<p>My date is wrong, too. I began in the 2000-01 school year! But they had the 2004 changeover and everyone has a 2004. How did you get the wrong date?</p>
<p>@kristin,
I’ve seen really big subway rats. :D</p>
<p>Pretty funny if a newbie came across the med school thread and found a discussion of the resident wildlife, tractors, snakes, and guns.</p>
<p>I’ve owned and run a tractor and a gun and had snakes in the yard. We had goats, briefly, and I we also saw mountain lion tracks. Once my husband stepped into a back area and froze with a big ole rattlesnake between his feet. I killed it with a shovel whilst he stood very very still :eek:</p>
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<p>Not really sure where 2prepMom is getting her info but this statement is not true. Since we just went through a GS residency match I can speak with some certainty that unless we’re talking about second and third tier hospitals in towns like Youngstown, Ohio or the like, there are very few foreign med grads on the GS interview circuit and competition is keen for spots at the better programs. </p>
<p>My S went the GS route because he really didn’t know what area he wanted to specialize in. He had the grades and STEP scores to do all the most competitve surgical residencies but knew he didn’t want Ortho, was unsure about plastics, ENT and head/neck surgery -which is rapidly folding into ENT. He felt that not only would GS make him a better surgeon overall, but also he would get to see and experience everything before commiting to something for the rest of his life. </p>
<p>Sure, it makes the road longer, and because his program is six rather than five years, even longer still. His current path will mean at least one additional year of research then a two year fellowship in whatever specialty he decides. He’s currently thinking vascular or Pediatric surgery; he’s had one vascular rotation but at this time hasn’t even had a Peds rotation so it’s still very fluid to say the least. </p>
<p>If your kid is thinking about going the GS, don’t be fooled into thinking it’s not competitive…it is. There is plenty of real data for each of the programs that breaks down EVERY detail of each program’s matched students…percent of AOA, class percentile, STEP scores, percentage of US/foreign grads, and much more, you just need to know where to look. Some programs will even say if you aren’t top 15/20 pct with “X” Step scores, don’t apply.</p>
<p>If you need any help, feel free to PM me.</p>
<p>eadad- PMs are full</p>
<p>It is understood that the least competitive is psych, but it must be others that are not as competitive as Derm. It cannot be that all of them are very competitive. And for some Youngstown could be a choice #1. At this point of their lives, there are lot more factors that being considered, than the name of the program. Some are still looking forward to Harvard, but many will never consider and will take any place in OH over it. this is the way it is, they are not 17 any more.</p>
<p>eadad. Is all that detail on specific programs on the NRMP site? I need to spend some time crunching data on specific programs. A link would be great. On my phone so I can’t really search very well.</p>
<p>Will fix the PM situation when I get to my laptop…only have my iPad right now…will let you know when I’ve done it. Sorry, didn’t realize it was full.</p>
<p>Miami</p>
<p>I used Youngstown as an example because the two teaching hospitals there happen to rank last and second to last among all GS programs in the US in board passage rates and both have 65+ percent FMGs which is the highest I saw in all the rankings. </p>
<p>And just so you know, I grew up there and have lots of family still there so I was not taking a shot at Ytown or Ohio, just stating facts.</p>
<p>O.K… Folks. We need a Residency Match thread over on Careers in Medicine. I am not on here enough anymore to maintain or continue it meaningfully but will be glad to contribute what little I know. eadad mentioned some data that I would find very useful in making a program list for the kid to review but I’ll be danged if I can find it after a couple of hours of googling. (I’ve learned other valuable things while searching so it was not lost time but…still.)</p>
<p>The self-reported program match stats found online are worse than useless. </p>
<p>An example of what I have learned is that in my D’s chosen field 90% of the programs use a Step 1 “filter” (NRMP Program Director Survey) and of the apps submitted roughly half are given “in depth review” (NRMP Program Director Survey). From what I have learned that filter score could be set as low as 220 and as high as 250. </p>
<p>What an incredible waste of effort and total crock of crap. The NRMP data is supposedly there to provide some “transparency” to guide applicants. If your program has such a filter, what’s wrong with saying "Hey. We have a filter at 235. Below that we will give you the U of Chicago Med School app treatment = Submit. Reject. “Thanks for playing.” "?</p>
<p>Grrrrr. </p>
<p>Who has a little extra time and the will to wade through this crap? I promise I will help. ;)</p>
<p>Is it likely that the lack of transparency is partly because of the need for factoring in the “who you know” factor? I vaguely remember that one CCer who is surgeon (Pricess’Dad?) once mentioned the importance of “networking” between those who are influential in the small circle of decision making: When you tell me that your student can walk on the water, I believe you. This is because you believed me when I said the same thing for my student to you last time.</p>
<p>My point is: Do not underestimate the usefulness of a mentor.</p>
<p>DS once mentioned that it is somewhat a surprise to many students that some equipment (or lab?) they often need to use is labeled with the family name of one of his classmates, as he is the third generation from his family who attended the same medical school!</p>
<p>Thanks for sharing what you have found out though. (Don’t you think that if BRM/BDM and all other 2nd/3rd generation of CC premed/med school students/residents could visit here from time to time, they could help clarify things a lot for us?!)</p>
<p>Yeah. I though of the hooked applicants and the URM thing but still. Most of those folks know they are hooked. lol</p>
