Specific Statistical Questions about USMLE and Residencies

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CurryPower

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Hello,

When you are in Med School, as most of you know, you take the USMLE STEP 1 board exam, which consequently determines where you will place in terms of residency. Other supplemental factors include letters of recc and interviews.

Well, I had some very specific questions in mind in the context of "will going to a higher ranked med school help me out in the long run?" I am looking down in the long run of my future by asking the questions now before I commit to some sort of agenda of where I will apply and commit to next year. Thus, I was planning on calling several of the top 20 medical schools and asking the following questions:

1.) What were the average USMLE Step 1 and Step 2 scores of your students?

2.) Specifically, I am interested in Dermatology, a field that I am currently doing clinical research in undergrad and have been passionate about based on personal encounters (my relatives who were burned victims and skin cancer patients). However, I realized very recently that it is perhaps one of the toughest residencies to obtain. So another question I planned on asking was "How many candidates applied to Dermatology on their match list and how many students were ultimately matched?"

3.) Another factor I was considering was whether the reputation of the school's departments, not the ranking of the school, may impact my chances of obtaining a residency spot. For example, NYU is not listed at the top of med school list, but its dermatology program is outstanding in the top 5. Thus, I would also call schools such as these and find out how their statistics fared out in the recent year.

Well, I suppose the expected answer I would be receiving from these forums is just to work hard and you'll get what you want, but at the same time, I realize that connections and subtle factors play a role in the residency process. I am currently doing very well in undergraduate and realize that my success is contingent on my hard work now, but may not be later on as luck/connections will play a bigger or rather essential role. Thus, I wanted your input on this issue of whether it would be appropriate to ask these questions to med schools. Or if you guys can recommend where I can find such info (because I can't find them on the internet), I would appreciate it.

Thank you.

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Hello,

When you are in Med School, as most of you know, you take the USMLE STEP 1 board exam, which consequently determines where you will place in terms of residency. Other supplemental factors include letters of recc and interviews.

Well, I had some very specific questions in mind in the context of "will going to a higher ranked med school help me out in the long run?" I am looking down in the long run of my future by asking the questions now before I commit to some sort of agenda of where I will apply and commit to next year. Thus, I was planning on calling several of the top 20 medical schools and asking the following questions:

1.) What were the average USMLE Step 1 and Step 2 scores of your students?

2.) Specifically, I am interested in Dermatology, a field that I am currently doing clinical research in undergrad and have been passionate about based on personal encounters (my relatives who were burned victims and skin cancer patients). However, I realized very recently that it is perhaps one of the toughest residencies to obtain. So another question I planned on asking was "How many candidates applied to Dermatology on their match list and how many students were ultimately matched?"

3.) Another factor I was considering was whether the reputation of the school's departments, not the ranking of the school, may impact my chances of obtaining a residency spot. For example, NYU is not listed at the top of med school list, but its dermatology program is outstanding in the top 5. Thus, I would also call schools such as these and find out how their statistics fared out in the recent year.

Well, I suppose the expected answer I would be receiving from these forums is just to work hard and you'll get what you want, but at the same time, I realize that connections and subtle factors play a role in the residency process. I am currently doing very well in undergraduate and realize that my success is contingent on my hard work now, but may not be later on as luck/connections will play a bigger or rather essential role. Thus, I wanted your input on this issue of whether it would be appropriate to ask these questions to med schools. Or if you guys can recommend where I can find such info (because I can't find them on the internet), I would appreciate it.

Thank you.

Before the flaming starts...(ducking)

I am firm believer that the school you go to has less of an impact on your USMLE score than you yourself. Most of the work done towards the boards is independent anyways and the higher averages at "higher ranked schools" is due more to the pool of students which attends those schools.

You ask those questions if you would like but a) some schools don't like to release their averages b) they may be suspicious if you come asking about dermatology (which is viewed as a money/lifestyle field) and c) I think the trend in derm is matching at your home school (not sure about this).

I would check out the dermatology forum since I am no expert in matching in that field but my feeling is that as long as you go to school with a department that does research you should be okay. Make your decision based on other factors (do you like the city? what debt are we talking about? do you like your classmates?)
 
I am firm believer that the school you go to has less of an impact on your USMLE score than you yourself. Most of the work done towards the boards is independent anyways and the higher averages at "higher ranked schools" is due more to the pool of students which attends those schools.

:thumbup:

In order to be accredited every school much teach basically the same first 2 year curriculum - everyone, no matter where you go, will see the same basic first and second year stuff. Your Step 1 score is all on you.
 
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