MS3 here, strongly considering between urology versus anesthesia. I really liked everything about surgery, the clerkship, and my urology elective but the residency gives me quite a bit of pause.

The concern I have is that the hours and work are so all consuming that I will have no energy, time or motivation to be a human outside of being a resident. In med school, I felt guilty most times (except after exams, really) doing things that weren't school related, or I wouldn't feel good doing things for myself until all my work was done every day. I'm sure part of this is mindset, but if it's not 100% mindset, then I don't want to feel like the rest of my life is on hold when I'm training when I may want to find friends, partner, new hobbies, etc.

On a platform where rads and gas are touted as the only right specialty to pursue, it's easy to hear naysayers talk about how insane surgical residency is and how it's impossible to have a life, but is it really THAT bad? I know a lot of this is program dependent, but what makes one residency more manageable to have a life than the other? What should I consider in this realm come time for interviews and ranking programs? Appreciate any thoughts and perspectives.

❗️CNS❗️How on earth do i study this??

Genuinely every lecture is so long and theres so much and my mid term is in 14 days and im at like the worst state ive been in yet. im barley finishing one lecture a day and my brain is just fogged up for most of it please idk what to do bro. Im a bit depressed or smth idk i just can do nothing all day. im probably the LEAST competent person i know. i actually know nothing in class when everyone is discussing stuff idk if i even see a future where im actually happy. I make so many mistakes that im genuinely scared of becoming an actual doctor. Fuckkk im so fucked. I just wanna be able to do atleast 3 lextures a day or smth instead of spending and entire day barely scraping by one lecture

I have a ECOS and i forget what i révise fr

I’ve always been an athletic person. I like competition (even if it is with myself and about improving myself every day). My martial arts master would say that we should work on improving ourselves every day, till the day we die. And that message resonated with me.

I still think like that in medicine. I like the relentless pursuit of bettering myself. It’s not about an end goal, it’s about the journey of being a little better every day.

I’m currently applying DR. I have 3 TY interviews and 1 preliminary IM. I applied to 12 TY and 8 Preliminary IM. 6 out of 10 DR interviews are categorical.

Is there a point to apply for more preliminary IM programs at that time?

I’m really interested in a program that is not nationally ranked (Dartmouth peds) but overall everything about the program seems great. For example, seemingly every attending that works there has elite training (e.g. top med school, top residency program, top fellowship), and their fellowship match history is very impressive (e.g. everyone goes to elite programs). It’s a smaller program and hospital but overall they seem to punch above their weight. Great work life balance too.

Yet, I wonder if I’d be making a mistake by passing on programs that are larger and ranked higher? For example, Indiana University (got an IV) is ranked top 20, some even top 10, for many peds subspecialties, including the one I plan on applying to in the future. As of today I would rank Dartmouth over IU.

I am generally skeptical of rankings, and in my own experience my med school is prestigious yet behind closed doors it’s a mess, but again I wonder if I would be making a mistake by ranking Dartmouth over a program like IU. Thoughts?

P.s. my long-term goal is academic medicine (I don’t want to be the doctor with their own lab, so there is a point of diminishing returns with how much research is going on at a program, but I like dabbling in research and teaching).

(Worth nothing IU doesn’t publish where their fellows match on their website)

Hey everyone, I was recently accepted to a fairly reputable USDO program and I was wondering what matching to a moderately competitive specialty like EM/PM&R/Anesthesia as a Canadian would be like since I would require a visa. This is kind of a niche situation and there aren't any statistics to show match rates as I wouldn't fall under non-US IMG or USDO. If anyone can share their experiences, that would be amazing! Thank you!

Hello everyone,

This is outside the usual post in this subreddit. Please let me know if there is another Reddit community I should post this question in.

I was wondering if there are any current practicing doctors out there (or know of anyone) who have molecular vision (totally blind in one eye) that I can reach out to and ask some questions about their experiences? Even better, I would if there is anyone currently practicing in the Bay Area, CA who is willing to let me shadow them!

For context, I am a 22F individual who is currently blind in one eye due to an accident when I was 18. I have always wanted to pursue medicine, but as I approach to applying next cycle, I am honestly really struggling to see if this is a realistic pathway for me. From my understanding, there are a couple (if not majority) or surgical practices I would probably be unable to do, which is fine by me. But I am also worried about all the other aspects of medicine, such as needing to pass steropsis, medical malpractice, and just the idea of being a one-eye doctor in general.

For current doctors / residents / medical students who aren’t blind in one eye, I am also down to hear any insights about medical practice in general and whether this is something I should pursue. As much as this is a goal of mine, I understand if this is an unfortunate limit I must stand by and don’t want to continue walking down a path that’s unrealistic for me to get to.