<p>They could telegraph it and allow for exceptions : “In most cases a Step 1 score below 235 will not result in an in depth review of your app.”</p>
<p>Am I a 2nd or 3rd generation student?</p>
<p>Anyway, the reason I don’t come in here really is I don’t have time to sift through the really varied discussion that goes on in these types of threads. If questions were posted in threads with narrower titles I would be more inclined to read, think, and post. Don’t know if that’s the case for the others.</p>
<p>^ Yeah…you are.</p>
<p>I think the ranking order in this premed forum are generally: Those who are in it themselves (med school students and residents) > those who support their loved ones who are in it (mostly the parents of premeds)</p>
<p>I think you have a good point about having a more focused thread. But we empty nesters sometimes have some need to talk about snake, etc., the very casual stuff, as long as it is related to our child now or some time ago, thus a thread with the title “The Whatever, Random…” Hopefully, the moderator would not come by to take away our joy. We are just sometimes not very focused like those busy students/residents.</p>
<p>Sometimes I think it is partly because we do not have as much talk time with our loved one as it used to be, like having <10 minutes of talk time each week? Maybe a part of normal “cord cutting” process. Also, parents like to talk about their child’s life 10 times more frequently than their child wants to talk about their old folks. LOL.</p>
<p>One parent once told me that he thinks most topics the parents want to talk to their child about are likely not what their child would have an interest in, after the child has reached a certain age. So, parents talk to other parents.</p>
<p>eadad and all others,
Does residency ranking has any concequences on the future of MD?
I am not saying one way or another, I truly would like to know. I do not think that my D. would be considering ranking, but maybe she should. As always, location is her first criteria. It is way too early, but maybe I should start having some kind of understanding about matching, residencies and the future. As far as I understand right now (and I am sure that I am completely incorrect in this), they try to match to the place at the location that they see themselves living and having their potential future practice.</p>
<p><a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/careers-medicine/1449983-general-residency-resources.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/careers-medicine/1449983-general-residency-resources.html</a></p>
<p>Well. I started it. Somebody please help me make it relevant.</p>
<p>So I asked son when he was home this weekend (wanted clean clothes, home cooking and some family time) about this residency stuff. At least as best I could without annoying him to no end.</p>
<p>He said that yes there is something to be said for the rankings (non official, just by what the powers to be at his school disclose, some 4th years and residents) BUT he gets the feeling the nature of the rankings are not what they used to be. For instance, he said money in all different forms from research $$, donations, corporate sponsors, insurance/state/fed monies has changed over the years and allows for different types of rankings. With different emerging technologies and specialities things are also changing.</p>
<p>And of course the type of physician you wish to be (not so much speciality) but the nature of how you want to practice.</p>
<p>And yes he also emphasized the significance of their mentors, especially the one that his school assigned/or mentor chose for all years in med school. It is a long-term professional and personal relationship. If your desired speciality is not their speciality they either switch you are introduce to one who is. And look around to staff who attended the residency locale you are looking at.</p>
<p>They have meetings several times a week about all this stuff, during lunch and weekly get-togethers, webinars, seminars, visitors…
Their MS3 year can see them moving all around the state, school pays for lodging and travel…again putting them in touch with others in different fields from other locales and programs. By MS4 they can then elect to go elsewhere and apply out to do so.</p>
<p>But since Carolina is a desirable location they see more come in for MS4 than go out. Its all very interesting. He did say they gave him paperwork showing what numbers they needed for certain programs, with contact info and who handles that stuff here and away. Basically they do alot of what Curm is looking for, for them.</p>
<p>Do I have that paperwork? No, of course not. I would need to go to the boy’s condo and shift through the mounds of paperwork that are littered everywhere. As a large state school they have an entire office that complies all this stuff and keeps track of it all for the students. Again the big concept of family and “they-the students” are taken care of. An alumn recently donated a large sum of money to the school and it was distributed amongst all the MS2 students to reduce the price of the Step 1 Exam, reduced it by several hundred $$. So all the MS2s saw a nice credit on their billing statements.</p>
<p>I’ll see what I can find out, but it will be a while before I get over to his place and see what I can find.</p>
<p>Kat</p>
<p>Your mission, Kat, should you choose to accept it is to contact the school for a fax of those interesting documents. Forget the condo, go to the source!</p>
<p>[The</a> Deceptive Income of Physicians](<a href=“http://benbrownmd.■■■■■■■■■■■■■/]The”>http://benbrownmd.■■■■■■■■■■■■■/)</p>
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<p>Shouldn’t be news to any of you, but I thought the analysis was interesting nonetheless. Glad I won’t have $300k in educational debt when I’m done!</p>
<p>^ that “analysis” is riddled with false data, false assumptions and distorted logic. For example, the author compares doctors to high school teachers then includes the time in UG as a differentiating factor??? Also, the meager income earned by residents is still much more than the national average for high school teachers in their fourth year of service.</p>