Are med school grades predictors of USMLE performance?

[dr barb]

I heard at my school (from the dean) that the only predictor of USMLE performance was grades in Pathophysiology of Disease, which we take 2nd semester of our 2nd year. What's your take?

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[Bevo]

at Ross they kinda have a stipulation about taking step I and your grades.

After our 4 semesters at this crap hole you have to have at least a 2.9 gpa in order to move onto our 5th semester which is advanced intro to clinical medicine and also to be eligible to take step I. They say that 90-95% of the people who have at least a 2.9 will pass usmle on their 1st try I think.

They through around a lot of statistics here.

Those who are under 2.9 will have to take this COMP shelf and if they pass then they can move onto 5th semester. Those that fail it are forced to stay on this island for a remedial basic science course which is 1/2 princeton review and then integrated with additional teachings and support from professors and practicing alumni. Then after that they have to take another nbme comp shelf and pass that. If they fail it again, I think they are allowed to repeat the remedial section once or they will be thrown out of school.

Most people end up passing the shelf after the remedial course though.

 

[scrupulous79]

the better you do during your first two years, the more you will remember and the easier it will be to review for the boards at the end of second year....I can only speak for myself here, but I did well during the first two years, especially during second year, and it carried over onto the COMLEX I (680/98%).....the second year has a lot of material that will show up on the boards, especially at NYCOM because the second year has all the clinical classes in it (all the medicine and subspecialty classes) that the COMLEX loves to test.....also, whenever your professors point out something that they say will likely show up on the boards, pay attention to it because it probably WILL show up on the boards or on the shelf exams during your third year

 

[m4kim]

where is Ross medical school?

 

[mpp]

In the Caribean on the island of Dominica.

 

[ckent]

At my school, second year grades (specifically our cardio exam) are fairly good predictors of how well you will do on the boards. Of course if someone ace's first and second year, he or she will probably do very well on step I.

 

[DOtobe]

At LECOM they looked at our cardio, neuro, and anatomy grades as predictors of how we will do on the boards. Those who got C's or failed any of these were encouraged to take the board review class offered by one of the professors. Some were even advised not to take the boards at all I did middle of the road in most of my classes and did the same on the boards. Not as stellar as some others, but not the worst either.

So I do think that grades do correlate with board scores to some extent. But then again, there is always someone who gets so-so grades and kicks ass on the boards. In general, though, I feel there is a correlation.

And I agree with scrupulous, when your professors say "this may be a board question" mark it down. Our professors were right on the money more times than not.

 

[m4kim]

yes i think so... if you learned it well the first time around, its easier to learn it again for the boards...

 

[Sheon]

At Downstate we were told that our grades in the second year course Immunology, Infection, and Inflammation correlated >.80 with performance on the USMLE Step I. It actually worked out pretty consistent for me.

 

[ktat72]

As far as grades go, I can say thjs:

Grades sometimes are really good predictors of how good of a performance you have on the step 1, but when you study for a class, you might not learn everything the first time - learn from your mistakes and that will help on step 1. Going to an accelerated medical program where our med school classes and undergrad classes are mixed, I had like a 2.7 or 2.8 GPA in my basic science and had a 219/89 on step 1 - nothing to boast about but a little better than my GPA.

 

[DermpathDO]

an article in the recent DO magazine did a statistical study of grades in 1st and second year courses to see which predicted passing or failing of COMLEX. Amazingly enough it was Pharmacology which was the best predictor of failing COMLEX. Those who were in the lowest quintile(20%) of the course were most likely to fail COMLEX. This is apparently because Pharmacology covers jsut about all medical disciplines and good performance in the course appears to indicate good grasp of medical subjects overall.
In a sidenote, I have noted that those who do well in my pathology course, do well on COMLEX 1, those who don't....tend to do poorly.