Ahhh 3rd year....

[IgM]

So, 3rd year is kicking my butt. No, wait... med school is kicking my butt.

We go Honors/High Pass/Pass/Fail at my (stupid, highly ranked, big name, i-wish-i-never-came-here) school, and I've been consistently between Pass/High Pass. I'll probably end up with 2 or 3 passes (let's call them C's), the rest high passes, definitely no honors unless some magical spirit intervenes in the next 3 months.

My board score was literally national average. I might have 1 interesting publication by the time ERAS time comes around.

I'm doing EM in July/August/September. I really hope I can get honors in EM... I hope the Aways will be particularly strong for me. Taking Step 2 in October. All I want to know is... am I going to MATCH?
I don't want to go anywhere fancy (god forbid), just somewhere I feel that I'm getting trained well. I don't want to go to the west coast. I don't want anything except to move on from med school, which i feel has been so full of let-downs. I'm so confident in my clinical skills but I'm terrible at being a medical student, especially in the whacked out environment of my particular school. I feel it's politically charged and hypercritical of all of the subjective aspects of being a student, while totally ignoring things like What Your Attending Eval Said, and How Your Shelf Went.

I guess this is another 3rd year what are my chances thread... but I also guess a depressed about med school guy like me just wants some camaraderie from fellow SDN folks. Does anyone feel like they're just scraping by in med school? Is this normal? How the heck do you get it in gear to do what you have to do every day when just facing the crazy system and people you work for/with takes ALL of your energy away from studying?

I need someone to get real with me before I go totally nuts.

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[Richspiders07]

I feel your pain. Third year is great and sucks at the same time. I was initially so thrilled to not be in the library/lecture hall... but that lasted maybe 3 months.

Subjective crap really does suck. I was on a rotation recently where apparently a nurse on the other end of the nurses station saw me "roll my eyes" and told my chief resident about it. I'm not the disrespectful type, so I'm guessing we were shooting the breeze about something non-medicine related... but I'm sure it'll knock me a bit on his eval.

We are seriously getting judged every second of every day. It's terrible.

 

[willow18]

Some nuggets of info and advice:

- Take Step 2 early and try to improve on your step1
- You WILL match as long as you're not a douche on interviews and apply/rank enough programs
- Get an Honors in your EM rotation. Very important according to surveys of PD's.
- You will likely get 1/2 if not more of your interviews before the programs have even gotten your Deans letter/transcript...

In summary, take it easy; ace step 2, work your heart out during your EM rotations, and be nice to everyone and you will have no trouble matching. I think if there's anyone who realizes the brown-nosing and assorted BS that goes into 3rd year grades, it is people in EM.

 

[RxnMan]

So, 3rd year is kicking my butt. No, wait... med school is kicking my butt.

We go Honors/High Pass/Pass/Fail at my (stupid, highly ranked, big name, i-wish-i-never-came-here) school, and I've been consistently between Pass/High Pass. I'll probably end up with 2 or 3 passes (let's call them C's), the rest high passes, definitely no honors unless some magical spirit intervenes in the next 3 months...

We have a similar system at our school. Our H/HP are set up to be the top 10-15% of the class, so we have this great undifferentiated middle. It's really hard to get even a HP, which doesn't look special compared to other schools.

...All I want to know is... am I going to MATCH?...

From what you've written, you look like the average EM applicant. Check Charting Outcomes of the Match, the SDN EM survey (new 2010 edition to come out soon), and the SAEM student resources link in my sig for corroboration.

...I don't want anything except to move on from med school, which i feel has been so full of let-downs. I'm so confident in my clinical skills but I'm terrible at being a medical student, especially in the whacked out environment of my particular school. I feel it's politically charged and hypercritical of all of the subjective aspects of being a student, while totally ignoring things like What Your Attending Eval Said, and How Your Shelf Went...

I hear you. My school...well, if there's a way to make something simple incredibly difficult and complex, our admin will find a way. My school's also pretty far from home, so the culture's very different, and it's hard to make connections in the community.

...Is this normal? How the heck do you get it in gear to do what you have to do every day when just facing the crazy system and people you work for/with takes ALL of your energy away from studying?...

It is normal. I focus on the fact that it'll end. And soon.

...I was on a rotation recently where apparently a nurse on the other end of the nurses station saw me "roll my eyes" and told my chief resident about it. I'm not the disrespectful type, so I'm guessing we were shooting the breeze about something non-medicine related... but I'm sure it'll knock me a bit on his eval...

Or your resident could have been telling a joke, or you might have been sympathizing with a fellow student, the nurse could have confused you with another student, the nurse saw a student roll their eyes, but the resident confused that student with you...

 

[pseudoknot]

No advice, but I feel pretty much the same way about med school and have a similar grade situation. You're not alone!