ARCOM/ new medical schools

[deleted964179]

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Hey y’all,

I’ll be starting at ARCOM in July and am wondering how new medical schools typically fare when it comes to matching into residencies such as emergency medicine and general surgery. I’m moving from a prestigious undergrad and grad institution so this is a bit of a change for me as size and “newness factor” goes. I’m super excited to start and am confident I’ll kill it wherever I go. Any general advice to make sure I’m getting the most out of medical school?

 

[2021Doctor]

Matching is student specific. Rock the boards and you have a shot. Fail or barely pass the boards and you are probably out of contention for many EM and general surgery programs.

 

[AnatomyGrey12]

You need quality board scores, decent grades, and research.

Edit: for surgery. EM be average to above average and you'll match well.

 

[WhereMyLiberalsAt]

You need quality board scores, decent grades, and research.

Edit: for surgery. EM be average to above average and you'll match well.

Everything AG said is correct.

Unique to EM, the SLOE is weighted heavily. One of ARCOM’s core sites has a EM residency program which makes obtaining one of your SLOEs slightly easier. These letters literally make or break an applicant. Looking over at the VSAS thread, I think it will be nice to have one less SLOE to worry about. Maybe EM will correct in a few years and popularity will go down.

 

[Jazzyyazzy]

hey, is anyone looking for a roommate?

 

[EmilKraepelin55]

Do the best you can possibly do, be productive, stay focused. You will do fine. I’m heading into my second year at ARCOM. It’s been an interesting ride being at a new school, the bumps are real. But just as their curriculum delivery has improved with our class, so will it improve more with yours. Don’t be afraid to seek us out for advice and guidance with certain professors or classes. We are open to talk and encourage you to reach your dream as we pursue ours as well. This is a team sport after all.

 

[Angus Avagadro]

Matching is student specific. Rock the boards and you have a shot. Fail or barely pass the boards and you are probably out of contention for many EM and general surgery programs.

Agree. Class rank is also something PDs look at. Usually a good board score and class rank go hand in hand. I have seen some on SDN advocate board prep at the expense of classwork and class exams. I don't advocate this. Residency matching is like getting into med school all over again, you need a solid application.

 

[WoundupKnight]

So, would a student that's top quartile class rank, 220 Step 1 be looked at more favorably than a student that was bottom quartile 240 step 1?

 

[AnatomyGrey12]

So, would a student that's top quartile class rank, 220 Step 1 be looked at more favorably than a student that was bottom quartile 240 step 1?

No.

Edit: I should add that things aren't viewed in a vacuum like this. However the 240 will get more interviews than the 220 in pretty much all situations.

Rank matters only to the extent you are either tip top of your class (top 5) or at the bottom. Everything else is pretty "meh" to PDs and they don't care if someone was 1st quartile vs 2nd quartile.

 

[Angus Avagadro]

No.

Edit: I should add that things aren't viewed in a vacuum like this. However the 240 will get more interviews than the 220 in pretty much all situations.

Rank matters only to the extent you are either tip top of your class (top 5) or at the bottom. Everything else is pretty "meh" to PDs and they don't care if someone was 1st quartile vs 2nd quartile.

I would like to add that the student in the bottom quartile with a 240 is similar to the student with a lower GPA and an MCAT of 520. I would need an explanation, health or family crisis during pre clinical or bright and lazy? Residency has you for 3 or more years ,so they aren't interested in hiring a problem. Work ethic and people skills go a long way to matching in your top choice.

 

[AnatomyGrey12]

I would like to add that the student in the bottom quartile with a 240 is similar to the student with a lower GPA and an MCAT of 520. I would need an explanation, health or family crisis during pre clinical or bright and lazy? Residency has you for 3 or more years ,so they aren't interested in hiring a problem. Work ethic and people skills go a long way to matching in your top choice.

To be fair I'm not sure a 240 is quite high enough to raise eyebrows like "oh is this person just really lazy?", but I could easily see that with like a 260 or 700.

 

[Angus Avagadro]

To be fair I'm not sure a 240 is quite high enough to raise eyebrows like "oh is this person just really lazy?", but I could easily see that with like a 260 or 700.

Absolutely. The 240 will definitely get you a look by the program, whereas the 220 not so much. We always looked for class rank in the evaluation process. Board score is definitely of higher value. I was just saying it was a factor in our final ranking.

 

[WoundupKnight]

Apologies for derailing the thread.

So, it sounds like my best bet would be to be somewhere in the top half of the class, but study for boards over getting to the top 10% of my class?

 

[AnatomyGrey12]

Apologies for derailing the thread.

So, it sounds like my best bet would be to be somewhere in the top half of the class, but study for boards over getting to the top 10% of my class?

Best bet is to just do both. They aren't mutually exclusive propositions.

 

[Ho0v-man]

Apologies for derailing the thread.

So, it sounds like my best bet would be to be somewhere in the top half of the class, but study for boards over getting to the top 10% of my class?

Everyone’s school is different as is personal ability. I might have been able to get into the top 10. But I would have had to have solely focused on school only which sadly would have meant being less prepared for boards. You have find the balance that works for you.

However, the tippity top people are memorizing UFAPS, crushing qbanks, and can regurgitate every word on every power point slide. Somehow they also find time to publish research, be president of 5 clubs, volunteer 20 hours a week, train for and win first place in a monthly decathlon and still find time to die for all our sins. Most of us can’t compete with this. Just accept it and focus on you.

 

[WhereMyLiberalsAt]

Everyone’s school is different as is personal ability. I might have been able to get into the top 10. But I would have had to have solely focused on school only which sadly would have meant being less prepared for boards. You have find the balance that works for you.

However, the tippity top people are memorizing UFAPS, crushing qbanks, and can regurgitate every word on every power point slide. Somehow they also find time to publish research, be president of 5 clubs, volunteer 20 hours a week, train for and win first place in a monthly decathlon and still find time to die for all our sins. Most of us can’t compete with this. Just accept it and focus on you.

Jesus is a DO?

 

[EmilKraepelin55]

Jesus is a DO?

It’s because of his holistic, spirit-based, hands on approach 😉

 

[deleted964179]

Thank you all for the advice, everyone. I am going to go in and slay while making as many friends and connections as I can in the process. Having the mentality of good grades=good board scores makes the most sense to me. I came in with a pretty low undergrad (2.79) and crushed my master's with a 3.75 so I want to make sure I know what I'm doing here. I was able to fare pretty well on the MCAT with lots of studying on my own. I have also been digging deep into reddit forums and learned how to use the resources correctly for UFAPS.

The more I talk to physicians and medical students, the more I realize it's less about where you go and more about how you perform. I feel honored to be able to do this and to attend ARCOM. I'M EXCITED!!

 

[Angus Avagadro]

Thank you all for the advice, everyone. I am going to go in and slay while making as many friends and connections as I can in the process. Having the mentality of good grades=good board scores makes the most sense to me. I came in with a pretty low undergrad (2.79) and crushed my master's with a 3.75 so I want to make sure I know what I'm doing here. I was able to fare pretty well on the MCAT with lots of studying on my own. I have also been digging deep into reddit forums and learned how to use the resources correctly for UFAPS.

The more I talk to physicians and medical students, the more I realize it's less about where you go and more about how you perform. I feel honored to be able to do this and to attend ARCOM. I'M EXCITED!!

Good luck and best Wishes!