Asking for advice regarding my status

[Pandemonium]

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This may sound redundant or inane to some of the regulars on this board. My apologies if that is the case as I am new to SDN.

I'm a 3rd year (Class of 2007) D.O. student who wants to go into anesthesiology. I scored a 547 (82) on the COMLEX1 and haven't taken the USMLE (and I didn't plan on it). I have all As and Bs in my clinical rotations, am in the top third of my class, and am a student member of the ASA (as well as other prof-organizations). I have no research experience or publications.

I have no preference as to whether I go to an osteo. or allo. program for residency. I was recently looking at some of the allopathic programs, particularly the one at U of Mich. at Ann Arbor and the site stated that a minimum of >200 on USMLE or >575 on COMLEX is required for interview.

Is that a common cutoff point to get an interview granted at residencies in gas or is that more program-specific for UoM? I don't know what a 200 on the USMLE equates to on a 2-digit scale, but that seems a bit of a numerical disparity favoring USMLE scores.

I am quite certain I could beat my previous score on the boards with a couple of weeks preparation to refresh the minutiae of forgotten biochemistry. If I decided to take the USMLE (or retake COMLEX1), the earliest I could take it would be in August. Is that too late to have scores back in time for residency applications? Do step2 scores have any influence on residency (other than the requirement of passing)?

What are the general recommendations for my situation? I have 5 audition rotations scheduled at places with gas programs and I was planning on applying to 20 total.

Am I being paranoid because of one residency's requirement or is my concern justified? I would really rather not take step 1 if I can avoid it (no time, money, or desire to have another 8 hour test).

Opinions?

Thanks in advance.

 

[Idiopathic]

I think most programs do not have a true number cutoff, although the number that do likely goes up each year, with the increasing # of applicants. I know students in your position who matched their first choice and I know of students who did not match at all.

With that said, do your aways at placed you would want to go, and try and impress them. Take Step II early and score well. Apply far and wide. Good luck!!

 

[sevoflurane]

Try your best the rest of the time you have. As idiopathic said, take step II early... rocking it tends to overshadow such things as no research, low/average step I/comlex, poor lor's etc. 200 is about an 82 on step I (I may be wrong, but damn close). Apply early. Do this and you should have no problem matching into, in my opinion, the coolest field of all of medicine.

You picked wisely. 😎

 

[monkeyarms]

This may sound redundant or inane to some of the regulars on this board. My apologies if that is the case as I am new to SDN.

I'm a 3rd year (Class of 2007) D.O. student who wants to go into anesthesiology. I scored a 547 (82) on the COMLEX1 and haven't taken the USMLE (and I didn't plan on it). I have all As and Bs in my clinical rotations, am in the top third of my class, and am a student member of the ASA (as well as other prof-organizations). I have no research experience or publications.

I have no preference as to whether I go to an osteo. or allo. program for residency. I was recently looking at some of the allopathic programs, particularly the one at U of Mich. at Ann Arbor and the site stated that a minimum of >200 on USMLE or >575 on COMLEX is required for interview.

Is that a common cutoff point to get an interview granted at residencies in gas or is that more program-specific for UoM? I don't know what a 200 on the USMLE equates to on a 2-digit scale, but that seems a bit of a numerical disparity favoring USMLE scores.

I am quite certain I could beat my previous score on the boards with a couple of weeks preparation to refresh the minutiae of forgotten biochemistry. If I decided to take the USMLE (or retake COMLEX1), the earliest I could take it would be in August. Is that too late to have scores back in time for residency applications? Do step2 scores have any influence on residency (other than the requirement of passing)?

What are the general recommendations for my situation? I have 5 audition rotations scheduled at places with gas programs and I was planning on applying to 20 total.

Am I being paranoid because of one residency's requirement or is my concern justified? I would really rather not take step 1 if I can avoid it (no time, money, or desire to have another 8 hour test).

Opinions?

Thanks in advance.

That is a huge discrepancy, because the mean on the USMLE is 216 and the mean on the COMLEX I is 500. So they are definitely favoring the USMLE score. You cannot retake the COMLEX I again so you are "stuck" with the 547, which is not a bad score. If you don't mind doing osteopathic residency then you dont' have a worry. If you want allopathic I would do a couple of electives at places you want to go and SHINE.

 

[Pandemonium]

Try your best the rest of the time you have. As idiopathic said, take step II early... rocking it tends to overshadow such things as no research, low/average step I/comlex, poor lor's etc. 200 is about an 82 on step I (I may be wrong, but damn close). Apply early. Do this and you should have no problem matching into, in my opinion, the coolest field of all of medicine.

You picked wisely. 😎

I'm taking step II on 25 Aug and I plan on applying early. Do programs accept residents as they go through the interviews or do they have all the interviews and then decide? I ask because I'm trying to figure out when is the "best" time to interview.

 

[sevoflurane]

I'm taking step II on 25 Aug and I plan on applying early. Do programs accept residents as they go through the interviews or do they have all the interviews and then decide? I ask because I'm trying to figure out when is the "best" time to interview.

I was asked to sign outside of the match on a couple of interviews. I almost took the esay card with Jackson Memorial, but then decided against it. I am glad I did- south beach would have been fun though. 👍

 

[Pandemonium]

Sevo, Monkey, and Idio, thank you for your insight.

 

[Pandemonium]

I was asked to sign outside of the match on a couple of interviews. I almost took the esay card with Jackson Memorial, but then decided against it. I am glad I did- south beach would have been fun though. 👍

I had thought about that too and I could see myself signing outside of the match. I mean, c'mon, it assures a residency...I can understand the temptation. You'd just have to be sure to read your contract with care so you don't get screwed.

 

[Dryacku]

Hey sevo how did you do on ur boards if you dont mind... I am actually very interested in fl programs and considering they really only have three because of USF's current status... what did you have to do to get an out of the match spot... do they do that alot or is that just the only place? thanks for any help