Hello again...

just writing in hopes of getting any advice for what to do... i just received my shelf exam score for internal medicine and did not do well on it... however, i have great evaluations from all of my residents. i also have 90 on step 1, research, and a's and b's otherwise. how important is the shelf in getting a top or very good program in internal medicine?

asking for any help on this matter... thank you very much

Nobody outside of your own school's department will see your scores on your shelf exams. The only way potential programs will have any clue is if your Dean's Letter/MSPE includes this info as a quote from the clerkship director. Typically, Dean's Letters include glowing info, leaving out potentially negative facts about the student. So while your MSPE might say, "Tiffin performed well on his/her IM rotation, ranking in the top 10% of the class and scored very well on the shelf exam," it won't say, "Tiffin is cool but blew the big one on the shelf." :laugh: