3rd Year Grades

[sparklystu]

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I am concerned about my third year clerkship grades. I have had three clerkships so far and have received only a "pass" in all of them, including pediatrics, which is what I want to go into. The weird part is that its not the preceptor evals that are bad, but rather my NBME subject exams which always forced me to fall into the pass category vs. high pass. This is really upsetting to me as I work so hard and my preceptor feedback is always really positive, like "this is one of the best students we have had thus far," but I just can't seem to do well on the MC exams. I've met with learning specialists who have told me that as long as I am passing it is ok, but this really saddens me, I'm honestly just not a great test-taker I suppose. I also struggled with USMLE Step 1 and only received a score of 208.

I guess, I just would like some feedback regarding the chances of getting into a pediatric residency? I'm not aiming for CHOP or BCH but would like a university hospital if possible.

 

[sobored]

I don't know the specifics of applying for peds, but I imagine it's similar to everything else in that 3rd year grades matter a lot. As much as it pains me to say, I think you need to start playing the game a bit more. If your school emphasizes shelf exams, you need to do everything possible to study for those and do well, even if it means compromising your clinical education. Again, I hate saying that because I think third year should be about focusing on patient care, but that's the way it goes these days. Some people can do both effectively, others need to focus on the shelf. That may be your best bet at this point.

Questions, questions, questions. Do Uworld, pretest, whatever else is popular.

 

[Merely]

Isn't peds really uncomepetitive so you have nothing to really worry about?

 

[sparklystu]

Thank you both for you responses. With regards to the first suggestion, literally all I do is questions! I do UWorld in tutor mode and then timed as I start to get closer to an exam, and I sit through and make Anki flashcards on every question based on what I get right and wrong. So on top of doing questions, I am making flashcards and going through them on a daily basis, which basically leaves me exhausted at the end of each day. I work really hard, I try to read about guidelines and such but find it really challenging.

With regards to the second post, I'm not sure! I would love to do something like PICU but I do really like the idea of a teaching hospital over a community-based one. I'm just so panicked, I'm in the first class of a new med school, so I feel that I have lacked a lot of guidance and help. I keep trying to seek out sources to improve how I study and I just keep doing badly. I'm honestly at the point where I feel like I should quit, maybe I'm just not good enough to do this.

 

[Psai]

You need to read at least one book and do as many questions as possible

 

[Mountaineer12]

As far as I know this shouldn't be too much of s problem in peds if you still have good narratives and can get good letters. Are you school's cutoffs really strict? I know at my school, we have honors and pass and honors is only the top 15% so only about 8-9 people at the campus I'm at. It kind of stinks that some schools give out a lot more honors, but peds isn't super competitive and hopefully schools will take into account the strict cutoffs if your school has them too. Also, maybe they'll take into account that took peds early in the year. I'm also very interested in peds, but didn't know that until I had it first block so I'm hoping that's a good reason why I probably won't get honors. Talking to someone at your school may help put your mind at ease!

 

[Law2Doc]

If you pass everything, are a US grad, and are very flexible in terms of where you end up, you ought to get something in peds, as its still one of the less competitive fields. However doing well will give you more options, keep more doors open. Poor scores probably relegate you out of popular geography or prestigious academic settings. That being said, if the attendings who are saying you are "one of the best students" write letters of recommendation and work their contacts on your behalf, that's going to matter a lot. Sure PDs care about step scores, but "grades" themselves are very low on the totem pole of what matters. A PD wants someone who can be a good resident and so evaluations from other attendings always matter more than whether someone ended up with a pass or honors.

 

[Donald Juan]

It sucks, but what's done is done. If you're getting great evals outside of shelf grades, then I would recommend you plan on starting fourth year out with a sub-I at your home and an away rotation at another academic institution. Get some honors from those (since no shelf, it shouldn't be a problem) and get some great LORs. Like others have said, you won't have any trouble matching, but if you want the best academic institution you can get into you should try and maximize the rest of your app.