Take step 2 as late as possible (not sure of exact timing of that) so programs don't have it to rank you with.
Well, now, hold on a second. We don't know how the OP did on Step 1, nor which specialty s/he is applying to. My advice on Step 2 timing would be different based on those factors. Of course, in this case, there's the issue of not being able to complete all rotations before the end of this third year, and that complicates things.
I think your program is really setting students up for possible failure this way IMO. They're either allowing you to come back to clerkships too late or requiring you to take step 2 too soon.
OP, I agree with Neuro that your school is really setting you up for failure. Besides making it harder for you to do well on Step 2, when would you be doing your sub-Is and/or away rotations? If you don't finish third year until December of your fourth year, you won't have time to do any such rotations before you start interviewing. That's not a good scenario either, because you need letters of recommendation from your sub-Is, and you may need to do at least one away as well depending on what rotations your school offers and whether there is a residency program there in your specialty.
Is there any way that you could start your rotations in the spring or summer instead of in January and just graduate a year later? You're probably chomping at the bit to finish ASAP, but I really think you should look into the possibility of postponing your graduation by a year. Residency apps (and possibly Step 2 scores, depending on your Step 1 score and specialty choice) are just too important to your career to be having such a clusterf*** of a rotation schedule.
Thanks for your replies, Neuronix and QofQ. I don't have much of a choice in the matter since I'm required to take step 2 fairly early in my graduation year.
Since you can't do the subspecialties as a block, I suggest doing primary care last. You should have plenty of IM experience as a basis for the general info, and you can study things like vaccination schedules on your own. I would put neuro as the second to last. It's an important subject, but again, you can study a lot of it on your own, and some schools don't even require a neuro rotation anyway. I'm assuming that you can't delay graduation for a year when giving this advice, because I still think that's the best option.
How long does it usually take for programs to get the step 2 score? Is is possible to know when programs finalize their rank list? I'm going to talk to my med school dean to see if I can delay step 2 but I'm not holding my breath.
Scores come back a few weeks after you take the test. I think it was three weeks or thereabouts. But even if your school allows you to have an extension for Step 2, it might not be a good idea to do it. Again, depending on your specialty and Step 1 score, you might need an early Step 2 score to help strengthen your app. Plus, in certain specialties, some programs won't rank you unless you have a Step 2 score prior to them making the rank list. Apparently this requirement is becoming more common, at least according to the Student Dean at my med school.
I agree. The amount of disjointedness and lack of communication between the medical school and the MD/PhD program itself is unbelievable. Compounding that problem is that I'm part of the hybrid/unlucky group of mudphuds that started out medical school under the old curriculum and going back under the new curriculum, where the clinical year and rotations are apparently stretched out over a longer period of time. After the hybrid mudphuds phase out, it won't be so much a problem since mudphuds starting in the new curriculum do a few rotations before starting in lab.
I really think that you have a good argument for why you should be allowed to graduate a year later, or at least in the following December instead of in May. What a mess. It really sucks that you are in this situation.
