Recent content by Lya

As mentioned above, I would go with the first one. You already said you are considering a year off. You can even continue your work with the first plastic surgeon during your time off.

I usually talk to the resident first and try to resolve the issue. I would ask, “I was just wondering if I could be the first author for this project/paper. Would that be okay?” If the resident knows that you contributed more to the project, he/she is usually okay with it.

It sounds like you already decided to take an additional year off. Are you considering a MPH degree down the road? I know that there are quite a few people who took a second year off for HHMI, so taking 2 years off is not as uncommon. There are also people who do both gen surg and public...

1) You are correct: Programs don't know where you did aways unless you get letters or you mention them during your interviews. If you are pursuing a competitive specialty, programs will likely ask you about where you did aways. Expect to get asked about aways and even be prepared to compare...

Yup, taking a research year will help. I would talk to your home program director and ask if your app is competitive.

If you know you can manage your time well and work with multiple PIs for several projects, then go for it. Due to the competitive nature of both specialties, I would just know that it’s difficult to be competitive for both specialties at the same time, so sooner or later you should commit to...

Can you do research electives at a different institution as a 3rd year? Faculties already know you are busy due to board studying, so they have low expectations and do not expect you to contribute much. They would understand if you say 3-5 hours a week. I think the whole point of this is more...

There are multiple ways to cold email faculties. If there are big name faculties that you really want to work with, I would email them separately. Otherwise, it’s okay to contact a program director who can refer you to faculties with research projects. I would keep the emails short and...

This cannot be emphasized enough.

You should stick to one specialty and commit to it as early as you can. I know it can be difficult, but there is just not enough time to do many away rotations and research to make you competitive for both specialties at the same time. If your goal is to match at your home program, you probably...

It heavily depends on which specialty you are applying to. For competitive specialties, everyone has a good application. Sometimes ECs are the ones that can help determine who’s a more memorable/interesting candidate and thus gets ranked higher. ECs are not important if you have low scores and...

Your PI knows your step 1 is more important than attending a conference. I would say no if I were you.

If you can be more specific about what specialties you are interested in and how much research you've done in med school so far, we can probably give you better advice. It's easy to say people can become competitive without taking a research year, but being actually productive during 3rd year...

Currently a 4th year here. People have different priorities when they apply for med schools, so UB might be the great choice for some people but perhaps not for others. I would try to look for specific things that you want in your medical program, because even if you just want prestige and...

This is specialty- and project-dependent. You may look at the journals of the papers you cite in your references or ask your research mentor for his/her thoughts.