Chances of getting into a path residency

[Chiara]

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Hello,

I was seeking some information. I am interested in path and I am finishing up my third year in a US medical school (MD). I did well in years 1 and 2 but had some difficulty with two of my clerkships in which I had to retake the shelf exam. My step 1 score was a 199. Do I have a chance of getting into a path residency or has retaking the shelf in a clouple of my clerkships ruined my chances? Furthermore, is it really competitive to obtain residency in Path??
Please help me shed some light on this matter. 🙂
Thanks.

 

[b&ierstiefel]

In general, it is not competitive to get into pathology programs. However, it may be difficult for you to get an interview and match at some of the popular programs where you'll see almost everyone apply to.

Retake the shelf exam? What does that mean? Does that mean you failed the clerkship? Is that noted on your transcript or Dean's Letter? If not, retaking the shelf exams means nothing. However, if a notation is made on your transcript and if this is mentioned in your Dean's Letter, it could hurt you.

 

[Chiara]

Thanks for the response.
Retaking the shelf does mean that I did not pass the clerkship (even though I missed the passing mark by 1 point respectively) and it is going to be noted on my transcript.
I am mostly aggravated at the fact that the way the clerkship was structured, they pretty much set you up to fail...keeping you there for these endless hours, no teaching whatsoever (they literally ignored us) and calls on weekends so they would make sure we could not study, and engaging the student in constant, repetitive, useless scut work (changing bed pans, looking up lab values for the residents so they could leave early) that had no educational value what so ever. My other classmates that were sent to other hospitals affiliated with my school had a "cake walk" experience...teaching, no weekend calls and time off to study. Then surprisingly enough, we are all compared the same when it come to the shelf exam... a mean and a standard deviation...if you fall outside that range, guess what: you failed. The funny thing is all of us do not have that same experience that would justify comparing us equally. In fact, more then half of the students that failed these shelf exams were in my group at the hospital I was at since the students that had a lighter and more educational clerkship brought up the average to a point my group could not compete. This happened on both occasions and we have brought it to the schools attention, but they do not care.
How severely will this "hurt me”; will I get any interviews? Should I comment about this situation on my personal statement or will it appear as though I am simply complaining even though I did my best considering the circumstance and I have overall been a good student. What can I do to remediate this situation when it comes to the residency application process to be considered a good candidate? All suggestions are greatly appreciated.
Thanks.

 

[yaah]

I wonder whether commenting in the personal statement is appropriate. I think I would refrain from doing that, but discuss it freely during your interview - probably with the program director. They may ask you about it specifically, or you can just bring it up. Is your deans letter going to speak to it at all? At my school we had the opportunity to review our deans letter and make suggestions, so this could have come up there.

Most residencies do not really want to hear complaining, you're right. Everybody has had some difficulties, whether it is in clerkships, board exams, prior to med school, whatever. Emphasize your positive traits!

I am not sure how much it will effect you. I mean, you did end up passing, so that may be all that matters. The fact that it happened in two clerkships means it is more likely to be noticed than if it was a single aberration, but it still may not mean much. I recommend you talk about it with your dean of students - it is their job to deal with these things, after all. I think sometimes graduating med students and residents hesitate to use resources like this out of a desire to just "take care of things on their own."

 

[beary]

they pretty much set you up to fail...keeping you there for these endless hours, no teaching whatsoever (they literally ignored us) and calls on weekends so they would make sure we could not study, and engaging the student in constant, repetitive, useless scut work (changing bed pans, looking up lab values for the residents so they could leave early) that had no educational value what so ever.

I cannot believe that you had to change bed pans. That is totally ridiculous. I have been complaining like crazy about how they treat med students here but I have never had to change a bed pan.

Good luck applying to path.

 

[b&ierstiefel]

I remember reading "First Aid for the Match". The book has information as to what to put into a CV, personal statements, securing letters, etc.

I believe that the Personal Statements chapter said that the personal statement is not the place to explain grades. I don't see this scenario as clear cut as this because I think it depends on an individual's unique situation.

When you apply for ERAS, the programs' first glimpse of you will be the following:
(1) your ERAS application (basically your CV)
(2) Step 1 score
(3) Transcript
(4) personal statement
(5) letter of recommendation ??? (depends on if you have them by september or not).

in any case, schools will see your transcript and the grades you noted. they will NOT see the Dean's Letter until november 1st. so you're not going to have the Dean's Letter available soon enough to have that explain what happened in those clerkships. many schools will invite people for interviews well before november 1st. so your only opportunity to explain your grades is the personal statement during the early application season.

So does that mean that you should use the personal statement to explain these things? Personally, and this is only my opinion, I think the personal statement is an opportunity to discuss your motivation and desire to be a pathologist. Explaining bad grades would really make your essay seem disjointed and any mention of it would stick out. So I would lean towards advising you to not explain your clerkship grades in your personal statement. But maybe others, who have been in your situation, can offer some insight as to how to make that work!

P.S. sorry for the longwinded post. i'm hungover and i'm thinking out loud.

 

[SphinxyMinx]

I know someone in the class that just matched in path from my school who failed her OB-GYN rotation. She had to take another year to finish medical school as well, but she still matched in Pathology. Also, the match rates for 2004 were something like 67%. I think that actually includes FMGs as well. You might not match at your top choices, but you could most likely match (or scramble) into a program somewhere.

 

[Chiara]

Thank you all so very much for the support and suggestions!!! I have greatly appreciated all your help. Your messages have really meant a lot to me.
Thanks!! 🙂