u/zzz44532

if my score gets released 9/22 will my application be able to be submitted in time for eras submissions given the time it takes to get transmitted to eras?

A couple months ago I was worried about whether I wanted to do neurology vs IM. I just finished my neuro away rotation and im wondering if what i liked to begin with about neuro and medicine in general was the diagnostic side more than anything. I find myself missing general medicine, stroke to be repetitive and that there is not much to do in management, and find functional patients very draining and again nothing to do with them. I think I also find patients draining in general, and neuro more than any other specialty it feels like patients generally tend to be very poor historians. i realize i like diagnosing and attaining knowledge more than management but i would still get satisfaction speaking to patients if i felt like i was actually doing something! I need guidance. for reference I made this post a couple months ago, and i feel like my mindset right now is a complete 180 especially when its a month away from ERAS.

PREVIOUS POST 5 months ago:

Hi guys, MSIII at the end of rotations feeling just as confused as when I first started. This might be long as I'm just writing my thoughts and really looking for some guidance from the community! Throughout med school, Ive always been pretty aware of what it takes to match into which specialty, had a basic general idea of what the vibes were like with each one and what sort of stereotypes/lifestyle were involved with all. Throughout med school, I realized I love pathophys, I just love when things make sense and you connect physio to disease process. In preclinical neuro, i did really enjoy that the anatomy connected to how the patient presented and just by examining the patient you know exactly where the lesion is. Sooo i love connections and working things out. Come to rotations, I feel like I didnt like anyything enough to say that I want to do this for the rest of my life. I at least came to realize that I really hate outpatient, and like the acuity of inpatient practice better. But i want lateral mobility and want to be able to switch when 20 yrs down the line im tired of inpatient. So about the rotations --- I liked ICU better than I liked any other rotation---wouldnt say i absolutely loved it, it was just what i always pictured medicine to be like, and the deep knowledge intensivists (PCC trained and getting grandfathered be certified NCC training from what i understand? ) had about every specialty, including neuro, was admirable. They managed the MICU , NICU, and CVICU. Internal medicine is second, but for a few reasons --- neuro is not a required rotation for me, so i never had a true one -- only rotated a few times with the neuro team at my program in my freetime , and theyre sort of known for not being the best. I liked IM for the breadth of material and generally seeing patients get better, but I hated never having the final say about anything -- as soon as things got slightly more complicated, we had to have cardio or nephro on the case. I also didnt like the whole being a coordinator aspect, making sure consultants do their jobs, and social work aspect. The few times I was with the neuro team, I really didnt like it but not sure if I didnt like the faculty or the specialty. There were so many patients on the list, and they just sped through rounds constantly, and the answer was always order MRI with no thought , and when it came to seeing patients it was always like discharge after MRI cleared... they did however consult in the ICU with patients with strokes/hemorrhages, and I did enjoy the physical exam that came with that and reviewing CT/MRIs for those things. I know the answer is to do an away neuro rotation, and I have applied, but I am really hoping for some direction and clarity now. I have shadowed outpatient neuro in the past before med school, they were both movement disorder specialists and from what I vaguely remember it was a lot of just managing/changing medications, and sometimes doing some botox for migraines. I found it a little boring! Speaking practically in what I want in a specialty, I know I want to be a specialist, but I want to have broad knowledge. I like to learn everything, and no other specialty, including IM, has the education im looking for that includes neurology. From what I know online, I like that neuro is extremely competent in reading brain images, performing physical exams, and has to know about every system and how it correlates neurologically. However sometimes i get the sense that neuro can be so abstract that a lot of times its not known the reason behind why something happens, and i dont find that satisfying! I do like that there are countless fellowship options, including NCC and vascular, but neuro also seems to be more flexible in that if i was a neurohospitalist, I may be more easily be able to switch outpatient than IM hospitalist to internal outpatient? I know many neuro residencies are inpatient frontloaded, but if i can find one thats more balanced and do outpatient neuro electives, perhaps it would be the case? yes i like critical care now, but i cant say that after 3-4 years of my life im going to even want fellowship, and i cant say that if i went IM i would be happy as a hospitalist. and i also am not a fan at continuing the rat race, kissing up for fellowship, and doing "research" , versus neuro the fellowships arent as competitive. And while i do like inpatient medicine, I still want to learn everything there is to know about managing pts in outpatient neuro, treating MS, parkinsons, dementia, epilepsy, etc. Anyways thats my spiel, please let me know what your thoughts are and you can perhaps clarify anything and guide me on what to do!

A couple months ago I was worried about whether I wanted to do neurology vs IM. I just finished my neuro away rotation and im wondering if what i liked to begin with about neuro and medicine in general was the diagnostic side more than anything. I find myself missing general medicine, stroke to be repetitive and that there is not much to do in management, and find functional patients very draining and again nothing to do with them. I think I also find patients draining in general, and neuro more than any other specialty it feels like patients generally tend to be very poor historians. i realize i like diagnosing and attaining knowledge more than management but i would still get satisfaction speaking to patients if i felt like i was actually doing something! I need guidance. for reference I made this post a couple months ago, and i feel like my mindset right now is a complete 180 especially when its a month away from ERAS.

PREVIOUS POST 5 months ago:

Hi guys, MSIII at the end of rotations feeling just as confused as when I first started. This might be long as I'm just writing my thoughts and really looking for some guidance from the community! Throughout med school, Ive always been pretty aware of what it takes to match into which specialty, had a basic general idea of what the vibes were like with each one and what sort of stereotypes/lifestyle were involved with all. Throughout med school, I realized I love pathophys, I just love when things make sense and you connect physio to disease process. In preclinical neuro, i did really enjoy that the anatomy connected to how the patient presented and just by examining the patient you know exactly where the lesion is. Sooo i love connections and working things out. Come to rotations, I feel like I didnt like anyything enough to say that I want to do this for the rest of my life. I at least came to realize that I really hate outpatient, and like the acuity of inpatient practice better. But i want lateral mobility and want to be able to switch when 20 yrs down the line im tired of inpatient. So about the rotations --- I liked ICU better than I liked any other rotation---wouldnt say i absolutely loved it, it was just what i always pictured medicine to be like, and the deep knowledge intensivists (PCC trained and getting grandfathered be certified NCC training from what i understand? ) had about every specialty, including neuro, was admirable. They managed the MICU , NICU, and CVICU. Internal medicine is second, but for a few reasons --- neuro is not a required rotation for me, so i never had a true one -- only rotated a few times with the neuro team at my program in my freetime , and theyre sort of known for not being the best. I liked IM for the breadth of material and generally seeing patients get better, but I hated never having the final say about anything -- as soon as things got slightly more complicated, we had to have cardio or nephro on the case. I also didnt like the whole being a coordinator aspect, making sure consultants do their jobs, and social work aspect. The few times I was with the neuro team, I really didnt like it but not sure if I didnt like the faculty or the specialty. There were so many patients on the list, and they just sped through rounds constantly, and the answer was always order MRI with no thought , and when it came to seeing patients it was always like discharge after MRI cleared... they did however consult in the ICU with patients with strokes/hemorrhages, and I did enjoy the physical exam that came with that and reviewing CT/MRIs for those things. I know the answer is to do an away neuro rotation, and I have applied, but I am really hoping for some direction and clarity now. I have shadowed outpatient neuro in the past before med school, they were both movement disorder specialists and from what I vaguely remember it was a lot of just managing/changing medications, and sometimes doing some botox for migraines. I found it a little boring! Speaking practically in what I want in a specialty, I know I want to be a specialist, but I want to have broad knowledge. I like to learn everything, and no other specialty, including IM, has the education im looking for that includes neurology. From what I know online, I like that neuro is extremely competent in reading brain images, performing physical exams, and has to know about every system and how it correlates neurologically. However sometimes i get the sense that neuro can be so abstract that a lot of times its not known the reason behind why something happens, and i dont find that satisfying! I do like that there are countless fellowship options, including NCC and vascular, but neuro also seems to be more flexible in that if i was a neurohospitalist, I may be more easily be able to switch outpatient than IM hospitalist to internal outpatient? I know many neuro residencies are inpatient frontloaded, but if i can find one thats more balanced and do outpatient neuro electives, perhaps it would be the case? yes i like critical care now, but i cant say that after 3-4 years of my life im going to even want fellowship, and i cant say that if i went IM i would be happy as a hospitalist. and i also am not a fan at continuing the rat race, kissing up for fellowship, and doing "research" , versus neuro the fellowships arent as competitive. And while i do like inpatient medicine, I still want to learn everything there is to know about managing pts in outpatient neuro, treating MS, parkinsons, dementia, epilepsy, etc. Anyways thats my spiel, please let me know what your thoughts are and you can perhaps clarify anything and guide me on what to do!

hey guys, im wondering whether if i take the exam within the 8/24-9/9 timeline if that is cutting it too close to eras since it gets submitted 9/23? How long does it take for comlex to get transferred to eras? let me know and thanks

Title. Let me know!

serious q from burnt out M4 studying for step 2 on away rotations and feel like studying for step is actually more enjoyable than faking smiles to faculty/ residents and talking to patients. edit - for people saying radiology -- i can bust my butt to find a rotation and get a letter before eras, but assuming i like it, would radiology residencies even take me seriously with one prob mid radiology letter and a 250 ish step 2? i wont ask ab anesthesia as i have plenty of posts to refer to for that lol

So Im a US MD/DO, just took my first nbme (12 - 226) and my exam is supposed to be in six weeks. Felt like I was guessing with no idea / between two answers for everything. Feeling extremely defeated, been doing uworld at 70% done 64% correct, and been doing around 80 questions everyday. I feel like I should've done better for the amount of questions I completed, but im wondering if im even learning/reviewing correctly? I read the explanation thoroughly, why the other answers are wrong, and SOMETIMES i might write a thing or two on a running doc I have (can't say I have truly reviewed it though?). Im supposed to be doing anki for uworld incorrects and they have piled up so much but I havent touched it in almost two weeks as Ive been pushing to finish uworld. Idk how Im going to have enough time to fill in content gaps, do amboss QI/ethics, anki, all the CMS forms, Divine??. I'm really looking for some hard advice --- my goal score from the beginning has been 255, im wondering if this is realistic in 6 weeks and what should I be focusing on to get that? Would appreciate advice from anyone but hoping to more hear from other US MD/DOs lurking on here, I have auditions in five weeks and Im tweaking!

As a rising fourth year studying for boards and starting to prepare my app, there is such a big emphasis on the hobbies section. Speaking with my friends in other specialties, it seems like theres stereotypically a niche that every specialty falls into in terms of hobbies. So my question is, what hobbies have you found your fellow co neuro residents or attendings tend to have?

the resources dont show up on the question as you are reviewing it anymore since the new interface. i tried deleting and redownloading the extension, still not working. any tips? edit - asking for step 2

In a couple of days i will be meeting with the PD of my top program (not home program) on zoom. I was able to speak to some residents at a conference and they mentioned shooting the PD an email to meet. i did and did not expect a response, but they answered and now here i am! Im excited for this opportunity but nervous and dont know what to expect going in. i dont think the pd knows anything about me as I didnt send them my CV or PS. How should i prepare for this meeting? What questions should I be prepared for and should I ask the PD? what should be my main goals going into this meeting? i applied for an away rotation there a month ago but havent heard back, so i definitely want to mention that.