Advanced (MS4 rotation grade) = kiss of death?

[cpb80]

Let me preface this with the obligatory: I am by no means a "gunner".

Nonetheless, I'm kinda' bummed that I received an "Advanced" (=HighPass?) on my first EM rotation at my home institution. Not a stellar student:
STEPI >230, middle to upper middle of class, heavy extracurric's (co-pres), ~ 1/2 Advanced & 1/2 Outstandings Clinical Grades on M3/M4 rotations, some research (1 pub, working on EM research)...blah

I guess I am disappointed not only b/c I worked hard, but I keep hearing that one of the most important factors in this process is how well you did on your EM rotations. Anyone have the same experience or is everyone perfect?

I am gonna go have some cheese w/ my whine.

Best of luck to you all, & stay sane.

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[tybalt]

Let me preface this with the obligatory: I am by no means a "gunner".

Nonetheless, I'm kinda' bummed that I received an "Advanced" (=HighPass?) on my first EM rotation at my home institution. Not a stellar student:
STEPI >230, middle to upper middle of class, heavy extracurric's (co-pres), ~ 1/2 Advanced & 1/2 Outstandings Clinical Grades on M3/M4 rotations, some research (1 pub, working on EM research)...blah

I guess I am disappointed not only b/c I worked hard, but I keep hearing that one of the most important factors in this process is how well you did on your EM rotations. Anyone have the same experience or is everyone perfect?

I am gonna go have some cheese w/ my whine.

Best of luck to you all, & stay sane.

I'm sure others will chime in who have gone through or know others who have. But anywho, I can offer you some relief; I also received a high pass (S+ at my school) and know that I am not the only one in my class who received an S+ and is applying to EM.

I can pretty much garauntee you that many others applying received "only" a high pass and some perhaps even a pass (gasp!). Is it the kiss of death? I really can't imagine so. It may affect your application at some programs, but I certainly wouldn't worry about it leaving you matchless, especially considering the non-meidocreness of your application (contrary to what you clearly believe)

 

[WilcoWorld]

I got an "Advanced" at my #1 choice, which is where I ended up matching - we all know that these grades are an imperfect measure of aptitude. Try not to sweat it too much.

 

[SoCuteMD]

A friend of mine got a high pass at her home institution and she matched there.

 

[AmoryBlaine]

My sense, which is very non-scientific, is that there are two basic philosophies for EM rotations in July-Oct.

A. We know you want to do EM so unless you are a total freak we are pretty much going to hook you up with an Honors/A/whatever.

B. This is a regular clerkship and Honors is reserved for the top 10/15/20% of students.

Planning to go into EM is no guarantee that you will be the best student on the rotation. I've only had one ED month so far in residency (damned ICU) but the clear best student of the group was going into Pediatrics.

Another point is that the grade you get on the rotation is not the only thing that goes on your SLOR. I mean I imagine there are plenty of SLORs floating around that say, "this student got an high pass, we will be ranking them near the top of the list."

Also, I have heard from multiple PDs that once you get to the interview the playing field is relatively level. I mean with Step1>230 and a solid application otherwise you should be batting at least 75% on interviews. Most likely you'll be just fine.

If you have another EM month upcoming have you thought about asking the clerkship director for some specific feedback? I mean you might find out some tips that could really help you flesh out your areas for improvement.

Best of luck.

 

[DO2009]

The problem that I have is that our clinical grades are reported as either pass or fail on our transcript regardless of whether we were given what would be considered "Honors" "High Pass" "Pass". This is a little frustrating because when people see my transcript they may think that I only received a "Pass" in all of my clinical rotations instead of "honors" or "high pass".

At this point, I only have one SLOR posted showing my honors grade for my 1st em rotation. I just finished my 2nd em rotation today so it will be a while before it is posted showing hopefully an honors grade. --- I hope these post before my transcript is updated otherwise programs may see the pass on my transcript instead of honors/high pass.