Advice on Delaying

[dubd]

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Hi all,

My test day is scheduled for next week, and I am strongly considering delaying the test. I currently attend Medical School in the UK and I did my undergraduate in the United States. I'm a US citizen, and fully intend on returning to the States upon graduating. I haven't decided on what specialty I would like to go into, so I don't want my board scores to limit me, especially as a foreign graduate. I've been studying for 6 weeks (our curricula aren't tailored to the USMLE so lots of basic science self-teaching going into my preparation). I recently took a couple of NBME practice tests and scored 210 and 214 on them. I realize that this is a passing score, but I personally know I could score much higher.

I would delay till December. Next summer is out of the question because I need to gain US experience to make my applicaiton competitive.

My question to you guys is: do you think delaying the exam till December would be detrimental? Will my having to juggle boards and clinicals really just keep me at the same spot or maybe even bring me down?

Thanks for your help!

 

[bambi]

Are you 2nd year now?

I was going to take it after 2nd year but didn't get around to it. I'm 4th year now and still haven't taken it but whenever I look at the books I see loads of stuff that I have learnt during clinicals that I wouldn't have known if I had taken it earlier. What med school do you go to? i imagine work load during clinicals varies quite a lot between schools. Maybe trying to revise when you are just starting clincals wouldn't be the best idea as there is a lot of other stuff going on.

 

[ChronicAnxiety]

(our curricula aren't tailored to the USMLE so lots of basic science self-teaching going into my preparation)

Amen! And here I was almost feeling sorry for myself because of the same issues. I'm out of Med School already and it's taking me a whole lot longer than 6 weeks, that's for sure!

 

[FreakofMeds]

You need to bring into your mind more step 1 material than you lose (through the effects of time) over the next 4 months if you decide to delay this exam and if you wish to get a higher score.

Could you keep that level up during the clinicals? That's your informed choice to make.

 

[dubd]

Are you 2nd year now?

I've just finished my second year, I've got two to go. I'm in a 4 year (graduate entry program).

Amen! And here I was almost feeling sorry for myself because of the same issues. I'm out of Med School already and it's taking me a whole lot longer than 6 weeks, that's for sure!

Haha...the six weeks have been absolute basic science hell. Love the clinical questions. It's time to memorize the knitty gritty now and then (I think/hope) that it should be okay.

What do you IMGs think...what are you aiming for?

 

[ChronicAnxiety]

I'd advise against memorizing. You'll get owned by the questions.

 

[dubd]

I'd advise against memorizing. You'll get owned by the questions.

Sorry for not being more specific...didn't mean memorizing whether you have hypo/hyper whatever in a certain situation, I can reason through that.

There are things that need to be memorized...bugs & drugs, formulas, tumor markers, etc. In the meantime, more exposure to QBank & UsmleWorld explanations, time in hospital, etc. will all help.

 

[bambi]

Which med school are you at? The amount you need to do and therefore the time you need will vary depending on school, as will clinical workload like I said. It also depends what degree you did first. In my first degree I covered a lot of the biochem, imm and micro so will hopefully need less time. If you did History or something you might need a bit more so postponing may be a better idea.

What sort of score are you aiming for?

 

[dubd]

Which med school are you at? The amount you need to do and therefore the time you need will vary depending on school, as will clinical workload like I said.

I'd rather not discuss which school I'm at, but I will say that our advisor for the USMLE (she is great!) told me that if I decided to delay, she would put see that I was put on GP and either Med/Pysch/Peds for first term (i.e. - avoid Obs Gynae) to accomodate for a less demanding school schedule.

It also depends what degree you did first. In my first degree I covered a lot of the biochem, imm and micro so will hopefully need less time. If you did History or something you might need a bit more so postponing may be a better idea.

My undergraduate degree was in biology. It has helped some, but it's not going to help any more I don't think!

What sort of score are you aiming for?

I was hoping for a 240+, but after having gone through all of it now I would be satisfied, but not happy, with a 225. I just know that with time it would be attainable.

 

[bambi]

You have a USMLE advisor?

Fine if you don't want to say but school will be a big factor. If you have gone somewhere that focuses a lot on soft skills compared to other places you will struggle more. If you go somewhere particularly poor on 1 subject you will struggle more and I can think of grad courses that fit into both of those categories.

Unless you are on GP I would say anything else would be a massive adjustment and at least for the first few weeks you might struggle to concentrate on other stuff.

It also depends how motivated you are in general and what other stuff you have going on in your life, only you can really decide how much this sort of thing will affect your ability to study.