Board scores

[SweetD2014]

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First off, thank you to all those who have offered so much insight and advice already on these forums. I'd love to hear (preferably from those familiar with the stats of recent admits), what were the cut-offs for accepting an interview for PM&R? I understand historically that being competitive in this field has meant a lot more than just the stats - but it is becoming more competitive score-wise, and as I look through some of these forums I do start to wonder. For those of us looking at top tier programs, what scores seem to be the minimum for considering an application? I have heard 200 vs 220. I understand that most programs look at the "whole candidate," and also that scores do open doors, especially at the top tiers.

Thank you, and I apologize in advance for this drag of a question 🙂 I fell in love with PM&R in my fourth semester of med school and my experience at AAPM&R annual meeting as well as during my third-year elective were experiences that only confirmed my interest. Best wishes and good luck to those looking at the field! And many thanks to the residents currently in training, who serve as guides and mentors to us hopefuls (not to mention wonderful physiatrists to their patients).

 

[ChargerBo8]

In regard to board scores, it is really hard to say. I think it is completely true that scores matter less in PM&R than in most other specialties. The only program where I interviewed this year that apparently had a minimum score requirement was Stanford. I believe that their minimum was 220. I had very good step 1 and step 2 scores and they were hardly ever mentioned during my interviews. Even when they were mentioned, it was just in passing. With this said, I would not get too worked up about board scores. As long as you have other solid aspects to your application (research experience, pubs, strong personal statement, etc) that demonstrate a commitment to/interest in PM&R you should be OK.

 

[SweetD2014]

Thanks ChargerBo8! And to qualify - I feel OK about my board scores, from what I understood from our MS-IV's they're great "for PMR," but I had read some other comments on another thread and it started to make me a bit nervous. (My fault for reading SDN I guess, haha). I think it's a good thing that more traditionally competitive candidates are discovering PM&R, even if it does make it a bit tougher to match into a great program, it is only a good thing for the field. That's why I was a little embarrassed to even ask the question, but you've reassured me.

Thank you for your reply!!

 

[Taliesinrk]

Yeah... your first mistake was reading SDN. I think that for the majority (and maybe even vast majority) of places, >200 and you've made the cut... And from what I can tell, once you've made the cut, it's the rest of you they're looking at. There are a couple places specifically that require higher scores (and there are many older threads on this) that i can comment on though. Specifically I was told by a resident at Utah that they recently upping score requirements. I also have heard mayo has a minimum they publish (I heard 220), but I know of a recent grad that matched there after having significant step 1 issues. He rocked step 2 and invested significant time networking with the program and its director, however... But I mention it to say that I believe (as in all of life), where there's a will, there's a way.

And not to hijack the thread (especially considering the recent 100 post war that ensued on the topic), but for everyone reading this, we keep talking about how much more difficult Pm&r is getting. While there are many different stats to look at this, the bottom line and thing to remember is that as a U.S. Grad, the number able to match into the field has not been significantly altered. Don't let SDN fool you/make you stress out for no reason

 

[Butterfly23]

In my opinion, PM&R is competitive because it tends to look at broad scope of applicants. Yes, I go to DO school and one of classmate had 24 interview invitations and he did not match. He had a good stat i believe although we do not talk about board scores to each other. "Broad Scope" can be very competitive aspect.

For Example,

Many Applicants have to do away rotations to make connections. I knew NYU PM&R had about 5 students or more(I did not rotate there so I might be wrong) rotating there every month. So many of faculties know that students are rotating there to get into that residency programs hopefully(they know you are kissing butt). But I bet you, programs will not fill their residency slots to applicants who rotated at that program only. The programs need to fill other applicants who never rotated at their hospitals.

But I agree that US allopathic medical students did not have problems matching into PM&R programs this year.

 

[Eilat87]

He had 24 interviews and didn't match?

What's up with that?

Bad ranking list?

 

[Butterfly23]

No one can possibly go to 24 interviews unless he or she has a helicopter for interview rides according to my guess. I meant he had 24 interview invitations.

Luckily, when I went for interviews, I really did not see any programs that turned me off except for one NYC program that interviewed me on SATURDAY NIGHT~~. Saturday night!!! Are you Kidding me??

Ranking the program is very sensitive issue because the way I ranked might not work for others.

However, I do not believe in ranking reach programs high. For example, one of the programs I interviewed pick three residents and that program interviewed totally 80 applicants. I have seen worse ratios. So can you rank those nice small programs high??

 

[RangerBob]

If people are telling you your scores are competitive for PM&R, I imagine you will probably do well. Some schools say that they have cutoffs or preferences, but personally I'd just ignore them. They don't seem to adhere to them 100%. Mayo prefers (not a hard cutoff) 220+ but I know people who interviewed there with lower. Same for Stanford (though they rotated there).

I know people you wouldn't think would be that competitive that interviewed at many/most of the top 5 programs, and once you get in the door you never know... Most programs just can't interview enough 220+ candidates because there aren't as many in PM&R as some other specialties. We're a small field with humble Step 1 scores, on average. If you have an above-average Step 1, you're in really great shape come interview season.