ABIM Research Pathway Guidance needed

[Kelsos No 1]

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Hey all,

I'm prepared to get lambasted for a WAMC-type thread but I'm braving that possibility.

Stats:
PhD (Chemistry)
9 pubs - 6 1st author
2 book chapters - both first author
8 Posters accepted to national/regional conferences
Post-Doc for 1 year after PhD with T32 support

Extras:
College Prof for 1 year after PhD
Officer and volunteer in med school's free clinic


Two things I can't account for at the moment are Step 1 scores and Clinical grades.

I would assume that ABIM schools would try their best to keep you on as junior faculty assuming you're a solid trainee. Schools that support ABIM and in my geographic locations of interest are as follows:

Mass Gen
BDIMC
Brigham
Boston U
Duke
Vanderbilt
Penn
Thomas Jefferson
Yale
Dartmouth
Maryland
Pitt
Hopkins Bayview
UNDMJ
NYU
Columbia
Cornell
Albert Einstein
Mount Sinai


Its daunting the think that most of these programs are in the stratosphere with the competitiveness of their IM programs.

There are two things that I'm assuming/know I have to attain to be marginally competitive: 1) 230+ on Step 1 2) Honors in Medicine and hopefully a few other rotations.

My goal is to be a physician scientist with at least 50/50 clinical/research time (slightly more on research if my future institution can swing it). My PhD and post-doc work is in Onc and cancer biology. I wish to stay in this field with Heme/Onc. ABIM research pathway is a dream come true for my career. As one poster said (roughly) "do ABIM because you get to do research, not because you have to in order to get into a highly selective specialty". This is my sentiment exactly. It'll be nice to have the ability to apply for K awards while in fellowship/residency training to soften the blow of early career grant writing.

I'm fully aware that beginning of 2nd year is extremely early to think of all of these things but the research pathway requires more planning (IMHO) and a stronger idea of what one wants from their medical career. Plus I just love torturing myself and planning years in advance.

Please let me know anything I can be doing to strengthen my CV going into applications down there road. I'm also interested where I stand for the above institutions. Also, is there a (realistic) Step 1 cutoff I can set as a goal for myself for studying this year? 230? 240? 250? Obviously the higher the better but a low end is always nice to have in mind.

I'm not from a top 100 med school either (according to US News, still US allopathic though). How do you think this might impact things?

Thanks so much for the input. I've been following this board since undergrad. Its always been a source of good information (GutOnc I'm looking at you).

Thanks!

 

[gutonc]

Two things I can't account for at the moment are Step 1 scores and Clinical grades.

At this point, those are the only two things that really matter.

I would assume that ABIM schools would try their best to keep you on as junior faculty assuming you're a solid trainee.

You'd assume somewhat incorrectly. Schools will be more than happy to keep you on if you can find your own funding, otherwise, make sure your research mentor has some pull if you want to stay.

Schools that support ABIM and in my geographic locations of interest are as follows:

Mass Gen
BDIMC
Brigham
Boston U
Duke
Vanderbilt
Penn
Thomas Jefferson
Yale
Dartmouth
Maryland
Pitt
Hopkins Bayview
UNDMJ
NYU
Columbia
Cornell
Albert Einstein
Mount Sinai

Its daunting the think that most of these programs are in the stratosphere with the competitiveness of their IM programs.

Actually, those are pretty much 50/50 "top tier" and mid tier programs. Believe me when I say that you won't need the same stats as a straight MD student to get interviews at those places. I sure didn't.

There are two things that I'm assuming/know I have to attain to be marginally competitive: 1) 230+ on Step 1 2) Honors in Medicine and hopefully a few other rotations.

That is correct. Pull both of those off and you can write your ticket.

My goal is to be a physician scientist with at least 50/50 clinical/research time (slightly more on research if my future institution can swing it).

Not gonna happen. 50/50 is impossible (I tried and failed). You want an 80/20 or 90/10 split if you're going to make a basic science career happen.

Please let me know anything I can be doing to strengthen my CV going into applications down there road. I'm also interested where I stand for the above institutions. Also, is there a (realistic) Step 1 cutoff I can set as a goal for myself for studying this year? 230? 240? 250? Obviously the higher the better but a low end is always nice to have in mind.

Score above the mean on Steps 1 and 2, get honors in your IM clerkship and/or SubI, get great LORs, go wherever you want.