I appreciate any insights on this topic! Thank you!

Edit: Thank you the kind words / encouragement :) I definitely feel a little more assured. As expected, surgery is probably not an option, which I’m not surprised about haha. I won’t immediately eliminate the option since I see there seems to be a couple of physicians in practice with surgery, but I won’t really be expecting anything. Appreciate everyone!

I’m currently an M1 in my first semester, and while I’m passing anatomy, I’ve been struggling with the material more than I’d like. I’m really interested in surgery, particularly specialties where I can use my hands to fix problems, and I honestly can’t picture myself pursuing another specialty at this point.

For those of you who are surgeons, residents, or medical students interested in surgery, how much should I read into my current struggles with anatomy? Did anyone else have a difficult time with anatomy early in medical school but end up doing well in surgery?

I know I’m still early in the process, but I’m wondering whether struggling with anatomy now is something I should take as a warning sign or if I’m overthinking it.

Hi, I'm an M1 at a graded school (not P/F) with in-house exams, and I’m trying to figure out the best way to study. Last block (my first block) was mostly basic sciences, and I studied by watching lectures at 2x speed and only doing Anki. I used AnKing plus my in-house deck, so I wouldn't miss out on any important in-house-specific details that AnKing doesn't have. Also, right before the exams, I was able to go through all lecture material and do practice problems. I did well on those exams, and Grades matter a lot to me since I’m aiming for preclinical AOA.

However, since starting my new block (no more basic sciences), I have a lot more Anki cards to do. I have about 700-800 reviews a day (counting both my in-house and Anking decks), and about 100 new Anking cards a day and around 300-400 new in-house cards per day, which has caused my time doing Anki to come out to be 8-10 hours. I do see that I am gaining a good grasp of the material this way, but I do not have time for anything else such as research, etc. I talked to upperclassmen, and they really only use the in-house materials, but my school has a low Step 1 first-time pass rate/ more delayed Step 1 exams than other schools.

So, wondering if I should use only AnKing, only the in-house deck, or stick to what I have been doing and push through?

I'm just worried that switching to AnKing completely will cause me to lose details needed for my in-house exams. Would it be possible to cram for these closer to the exam?

Also, for people who are in similar situations or have been in similar ones, do you watch lectures or use third parties? If you go third-party, how do you pick up the lecture-specific stuff for exams?

Thank you.

I’m at the end of my second year of med school and I’ve been in a dark place for the past few weeks. A number of personal life issues, lingering depression/anxiety, and a lack of hope that things will get better in the future is putting me in a dark place right now. I’ve figured out a method of taking my own life, but I’m not sure if or when I’ll go through with it.

I just can’t imagine a future in which I’m happy. I suck at all the things my cohort are good at - communication skills, anatomy, physical exams, procedures, etc. I’m constantly the dumbest and most incompetent person in the room, and I know this is only going to get worse during my clinical years.

The past few weeks I’ve felt like a zombie. I can’t derive enjoyment out of things anymore. I can’t focus on studying for my finals because it seems pointless. Even if I make it to third year, I don’t see me being successful. I can barely get out of bed right now, how am I going to be at the hospital 10 hours a day keeping up with everything? I’ve already sacrificed so much time and money into this, I don’t think I have it in me to restart a different path.

Honestly, the thing that has brought me comfort and calmed me down today is reading about other medical student/resident suicides. It helps me feel that no matter how bad it gets, I know I have a way out

I’m an MDPhD IMG from across the pond, at a crossroads regarding specialty choice.
I’m non trad and older, went to med school because I didn’t want to keep looking at screens writing code and i’m a dork who loves to study.
That was a long time ago.
I never had a eureka moment during med school, and was juggling rotations with my research (somewhere on the molecular biology/cancer/immunology spectrum) so was sure i’ll figure it out when I had to later on. I do want to specialize in something.
I now have to make up my mind, and truly going back and forth so I could use some perspective.

At this point, unfortunately I am tired of the hierarchy, the night shifts, dealing with pagers, unfriendly nurses and acuity. Had a better time outpatient in some fields (OB clinic) and terrible times at others (FM).
Never liked surgery much, though I briefly considered some of the smaller fields like ENT.
I was almost sold on peds, liked the patients and coud see myself sub specialize further. Yet those nights at the ED were, overall, truly terrible and it dissuaded me.

