Another question for those that scored over 240...

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PeepshowJohnny

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So I was reading the "Question for those who scored above a 240..." thread and I was struck by how many preferences looked like this:

1st) Derm
2nd) Ophtho
3rd) Radiation Oncology.

Basically, someone with a killer score who's top interests are the most competitive residencies.

So my question to people who got a high USMLE score and are interested in competive residencies did you:

A) Become interested in the field(s) first, and then realize you'd need a high score to match and work to get that score?

or

B) Get a high score first, then look at the most competive fields and become interested in one (or more of them) of them?

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Mostly A and a little B for me. I knew I wanted to go into a competitive field, I just had no clue what that field was.
 
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A little bit more B for me --- I didn't want to get my hopes set on something competitive and then not score high enough to achieve that goal. Now that I have my score back, I feel that I can safely consider these options. Ultimately, I will only go into something if I'm truly interested in it.
 
B for me. No idea what I want to do, but now that I did okay, I have options. Though I kinda wish I did more radiation oncology research to help me get into a field that I've always had interest, but thought it would've been too much of a long shot.
 
My #1 choice was A, but after I got my score back, I thought I should at least take a hard look at derm, so that would be B.
 
My #1 choice was A, but after I got my score back, I thought I should at least take a hard look at derm,
derm rocks :horns:

All you guys/gals should take a hard look at it, or at least do a derm rotation before you rule it out. Just think medicine, surgery/procedures, path, adults and kids, overall compliant/happy patients, nothing beats it. And for all you visual people thinking rads, derm is very visual and you can do a dermpath fellowship. So all you dark room no patient contact types can get some alone time and still see patients if you find alone time is overated. For all you hands on type, procedural derm: mohs surgery, reconstruction flaps, lipo, hair transplant, even face lifts at some programs. And of course there is always the medicine side of derm and pediatric derm as well. Dude what more could you ask for.
 
"A" because I knew I needed to get a high enough score to get pass the screening
 
ıts better to look at ıt lıke thıs, alot of students spend tıme there fırst few years feelıng out dıfferent fıelds of medıcıne and some fall ın love wıth the ıdeas of some over others, some fıelds are just not appealıng at all

for those that you see wrıtıng derm 1 optho 2 etc ... the reason they got such hıgh scores ıs because they knew ıf they wanted to match ınto those fıelds that would have to get hıgh scores, ıts not the other way around, ı know so many smart competent people that are just lıke well ı just want FP so ım gonna get my 210 and whatever
ıts the opposıte for people who want to be plastıc surgeons they have to kıck ass and take names so they adjust theır determınatıon accordıngly

hope that helps
 
I have to say, kind of B but not really. I haven't narrowed down my interests at all, but before I took step 1, I didn't seriously consider specialties like derm and ophtho because I assumed I wouldn't score high enough on boards or have good enough grades to get into those specialties. We'll still have to see about the clinical grades piece, but my score (252) doesn't really rule anything out. However, I wouldn't go into a field simply because it was competitive. That would be pretty dumb. I have to be interested in it, the residency/specialty should value research, and it has to be amenable to a significant amount of research time when I'm out and practicing.
 
I like ortho... I knew I'd have to do well, so that's A, but I've also had it engrained in me to do my best at everything, so I would've studied hard for Step 1 even if didn't technically have to.
 
I feel that it is a combo of both for me, although I am not interested in any of the three you listed- more like Ortho, Neurosurg, or ENT, but I knew that I wanted to do something like that so I worked my a$$ off for my score and now that I have it- I am paying more attention to more competitive fields like Neurosurg, which I originally ruled as too competitive for me.
 
derm rocks :horns:
...And of course there is always the medicine side of derm and pediatric derm as well...

You made me remember those times that I was a student. I remember that a professor described dermatology as "There are two types of disease in dermatology; first type can't be cured whatever you do and second type will be cured whatever you do too"
:)
 
I really have/had no idea what I want to do. Thus my strategy was to aim for a score that didnt really rule much, if anything out. In particular I wanted to make sure I had at least shot at sugery, EM, and ENT (prob the most competitive of the group) Then I beat my expected score by about 20-30 points, which I admit did make me think a little bit about some of the things on the higher end of the spectrum that I didnt really expect to be able to consider seriously due to scores.
 
I was actually interested in ortho the most and then really got interested in pathology during my second year. Pathology isn't the hardest to match in (for reasons unknown to me because I love it, but then again I assume most people want more patient contact). I did know I wanted to go to a top program though, and that meant getting a very good score. I also don't see myself doing as well 3rd and 4th year as I did 1st and 2nd because I will despise certain rotations like psych and ob/gyn (nothing against them, just not my cup of tea) and will probably not be all that impressive in those areas.
 

Deep stuff there.

For me, reaching my target score didn't change the fields I was interested in at all. I had high expectations for myself based on past successes in standardized tests and the hopes that I would not close the door to any specialties or geographic locations due to a lackluster Step 1 score.

After getting my score back I'm still most intersted in internal med and peds university-type programs somewhere in the Midwest and applying to plastics, rad onc, or derm is the farthest thing from my mind.
 
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