Am I screwed with mostly passes in third year?

[waytogo1]

Hey there, I'm currently a third year who only have a few more rotations to go with passes in all but psych (high pass) rotation so far. I'm considering some of the non-competitive specialties (IM, Neuro, PM&R, FM etc) and I'm getting very worried if my clerkship grade will make it hard for me to get into a mid-tier/solid academic program. I also have a below average step score (220s) and I tried my best during third year to overcome that but I was always a few points below the high pass cut off.
Honestly, I'm getting really scared that I will end up in a location/program that I am not satisfied with.
I will be trying my best for the rest of my rotations, but do you guys think that I should start thinking of possibly applying to community programs at this point? Am I totally screwed?

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[Radman15]

It really depends on the individual residency program and what they consider important. I received a pass in 5/6 of my required clerkships (honors in surgery, no high pass at our school). Even more important than the grade is the comments from faculty; the dean's letter and the comments about work ethic, etc, are more important than required clerkship grades. Once you figure out what you want to do for a specialty, your fourth year clerkship grades in that specialty become more important (ie if you are applying IM, you'll want to try to high pass or honor your sub-I).

It's generally advisable to have a combination of community/academic programs in a variety of locations for residency anyway, just to be safe regardless of test scores or grades.

Long story short: you are not screwed, far from it. Keep working hard, be affable, and try to do your best in the fourth year clerkships in your specialty. You'll be fine in the match.

 

[AliBabaMD]

No, but you ARE normal. It's good to pass. Try to distinguish yourself in more than just grades, because there will always be someone out there who will be a little more book smart than you. That's easy. What's hard is for anyone else to have your ideas, your particular line of passion, your dreams. Those are distinctly you!

AB

 

[y123]

It highly depends on your school. Check previous match lists and see where people got in.
If you are a US MD student, you won’t have any problem getting into a mid tier residency in a non competitive specialty.