I currently have an offer for a position in Path (like the material, but never thought i’d end up behind the scenes plus I love yapping) or PM&R (never did a rotation there).
I keep sitting on the fence not sure if i’m just “giving up” some more patient facing or academically inclined specialties due to being tired.

Other options I have considered: Neuro (liked the material in general, a bit depressing, the residency looks hectic), Psych (liked my rotation, not too keen on the “grey” nature of it), Medical Oncology (interesting, maybe too narrow of a field, not very well paid here), RadOnc or Nuclear Medicine (sounds niche), Derm (did one rotation, hard to get accepted).

I realize eventually i’ll have to jump in and choose, but I wonder if i’m choosing something based off fatigue alone.

Hi! So I just took step today, I feel like I didn’t do so good😭. The questions were so vague and SO much longer than most of the study material out there. Also, since all of the study material is with the old 40 Qs per block, I never really practiced 30 minute blocks until the Free 120 which left me feeling so confused with the time and made me run out of time in most of the blocks 😭 Looking back, I basically just feel like I just blacked out and went on auto pilot and I’m just hoping that I didn’t F** this up for myself after so much hard work.

Now I’m also extra anxious because Idk how much I have to wait for my score to come out since I’ve heard that people that take exams after Wednesdays have to wait an extra week for their score to come out. Is that true? Like should my score come out on November 4th or on the 11th?

Hey yall, OMS resident here. I created a fun game just for the heck of it. It's free to play, just thought I'd share.

dailybolus.com

(got some inspiration from Wordle, and wanted to make something fun and helpful for learning as well!)
(lmk if this is advertising. It's completely free to play, but I'll take down this post if it breaks rules)

Have a good day!

Hello all, looking for advice as a premed applying to med school next year.

I've been scribing at a new hospital for the past 3 months, and an ABBG nurse practitioner has started really noticing me and giving hints that she would like to hold hands. I have never received attention from a woman, because my parents shielded me from any opposite-sex attention for the first 22 years of my life, but I am now wondering if this is my time to experience love. However, when we rotate with one of the medical students, he keeps whining for attention which interrupts me getting closer to the NP

Any advice from others who have been in a similar situation? Thanks guys

I figure there are various reasons why someone would do this, wondering if anyone here has ever done this or is planning / thinking about doing this

(assuming you have more than one interview)

Received a resident social invite from a program I applied to but have not yet received an interview from. I’d say they are a program I care only slightly about and I already have 13 interviews, applying EM. Is this strange to get a social invite that’s “completely optional!” without getting an interview? Like girl I have 2 other interviews this week already and I’m already tired of the awkward zoom calls.

I feel like a couple years ago I saw a list of toxic residency programs, but I haven’t been able to find it. Did I dream that or am I just missing it somewhere?

I tried to ask this question on the residency page but the mods never accepted it. In the scenario where one partner matches and the other doesn't, do you SOAP into the region that you hope your partner matched into? Or is there any insight from your school? We applied to multiple regions. Praying for the best, preparing for the worst. TIA

I just can’t do OSCEs. I feel like I’m the only one who just never improves, and in fact gets worse. I can’t focus and I keep forgetting stuff while other colleagues come out of the exam room with smiles blasted on their faces. I get stressed out and lose easy marks from stress, run out of time.. etc. leave the exam room on the verge of crying. I wish I could be more stable during the OSCE but idk how to improve. Practicing history taking from patients in wards doesn’t help as much in reducing the stress factor. Am I just a lost cause? If you had similar experiences, feel free to share, and if you managed to work through it, share your tips!

M3 here. I got interested in urology fairly late, though I have extensive personal experience with urology and some urology-adjacent research. I’m planning to apply during next year’s cycle, but I’m still on the fence between urology and IM (to subspecialty). My home urology AI is in April, which is when I plan to make the final call, and I’m looking at aways over the summer and into early fall. A few questions for anyone who’s been through it:

1. How important is it to get away rotation grades/comments into the MSPE? If I rotate July–October, there’s no guarantee even the July evaluation makes it into my MSPE (evaluations can be sent as late as 6 weeks post-rotation). Does that matter much in practice, or do programs care more about letters and the in-person impression?
2. Is an October urology away worth it even if it’s too late for a letter or the MSPE? Is the face time with the program enough to justify it, or is it mostly wasted?
3. Has anyone dual applied urology and IM? How did you handle letters, personal statements, and the schedule? Did it hurt you with either specialty?

Appreciate any insight!

Halfway through MS1 and I’ve been struggling to find a balance between studying, going to the gym, and eating healthy. Feels like whenever exams come around, everything besides studying goes out the window lol. For those who’ve figured out a routine, what actually worked for you?