Is University of Utah Screening Step 2 For Surgery Common?

[2021Doctor]

The University of Utah General Surgery Residency receives over 1,200 applications for 6 categorical spots each year.

The program employs a screening process, followed by a secondary review for potential alignment of interest between the applicant and the program, followed by a holistic review of approximately 500-550 applications for possible interview selection.

The screening parameters include: USMLE Step 2 scores > 240 and graduation from medical school within the previous 2 years. The secondary review includes, but is not limited to, applicant interest in a 6-7 year residency program and relevant work, research, leadership and life experience.

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[DrZoidbergDO]

I mean 240 is like 35th percentile so if you score that low you're probably not competitive.

 

[Anakinmemer]

Talked to a rads PD who gets 1400 for 5. They screen.

Application caps need to be implemented yesterday. Every applicant applies to every program now, which forces PD's to guess at who's actually interested, which is worse for everyone because they don't always guess right. Application caps will still lead to 100% fill and a higher % of people matching at preferred programs. (ie, if you cap it at 40 you know for a fact you're matching in at least your top 40)

 

[DOVinciRobot]

Yes it is very common, especially for surgery programs.

 

[deleted1139416]

Talked to a rads PD who gets 1400 for 5. They screen.

Application caps need to be implemented yesterday. Every applicant applies to every program now, which forces PD's to guess at who's actually interested, which is worse for everyone because they don't always guess right. Application caps will still lead to 100% fill and a higher % of people matching at preferred programs. (ie, if you cap it at 40 you know for a fact you're matching in at least your top 40)

I was on another thread where I was told that the signals are being used as application caps.

 

[collegestud2013]

I was on another thread where I was told that the signals are being used as application caps.

ERAS won't easily do it since they get a ton of extra $$ the more programs an applicant applies to. It would also complicate the process for those who cross apply to multiple specialties as it would necessitate either setting a cap per specialty, or hurting applicants who cross apply.

For now, application signaling seems to be reasonable solution to combat the increased spamming of apps on ERAS. Only a few specialties do it but hopefully more will in upcoming cycles.

 

[Lawpy]

Yes it is very common, especially for surgery programs.

We need to resolve this score creep because this is pretty absurd. A 240 should at the very least be recalibrated as 75th percentile

 

[Lawpy]

Talked to a rads PD who gets 1400 for 5. They screen.

Application caps need to be implemented yesterday. Every applicant applies to every program now, which forces PD's to guess at who's actually interested, which is worse for everyone because they don't always guess right. Application caps will still lead to 100% fill and a higher % of people matching at preferred programs. (ie, if you cap it at 40 you know for a fact you're matching in at least your top 40)

People should’ve implemented app caps before making Step 1 P/F.

Now instead we’re dealing with only one scored Step with an absurdly high screening threshold

I mean sure a 240 is currently a low bar but such a thought is absurd because just 10 years ago, a 240 was very competitive for a lot of programs

There is a deep rot in the system that needs to be critically fixed

 

[DOVinciRobot]

We need to resolve this score creep because this is pretty absurd. A 240 should at the very least be recalibrated as 75th percentile

Why? A percentile is a percentile.

 

[WhereMyLiberalsAt]

Why? A percentile is a percentile.

I believe they want to “normalize” the data (I’m probably getting my terminology incorrect). As it is, you need more context than just the score, you need the year the score was given. I’m not sure why the distribution wasn’t normalized from the start.

 

[MDMechEngr]

We need to resolve this score creep because this is pretty absurd. A 240 should at the very least be recalibrated as 75th percentile

Make the test harder, which I think they will eventually. It may be detrimental to the 10% that will fail it.

 

[nimbus]

People should’ve implemented app caps before making Step 1 P/F.

Now instead we’re dealing with only one scored Step with an absurdly high screening threshold

I mean sure a 240 is currently a low bar but such a thought is absurd because just 10 years ago, a 240 was very competitive for a lot of programs

There is a deep rot in the system that needs to be critically fixed

Not sure if it’s rot. Score creep could be from better study resources.

 

[WhereMyLiberalsAt]

Not sure if it’s rot. Score creep could be from better study resources.

Doubtful. Pretty sure it’s from early morning TBLs.

 

[Boca Calor]

I mean 240 is like 35th percentile so if you score that low you're probably not competitive.

Average matched applicant to Gen Surg in ‘22 had a Step 2 of 248. 70% scoring between 231-240 matched.

 

[voxveritatisetlucis]

Average matched applicant to Gen Surg in ‘22 had a Step 2 of 248. 70% scoring between 231-240 matched.

Maybe this will be different as more people put effort into step 2

 

[operaman]

Very common.

People seem to forget that the 3 digit score on steps 1 and 2 are about as related as the 3 digit score on the LSAT. It’s just an entirely different scale and the percentiles they represent are vastly different. I always chuckled in the old days when people would say their scores went up on S2 because it was just an artifact of different scales.

So yes 240 is a very reasonable screen - comparable to a 225-230 screen for S1. My residency program definitely screened at a similar level, the logic being that we at least wanted to find people could hit the average score. Now with S1 unscored I’m sure 240ish will become a fairly common screening level.

 

[TheRealBatmanMD]

I don't see the issue. As the poster mentioned above, it's just a different scale. The higher average scores on Step 2 doesn't mean it's an easier exam. I personally found Step 1 easier than Step 2 (still scored nearly around 270 for Step 2 though). Step 1 had super short question stems and was just a test of random factoids you knew. Step 2 is the better test for clinical reasoning skills.