博主wowo的儿子现在已经是在 plastic surgery residency program里，如果您是了解美国医疗界的人士，应该知道这是一个非常难进、竞争很厉害的医学领域。

wowo在我的文章评论里留下了宝贵的经验介绍，由于技术原因，他（假定是位先生）的博客目前还不能发表文章，我在这里替他贴出来。因为wowo是分许多次发表的评论，我帮他整理一下，译成中文。

另外，如果哪位博主知道如何与万维联系，修理他的博客，请帮忙，百草替wowo向您致谢了。

以下是wowo的留言：

一般来说，男孩子不是很早熟，但是他们很有潜力。我的儿子在高中和大学里，并不是那种刻苦学习的人。当他一进入医学院后，他意识到，如果不在step1（第一次broad test，一般在读完医学院二年后考））考试中取得好成绩，你就不能进入好的医学 residency program，儿子他改变了，最后进到top residency program。

在考大学时，有些大学有8年制的直接入取到医学院的premed program ，这个program不好进，但一旦进去了，以后就容易的多了，像百草写的申请医学院的那一步就可以免去了。

（百草加一点：大家请读明白了，这个program是孩子在申请大学时申请，威州的麦迪逊大学曾经有过这个program。每年招收几千学生的大学，招收40名学生进这个program。许多年前，孩子进了这个program，就不用考MCAT，也不用申请医学院，大学毕业直接进医学院，当然大学期间有一些特殊的讲座，也必须保持一定的成绩。后来，又要求这个program里的孩子也要考MCAT，但可以越过申请医学院这一步。再后来，由于有人认为这个program不公平，听说好像是已经停止了。但其它的地方可能还有这个program。）

看百草写的这个医学院系列，又使我想起了同儿子一起走过的那几年，感慨良多。医学院并不需要什么天才，但需要极大的努力和定力；聪明才智不是最重要的，最重要的是持之以恒, 是能够在众多纷扰中能坚持你的目标，保持专注。

我的儿子现在是在第一年plastic resident 在UC的一个医院。说实话，这不是我的选择（中国家长都喜欢控制他们的孩子），但我知道：这是最高的match，也是竞争很激烈的领域，要有3年一般手术实习加3-4年plastic surgery。

一旦孩子们进了医学院以后，他们都会沿着医学院设计的课程走，他们不会再听家长的了（百草也非常同意这一点）。他们会向高年级的学哥学姐了解情况。如果你的孩子知道以后要做什么专科，他们应该在那个专科（系）找科研指导，在时间和精力允许的情况下，参加科研项目。Step1 考试对以后他们的match非常重要，尤其是在那些竞争激烈的专科，诸如 Plastic surgery, Dermatology, Orthopedic Surgery or Ophthalmology等科。Step1 成绩Orthopedic Surgery至少要230分，Plastic surgery则要求至少242分。大家可以用First Aids is good book for Step 1,Kaplan Qbook and Qbank来复习。如果你的step1 成绩很高，你就不用step2考试了。

如果你的step1成绩很好，再加上几篇论文，你还需要成为AΩA 学生成员，这是the national medical honor society。

每个医学院选最好的百分之十到六分之一的学生做为AΩA成员。每个学校如何掌握这个协会不太一样。有些不选医学院三年级的学生，有些在四年级毕业之前的春天选。选的学生除了学习好，还看领导才能、学术水准、判断力，总之是保证选上的那些以后会在医疗界成功、又会给社会做贡献的人士。所以光学习好也不行。

而match是全国性的活动，医学生会发现他们将在哪里进行住院医师训练。。 match =学生申请其培训计划的选择,宣布希望能“匹配”与他们喜欢的医院和专业，他们知道他们的匹配与否，今年的match是今天3月18日发表。学生们将知道他们将去哪里，毕业生将会知道他们要在什么地方继续他们的residency training。学生们当然都希望他们能进到他们想去的专科和实习的地方。

去年我们的等待，几乎让全家都很焦急，这是真话，我们做家长的又何尝不是在这几个月漫长黑夜中，望眼欲穿地等待着黎明的到来呢? 和那种如梗在喉的感觉的折磨呢? 我儿子说他一定要 match plastic Surgery residency .我很欣慰他有这样的抱负。他8岁来美国，不会说英语.开始很艰苦, 从医学院里他懂了自己要努力，要有自信心。

