Chances to match into a good IM residency with a 246 step 1/679 comlex, but zero research experience

[WolfDick]

Title says it all. I was fortunate with my first round of boards but I have no research experience. I’m shooting for a good IM residency and see on the charting outcomes data that average research experience/pubs is like five or something.
Anyone have any first hand experience to lend? I’m a third year and am open to doing research, but time is running out.

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[Neopolymath]

@acapnial

 

[Jinxapotato]

So I got 248 on Step 1. I'm getting invites from mid tier universities (think rank 60-100 doximity) and solid community programs (the ones with in house fellowship), currently have 8 interviews. Rejected by U-wisconsin, U Washington, Yale, and silence from other good places.
Note that I require visa so if that's not the case for you you might have better luck than me.
I have 1 paper, 1 poster, but I doubt that really matters.

So n=1 but if you're happy with mid tier universities then I'd say the answer is yes, but if you're not happy unless you're in Harvard then probably no.

 

[2019DOGrad]

For what it's worth, I have Steps a little higher than you without any research and I've received 24 IM invites so far. About a dozen of them are from university programs, ranging from low to mid-tier. The rest are community programs, some of which have in-house fellowships. I applied to about 60 something programs and I didn't bother with ones that are in the top 30ish that I know won't take a DO. I would assume you can do well at matching at a desirable program next year without research, assuming the rest of your application is also strong.

 

[WolfDick]

Thanks guys! I appreciate it!

 

[acapnial]

Having research would probably turn rejections into invites at a few mid tier places, but it won't make as big a difference in your interview season as you might think. As your app is you'll probably get a good number of interviews from low and mid tier academic places if you cast a wide net. Especially if you pay attention to places that take more than like one DO per year. I had similar board scores with no research and ended up having to cancel at a couple of mid tier (ish) academic programs.

Don't forget that the 164 program directors that filled out the PD survey put research right in between "honors in basic sciences" and "personal statement" in importance for sending invites and ranking.

https://www.nrmp.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/07/NRMP-2018-Program-Director-Survey-for-WWW.pdf

 

[AnatomyGrey12]

Don't forget that the 164 program directors that filled out the PD survey put research right in between "honors in basic sciences" and "personal statement" in importance for sending invites and ranking.

This made me lol for some reason. Puts things into perspective, SDN likes to act if you want to match at all you better have a 250 and a first author pub to NEJM.

 

[NotAProgDirector]

To make your app the most competitive:
Get S2/L2 done before applications go out.
If possible, try to rotate at a hospital affiliated with an LCME school and get an LOR. This isn't critical, but it will make your app stand out in a good way.

 

[WolfDick]

Having research would probably turn rejections into invites at a few mid tier places, but it won't make as big a difference in your interview season as you might think. As your app is you'll probably get a good number of interviews from low and mid tier academic places if you cast a wide net. Especially if you pay attention to places that take more than like one DO per year. I had similar board scores with no research and ended up having to cancel at a couple of mid tier (ish) academic programs.

What exactly constitutes a mid tier or low tier university IM program? Would Georgetown/George Washington be out of reach?

 

[acapnial]

What exactly constitutes a mid tier or low tier university IM program? Would Georgetown/George Washington be out of reach?

The tier of a program comes from the gestalt of its general reputation. Not that I know anything about those two programs, but a cursory look at their resident rosters makes it look like they mostly stick to grads of east coast and a few midwest schools. I suspect being out of their region might make it tough to get an interview. It looks like they each take a small handful of DO's though so probably not totally out of reach for the OP. Hopefully someone who knows more about GU and GWU could chime in.