking a year or more off for research. Study hard for step 1 to make step 2 and your shelf exams easier, publish your research, rotate at places you can get strong, personal letters. Continue to impress the neurosurgeon you're working with and see who else he can connect you with. The idea of taking multiple years off to get in to a top 5 neurosurgery residency and delaying an attending neurosurgeon salary 1-2 years is bizarre unless you are not competitive enough to get in anywhere.

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(12-01-2021, 09:44 PM)Guest Wrote: You sound like you've never stepped into the real world if you can't wrap your head around this. Life is unfair, if you haven't noticed. Neurosurgery, probably more than many other fields, is about reputation and talks behind the scenes. Many top-name programs like Hopkins, the Harvards, UCSF, are very inbred in who they take for residency as well as faculty. Academic medicine is very much about connections.

Yes, Mayo, as well as Barrow, are top-notch programs that don't care much about that, which has to do with their history as well as the fact that both of them are totally ok with graduating, at least in part, neurosurgeons who go into PP

I recently did a sub-I at mayo. While it was true that they were totally ok with graduating PP surgeons, this is changing. Dave Daniels in the new PD and is trying to shift the program to be more academic. Obviously, no one is forcing anyone to go into academics, but they expect you to be productive with two research years to build a competitive academic CV.

[Focus]

We are talking about a student with no home program who presumably is at an osteopathic institution and no option to take a scored version of the step one. I stand by my advice. The best way to ensure a strong research resume as well as develop relationships with neurosurgeons is to do research with them for extended periods. The amount of research one can do with someone remotely is extraordinarily limited. No, I don't think all applicants need to take a year off but if you find yourself in a disadvantaged position that is an excellent way to level the playing field a little.

[Guest]

(12-05-2021, 01:58 PM)Focus Wrote: We are talking about a student with no home program who presumably is at an osteopathic institution and no option to take a scored version of the step one. I stand by my advice. The best way to ensure a strong research resume as well as develop relationships with neurosurgeons is to do research with them for extended periods. The amount of research one can do with someone remotely is extraordinarily limited. No, I don't think all applicants need to take a year off but if you find yourself in a disadvantaged position that is an excellent way to level the playing field a little.

Thank you so much Focus, and everyone else kind enough to offer advice. I greatly appreciate it. I will continue to work with the NS and see where it goes. Of course, I hope to physically work in his lab in the summers, but that is quite a stretch. I presume that other med students work with him too and it is unlikely that I would stand out that much. 

I guess I will have to prepare for not matching. Not sure if my med school would allow a year off, but I will look into that. 

It appears that NS might not be an option at all, but thank you again.