Some examples for 3rd yearM studentCareer Advising Calendar
April - June 2009 First Meeting With Career Advisor
• Discuss career choice
• Discuss plans for 4th year
• Individual 30 - 60 minute meeting with career advisor
June – September MSPE Meeting & Advisor Meetings
• Meet with Associate Dean for Residency Advising
• Meet with specialty advisor
• Individual meeting with career advisor
• Personal statement

July 16, 2009 5:00 pm MS 4 Career Advising Class Meeting #1
ERAS Overview
• ERAS application process
• Senior class updates
• Timeline for the application process
August 27, 2009 5:00 pm MS 4 Career Advising Class Meeting # 2
ERAS Application Updates
• Senior class updates
• Application updates
• General application information
October-November TBD Third Meeting With Career Advisor
• Review program list for depth and breadth
• Interview strategies
• Individual 30 minute meeting with career advisor
October 8, 2009 5:00 pm MS 4 Career Advising Class Meeting #3
Interviewing for Residency
• Alumni host program
• Senior class updates
• MSPE update
• Preparing for interviews
January 21, 2010 5:00 pm Fourth Year Career Advising Class Meeting #4
Preparing Your Rank List
• Entering your rank list
• Post-interview follow up
• Class updates
January –Early February TBD Fourth Meeting With Career Advisor
• Evaluating and ranking programs
• Individual 30 minute meeting with career advisor
Late January TBD Rank List Due for Regular Match
March 18, 2010 10:00 am Match Day
Early Match: Ophthalmology, Pediatric Neurology, Urology, and all residency programs run by the military
are early match programs. Applicants in Ophthalmology and Pediatric Neurology apply and match through
the San Francisco Matching Service (http://www.sfmatch.org/), while applicants in Urology apply via ERAS
and match via the American Urological Association (http://www.auanet.org). For the early match,
applications are generally due in August/ September, rank lists are submitted in December/ January, and
match results posted in January/ February.

ERAS (Electronic Residency Application Service): ERAS is a service that transmits applications, letters
of recommendation, Medical Student Performance Evaluations (MSPEs), medical school transcripts, USMLE
transcripts, and other supporting documents from you and your designated dean's office to residency
program directors using the Internet. ERAS begins transmitting applications on September 1st.
Match Day: Match Day is held on Thursday of the third week in March. All US seniors open their match
envelopes from the NRMP at 12:00 eastern standard time to find out at which residency program they have
matched.
MSPE (Medical Student Performance Evaluation): A letter of evaluation (not recommendation) which
describes a student’s performance in medical school. The MSPE includes an assessment of both the student’s
academic performance and professional attributes. The MSPE is released to residency programs on
November 1st.
NRMP (National Resident Matching Program): The NRMP (http://www.nrmp.org/) conducts a
residency match that is designed to optimize the rank ordered choices of students and program directors. On
Thursday of the third week of March, the results of the match are announced. With the exception of early
match programs, all residency programs use the NRMP. The applicant registration deadline is the end of
November and the Rank Order List deadline is the end of February.

Preliminary Residency Positions: A “preliminary” position offers only 1-2 years of training prior to entry
into advanced specialty programs. Many internal medicine and surgery training programs offer preliminary
positions in addition to categorical positions. Transitional year programs are also considered preliminary
programs.
ROL (Rank Order Lists): Rank order lists are the lists of programs in order of preference submitted by
applicants to the NRMP before the deadline (last week of February). The NRMP collects data on the
relationship between the average length of the rank order lists of matched applicants vs. unmatched
applicants. Matched applicants consistently have longer ROLs than unmatched applicants. In 2007, the
average number of ranks for matched applicants was 9.96.

Away Rotation :4 yMS can do Away Rotation
If you want to match with a good program at different city, it is a good idea to do an away rotation. Away rotations will increase the chance that you will match and lets applicants know the program well.
Research Advice:
Students should choose a research project they are interested in, not just one to pad their resume.
According to data from the NRMP, US seniors who match in plastic surgery have an average of 3.6research experiences and 6 abstracts, presentations and publications.