Am I on an okay track?

[Dr. Scribe]

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Hello all,

I am a first year medical student who is about to begin her second year and want some objective evaluation on how I have done so far, what I should focus on, and how I might improve.

Thanks in advance for your suggestions.

Pre-Clinical Grades: My school does H/PC/P/F and so far I got 2H, 1PC, and 2P.

Research: (1) 1st-author, (1) 2nd-author, and several lower-level authorships on translational science manuscripts - I should have > 5 manuscripts before 2nd year starts. I have some posters/abstracts as well, but I'm not sure how important those are.

Volunteering: Essentially nothing, I know this is something I need to do next year.

Board Prep: Based on my school's NBMEs, I feel confident I can do well, but obviously there isn't any real way to evaluate this right now.

Will my mediocre pre-clinical grades hold me back?

Honestly, I spent more time working on research this year than I did studying for class, but I'm not sure whats more important for residency. Would it make sense for me to spend more time learning 2nd year material so I can boost my class rank/prepare for STEP 1, and spend less time in the lab?

I appreciate your input!

 

[ciestar]

Step 1 reigns supreme.

You dont NEED volunteering, btw. Do it if you want to, but it isn’t like applying for med school where it is an expectation. My application will have more volunteering and no research, but I did what i cared about/was interested in.

 

[mrbreakfast]

Seconded that you don't need any sort of volunteering. People do it because they want to, not to boost their app.

Once you have manuscripts, posters/abstracts are pretty worthless. In fact, you're already probably starting to look at diminishing returns with additional pubs.

Would definitely consider less time on research/more time on schoolwork. Lots of publications is nice, but not as important as a high Step 1 score.

 

[Dr. Scribe]

Step 1 reigns supreme.

You dont NEED volunteering, btw. Do it if you want to, but it isn’t like applying for med school where it is an expectation. My application will have more volunteering and no research, but I did what i cared about/was interested in.

Seconded that you don't need any sort of volunteering. People do it because they want to, not to boost their app.

Once you have manuscripts, posters/abstracts are pretty worthless. In fact, you're already probably starting to look at diminishing returns with additional pubs.

Would definitely consider less time on research/more time on schoolwork. Lots of publications is nice, but not as important as a high Step 1 score.

Thanks for your input! I will be sure to focus on STEP and not spend so much time on research. I want to volunteer, just didn't have time this year 🙁

Do you guys think my performance in first year's preclinical grades will hold me back?

 

[Stagg737]

Research is good, don't worry about volunteering. What are your school's requirements for AOA? If it's within reach then go for it. Otherwise just focus on passing and killing Step 1. Clinical grades/comments will likely matter much more, so focus on what matters.

Do you guys think my performance in first year's preclinical grades will hold me back?

If they're the thing that prevents you from getting AOA it'll hurt a bit, but certainly wouldn't be the nail in any coffins. Especially if you do very well on Step 1.

 

[Dr. Scribe]

Research is good, don't worry about volunteering. What are your school's requirements for AOA? If it's within reach then go for it. Otherwise just focus on passing and killing Step 1. Clinical grades/comments will likely matter much more, so focus on what matters.



If they're the thing that prevents you from getting AOA it'll hurt a bit, but certainly wouldn't be the nail in any coffins. Especially if you do very well on Step 1.

Thank you for your input!

My school is sort of vague about requirements for AOA. Their website for AOA makes it seem like only Clinical grades, STEP, and extracurriculars are used for the decision-making process. There is never any mention of pre-clinical grades being a factor, but I'm not sure tbh.

 

[mrbreakfast]

Do you guys think my performance in first year's preclinical grades will hold me back?

If your school calculates AOA like mine does, you've already out of the running, so don't stress about it. Main thing is to know the content well for Step 1. This includes your M1 stuff (albeit less so) so make sure you know the material well.

 

[Dantes]

Nice work. How did you get so much research before M2?

 

[Dr. Scribe]

Nice work. How did you get so much research before M2?

I spent most of my time working on research instead of studying for classes lol Hence, the mediocre pre-clinical grades thus far.

Also, BUMP

 

[mistafab]

You’re doing just fine. Grades do not = understanding, so if you do in fact understand the material well then you’ll be fine. Preclinical grades are not that important for residency admission, though you will be unable to obtain junior AOA.

Make sure you put in your work and smash step 1 to bits. Understanding this pre-clinical knowledge and doing well on step 1 will set you up for success during your clinical rotations. Best of luck.

 

[Path1221]

Pretty much what everyone else has said. Typically pre-clinical grades matter only for AOA (depending on the school) and can sometimes be used as a gauge for how well you are mastering the material. Depending on your curriculum, second year courses are generally more relevant in terms of step 1 knowledge than first year, so focusing both on mastering the coursework + preparing for step 1 usually can go hand in hand.

To repeat, step 1 is the most important thing right now to focus on. Your research is great but should be lower priority as step 1 gets closer. Volunteering is good and I'll actually go against what the general consensus on here seems to be and say that it does matter. Sure don't do something you don't enjoy, it's not like medical school admissions where you are basically required to have a certain number of volunteer hours to have a shot, but at the same time, you want to have something to discuss during residency interviews. This sentiment holds true for almost all of the specialties. If you have good board scores and research you'll get interviews, but after that, many of the conversations you have during those interviews focus on you and what you've done/enjoy. This doesn't have to be volunteering, but you need to have a few things you can put on an application to give people topics to discuss with you and demonstrate you are more than a walking board score and publication.

Good luck!