C in Pharm, am I sunk?

[icare4u]

I'm a 3rd year med student, nearly 4th year, and am trying like crazy to decide what I want to do. I know it has to be procedure-oriented, so am looking at surgery or maybe anesthesiology. The only thing -- and it's a big thing -- is my step 1 score, a 192. Ughhh. However, I am going to try my hardest to get my step 2 up, God be willing.

I know both of these fields are very competitive, especially with that 192 looking at me. My grades are pretty much all B's, with the exception of a "C" in Pharm. All my 3rd year clinical evaluations are stellar, by the way, which should lead to great Dean's letter and LOR's.

I'm supposing that "C" and the step 1 192 pretty much shoots my chances. Anybody with any input?

By the way, I'm from Texas, and am looking for maybe some of the "reachable" programs in this state or bordering states, maybe.

Thanks!

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[Coastie]

check pm

 

[me454555]

Read the FAQ, most of the info still holds true. The c in pharm prolly won't make difference but your 192 will. If you're an MD student you still have a pretty good chance if you do well on step II. There are still plenty of spots out there. Good LORs......blah blah blah........good auditions.....blah blah blah.....research....blah blah blah, well you prolly already know the rest.

 

[proclivity]

Read the FAQ, most of the info still holds true. The c in pharm prolly won't make difference but your 192 will. If you're an MD student you still have a pretty good chance if you do well on step II. There are still plenty of spots out there. Good LORs......blah blah blah........good auditions.....blah blah blah.....research....blah blah blah, well you prolly already know the rest.

While the step 1 can help you get residency it seems as it has absolutely nothing to do with how you will do on the anesthesia boards. This is especially true with scores from 180-220.

Before all of you hit me up for looking at old data.....i already saw that but thought that it deserved referencing anyhow. I also saw that it was from just one school. It is still interesting and it would be more interesting to see a newer more comprehensive study conducted.

anesthesia study

 

[me454555]

While the step 1 can help you get residency it seems as it has absolutely nothing to do with how you will do on the anesthesia boards. This is especially true with scores from 180-220.

Before all of you hit me up for looking at old data.....i already saw that but thought that it deserved referencing anyhow. I also saw that it was from just one school. It is still interesting and it would be more interesting to see a newer more comprehensive study conducted.

anesthesia study

I have no doubt this study is correct and I was in now implying that his low step 1 score would prevent him doing well as anesthesiologist. But, the fact still remains that he has to compete w/other applicants and since most applicants are pretty close to each other, board scores do matter and program directors do care. I'm fairly confident that if he does get accepted to a program, he will not have much trouble passing the boards w/adequate study.

 

[TaiShan]

However, the study was conducted between 1996-2002 when fewer people wanted to go into anesthesia. In their statement, they rarely had residents scoring more than 220 and they did not know what kind of coorelation would be with strong medical students. Right now, at least half of successfuly applicants are above 220 and, I guess, we need a new study.

 

[DO Anes]

I am a professor at a major tertiary care hospital/anes residency program. Unless you score >95th pctle on Step II, you are done for. Should be able to get in to surg though. FYI, we get about 400 apps/yr for 7 slots.

 

[dionysios]

Everyone will have their opinion on your success but ultimately it rests on your shoulders. You need to improve your step 2, do a few externships and impress t everyone at those programs. It would also help to do some research and get a publication. There were kids in my class that matched at Yale, UCLA this year and they did not have >220 on step 1. Apply everywhere and keep your options open. Good Luck

 

[InductionAgent]

I would simply add my two cents: apply to a lot of spots in both surgery and anesthesia, go on all the interviews you can get, and realize that you might wind up further down on your match list than you intend.

In a worst-case scenario in which you don't match into any residencies, there's always prelim surgery (intern) spots available after the match. That would help you decide whether you like surgery enough to pursue that route further. Or you might realize that you absolutely do not want to do surgery, in which case you can apply for some CA-1 spots in anesthesiology.

It's not worth it this early in your career to apply to programs in fields that might not interest you (like IM or FP) simply because they always have a surplus of spots.

 

[swpm]

While the step 1 can help you get residency it seems as it has absolutely nothing to do with how you will do on the anesthesia boards. This is especially true with scores from 180-220.

Before all of you hit me up for looking at old data.....i already saw that but thought that it deserved referencing anyhow. I also saw that it was from just one school. It is still interesting and it would be more interesting to see a newer more comprehensive study conducted.

anesthesia study

At risk of derailing the thread, maybe the problem is that our written boards are too easy? I don't know what else to conclude when a large number of CA-1s put up passing scores on their ITEs every year.

I'm interested in how many general surgery, dermatology, radiology, ER, etc PGY2s get passing scores on their in-training exams (if indeed they even take the same test as new grads, I don't know).

 

[DrDre']

I know people who have passes the ITE as PGY-1s. Although there are closer to the basic sciences, they have often only had one remote month of anesthesia. IF the questions aren't too easy, may be the "grading" is...

No one should pass an anesthesia test without having done at least one year of residency! It makes the test seem invalid.

At risk of derailing the thread, maybe the problem is that our written boards are too easy? I don't know what else to conclude when a large number of CA-1s put up passing scores on their ITEs every year.

I'm interested in how many general surgery, dermatology, radiology, ER, etc PGY2s get passing scores on their in-training exams (if indeed they even take the same test as new grads, I don't know).