A Little Advice

[RazberriChick]

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😳 Hello. I am new to the website, but I figured any quality advice could be found here. I am a fourth year DO student, and I should be in the midst of sending vast amounts of digital information to as many internship/residency programs as possible. I am currently between writer's block and sheer fear 😱 . Don't get me wrong. I have worked on it, and with the exception of describing my activities and my essay, it's mostly finished. 😳

I am interested in pursuing internal medicine as a residency, then specializing in ID, or geriatrics. I have been an AIDS activist forever, and I volunteer as an outreach worker, and I screen and refer for treatment high-risk persons exposed to HIV, hepatitis, syphilis, gonorrhea, chlamydia, etcera. The geriatrics comes from watching my grandmother disintergrate from Alzheimer's disease, and the work I have done in nursing homes and senior centers (volunteer). (I have about 15 volunteer activities from the past four years, many of which are still ongoing), but I have almost no research (one experience).

My problem is that I don't know if I did too hot on Step 1 of COMLEX (460). I never asked for a breakdown from my school, I was glad I passed. I had to take the test in October (long story). A scantron sheet in front of me is like slipping Superman Kryptonite. I wasn't sure whether my score was good or bad, until I started looking at this website and saw people broadcast 570s, 580s, and 600s. My heart hit the floor. 🙁

The blur of my life that was studying, TaeBo, yoga (to keep me sane), rotating, and the ocassional study day at the Shore to avoid everyone became a road map of "Did I do this right?", "Am I alone in this?". I found comfort in friends of other occupations, who didn't understand the numbers or the red tape that was still stuck to my butt; but helped me understand it would be OK.

We are on a H/HP/P/LP/F system at my school, and I have two LPs and I failed one course (Biochem), which I passed the second time around.
I have never been a quitter, or a whiner by any means. It seems strange my journey, I was packing for graduate school in NC (psychology/sex therapy) the day the school I am at now called me and said I was in. I meditated, and I told NC plans had been changed. They were almost too understanding. Omen? Who can say? It hasn't been easy, but then again, nothing that is truly worth it ever will be.
I need to know that; given my story or the tidbits I have given, what you feel my chances are in pursuing the choice of residency.

I have ID as an elective coming up, as well as an IM sub-internship. The elective seemed like a great idea, a crash course in being an intern; then I learned it could help me if I liked the place and applied to it. I do my electives for me, not to impress anyone. Just for me.

I may read as lazy to some, crazy to others, confused to a few, and one person may think I am just some nut wasting time. Everyone's transition from student to doctor is different. Some are fearful, some are confident, a few get arrogant, a few get Xanax, and then there's me: staring at a paragraph of my essay and wondering, "What happens next?"

Thank you for any advice. Harsh or soft. Blunt or concerned. Funny or stern. 🙂

 

[Winged Scapula]

😳 Hello. I am new to the website, but I figured any quality advice could be found here. I am currently between writer's block and sheer fear 😱 .

Hmmm...me thinks writer's block is NOT your problem! 😉

Its not clear what you are seeking advice for. Do you need help writing your PS? Are you unsure if you should even aply to residency? If its the latter, you can't let your concerns about your COMLEX score get in the way - frankly, what's done is done (and I have no idea about what the average score would be). At this point, you can only move forward and apply with your scores, your experiences, etc. and do what you can to get into a residency...if thats what you want.

 

[mamadoc]

Hmmm...me think writer block is NOT your problem! 😉

LOL I would agree. Okay, you said to "bring it on," essentially, so here ya go: You sound a bit self-absorbed in your worries. Look, life is going on even as you write (or don't). You can't stop in your path wondering what is going to happen next. What's that old _Rush_ line: "If you choose not to decide, you still have made a choice."

There is a place for pretty much any US grad who wants a residency. IM isn't that tough to get into, and an ID fellowship, when you get to it, is going to be about who ya know, what you've done in residency, and how well you've networked. It's not something you need to worry about now. Right now your priorities should be: 1, get good LORs for your residency application; 2, do well on your upcoming AI and ID elective if you're going to get LORs from them - yes, you do want to do them for your own education, but that doesn't mean you can't ALSO be impressing the people you work for; 3, figure out the programs you want to apply to.

You've clearly done some outstanding work in IM/ID with what you've done with HIV/AIDs. You should be able to get some great letters from people to support your application. Who cares about your COMLEX? You passed, and it's a done deal, so give some thought to programs where a low-passing score isn't going to make them reject you. You aren't likely to get into the IM residency at Mass General but geez, there are a gazillion IM programs out there.

As long as your iffy grades are from your preclinical years, you should be OK for any number of programs. On the other hand, if you got LP scores in important third year rotations, you're going to need to work a little harder to get strong LORs to bolster your application.

This really is quite do-able. I think you're spinning your wheels because you're looking at it as this big mishmash of things to do, but in fact there's a series of discrete steps and you just need to figure out which step to take first, and get going. Good luck!

 

[RazberriChick]

Thank you all for your advice. My LPs are preclinical. I actually am starting my essay this week. I am a little behind. Here I go, jumping headfirst into the unknown. 🙂