It's July 1, welcome interns.  My advice: work hard but take time for yourself, keep your head down or it will be taken off, do the right thing and get the job done. 

We have a great field, a product of who we are and what we do, collectively.  You each have worked hard to this point and earned the right to be a part of our future.  Let us make it great together.

have to spend some education dollars before midnight. i want the king daddy of penlights. so when i call neurosurg consults at 0300 for punctate bleeds you will know i am legit.


j/k. seriously, what kinda dope penlight y'all using?

As a residency applicant, would it be better to have publications across multiple neurosurgical sub-disciplines (ie functional, vascular, oncology, spine) or the same total number of publications concentrated in a single area?

Hey I started a list of programs with information on location, who the PD and Chair are, and also if the have a VA, County Hospital, Children's Hospital, and Academic hospital. I also included Doximity rankings on reputation and research. I put this together because people writing your letters usually want a list of the programs you will be applying to and it helps you see the differences among the programs. I wanted to share the link so people can add to it or use it for their own purposes. Ideally I would like people to add to it so we can have a complete list of all the programs.  Feel free to add new columns such as number of residents or anything you feel might impact into you ranking a program. Here is the link:

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1...sp=sharing

Hello, I have read this forum for quite some time and would like the advice of the many helpful people who use this forum. I have been interested in neurosurgery for many years but have hit a rough patch. Did well in preclinicals but am struggling with Step 1 (had a family issue during dedicated). School won't allow me to delay so options are 210-225 Step 1 vs LOA. My goal is to match somewhere, don't care where.

Would you recommend getting a low Step 1 and then killing Step 2 (>250) and clinicals or should I take the LOA? Any other options? Thank you.

for the non-redditors here:

http://i.imgur.com/oZDNsa1.gifv

Anyone thinking about just ubering to their hospital site every morning during sub-I's? My thoughts are that public transportation won't be running that early in the morning. I'd walk if I happen to be close enough, but safety could be a concern. Then a rental car for a month + gas + parking is ~$1500 based off rudimentary estimates. No way I can do that for multiple aways let alone one month. So it seems like Uber is the way to go. Anyone else have thoughts?

I'm totally chill. Love meeting new people etc. I just happen to not drink. Is this a big deal in terms of the night before dinner with residents? I don't wanna come across as a killjoy, lol. Am I being too neurotic?

Can we put together a list of programs that have a gym on site?

I'm an avid fitness enthusiast and would hate to lose my hard-earned gains during residency.  Which programs have a gym?  If not in the hospital, close by?  Do any programs pay for a gym membership?  This will be a large factor on my rank list, so hopefully I can preferentially apply to those programs.

I just can't keep up anymore.  How do you guys all have 250s on both Step 1 and 2, 13+ publications, all Honors on your rotations, 3 sub Is, and 4 letters.  This is just insane.  

I feel so inadequate and miserable.  I have a Step 1 closer to the national average than neurosurgery average, can't fit in Step 2 while I'm on sub Is, and got a mix of H and HP this year.  I hope to finish up strong on my Sub Is and get solid letters.  Luckily I do have close to the mark on the research but I've heard so many people tell me that is the least important aspect.  

I just feel like giving up so many times during the day.  Nothing I ever do will be good enough.