so I just finished my 1st semester as an M1 and I have Cs across the board in anatomy, physiology, and biochemistry. I don't think I really slacked...i guess my brain just can't handle the volume of information. Realistically, what are my chances in landing a specialty residency and doing well in the USMLEs? Has anyone here personally experienced these sorts of academic challenges in med school but has managed to survive? changing career path is definitely out of the question. Hope everyone is enjoying the holidays
Why does everyone on sdn want to "land a speciality residency"? Every hear of family medicine? It where you *gasp* specialize in family medicine. Ob-gyn, guess what? When you are board certified, you are a SPECIALIST in women's health. I just can't wait till some med students get their board scores back and get a reality check and will have to 'land' primary care. And to answer your question, your chances of realistically scoring well on the USMLEs with straight Cs? Lower than somebody with As. Happy Holidays!
Your a clown Re3iRtH, if someone is willing to study their 20s away all the while amassing a couple hundred thou in debt, i wouldn't blame anyone for wanting to specialize. Mossyfiber12, you'll be fine. Pass your classes, try not to fail any, and if you can, try using first aid and BRS books as you go along in your classes. This way when you have to review for boards, it will make studying much easier. As a second year med student, I can tell you that the quantity of information you get as a med student can seem overwhelming at times and can definitely test your self-confidence. You just gotta believe that the school accepted you because they felt you can handle the coursework. In short: Do as well as you can in class, study the review series as you go along, don't fail, and do above average on the boards and you'll be fine. Happy Holidays.
While it is true that board scores mean alot more, the mistake I think people make when they think about board scores is that even though they have been average for everything else, they are magically going to be able to pull off a good score and all the people who are HP or H classes simultaneously do worse on boards. These scores have averages, and half will be above and below them and I can't see there being an inverse relationship between board scores and preclinical grades. Classes for the most part teach you what will be on the boards, or at least some semblance of that. Those who are doing well in their classes will more than likely have a strong correlation to doing well on the boards. With all that said, there is no way you cant do awesome on the boards, wards and get into a great residency if you are in the middle or bottom of the pack in the first two years. Pre-clinical grades are just a peice of the package, but can help or hurt depending on what your competition did during their preclinical years for a residency spot.
You have more medical school ahead of you than behind you. Ramp it up next semester and keep improving. The good thing is that you passed everything and that if nothing else, you get used to the volume. Chill out, put this semester behind you and rest up for the next one.
Boards really do matter more than classes, but remember that Step 1 will be testing what you have been taught all throughout your 2nd year (and some of 1st year). If you are not understanding the information that is being taught during the school year, you still may have some trouble grasping it in time for Step 1 and killing the test. But if you do make up for your class scores by doing well on Step 1 then that should definitely help you with landing good residencies. Unfortunately though, especially for the top residencies, Step 1 scores are only the beginning. Many other med students applying for the same spot will have great Step 1 scores, so being complete in other areas like research, CLINCAL ROTATION EVALUATIONS, Step 2 scores, etc, will further boost you. So don't get discouraged by class grades; if anything they are just telling you that you have to hit your coursework a little harder.
You can perform at a mediocre level your first year and still end up matching into something competitive. As others have said, there is still a lot of med school ahead of you to pull up your class rank, and your USMLE scores aren't written in stone yet. Do well from here on out and there's no reason why you can't match into whatever you want.
Oh, I'm sorry. I guess I should have read your pre-med status. Yea it is not my place to give advice about medical school, thats a pre-meds job. By the way, a board-certified physician is a specialist, even if they are an IM or OB-GYN doc. If you don't believe me, ask a fellow pre-med. If you ask an MS-1 or MS-2 what they want to go into, not many tell you primary care. But that sure changes after board scores come rolling in. I wonder why that is?
Why do you have such a problem with ppl wanting to go into something besides family medicine? And if you like FM so much, why are you so quick to point out that low scores=FM?
It doesn't tell us anything to say that you have C's, because none of us know the difficulty level of your med school vs. others, and we also don't know what average grades for your school would be (B's?). Preclinical grades don't matter that much AT ALL in determining who gets which residency. Your C's suggest to me that you probably won't be one of those people who gets a 250 on the USMLE, but unless you want dermatology it probably isn't that important. To try to do at least average, and hopefully better than average, is helpful. For the most competitive specialties they like to see a 230 or better Step 1, but even some folks with lower USMLE scores than that find a way to match. The most important thing determining what you can match into is your 3rd year clinical grades and your letters of recommendation FROM PEOPLE IN THE FIELD YOU WANT TO ENTER. Period. 2nd would be USMLE Step 1 score. I think the C's are a sign you need to see if you can step it up a little more next semester and improve your grades. Try to focus on what is likely to be tested on the exam...that's the way to get good grades. The way to do well on the USMLE Step 1 is to cram with review books and also it is helpful if you have learned the material in the 1st two years (you may or may not have, depending on whether the C's reflect your actual level or knowledge vs. just reflect your not regurgitating stuff well for the exams).
hey man, I know what you mean, I got lucky on the first two sets of exams, felt invincible and slacked off like crazy during out last quarter, and ended up only getting a little above class average on most our finals before Christmas. It's sobering but at least you figure out the limit of slacking and know I'm looking forward to going back and busting ass next semester for redemption. Peace and good luck, if it means anything, I wouldn't be worried about semi-low grades in pre-clinical years as long as you pass everything and are prepared for Step 1. I go to a true P/F school though so my view is probably a bit different.
I'm not quick to point out that low scores = FM. I'm quick to point out that low/average scores usually = primary care. Which I think is fantastic because so few people on sdn want to go into primary care. But the fact is, at many medical schools >50% of the class will end up in primary care after a certain reality check, which can happen at various points in time. I actually want to go into radiology or internal medicine. Because I enjoy the fields. As many knowledgable people pointed out in this thread and all over the board, if you have been "just passing" MS-1 and MS-2 year, it will be a steep climb to get a 230+. People that have had their stuff together for 2 years and gotten As and Bs, retained lots of medicine, and they STILL will have a tough time getting this score. So why do people that didnt retain anything have a mirage that they will do what is already really tough for the better students? This concept is not hard to understand, as many people on this thread have proven.
I noticed that people that cram and barely passes their classes don't retain materials beyond three or four weeks. I wonder how are they going to pass the USMLE
Thank you all for your replies. It seems like the consensus is that I am behind but it is nothing I can't make up if I don't do well in my future courses and rotations. I do have a slight problem though. I am able to understand and even explain the material to my classmates that I study with. So, obviously I think I understand the material well enough. Even when I take the tests, I feel like I did well enough. But when it comes time for the tests, these same classmates do a lot better than I do. Any advice on what I am missing here?
Are you going through your tests and noting why you made the mistakes that you did? Are you going too fast and not completely reading the material? If you don't have large gaps in your knowledge (sounds like this isn't your problem), then you must be having some procedural/clerical problems. These are best solved by looking at each question that you missed and understanding why you missed that particular question. Do this with your professor/course director during office hours and see if there is a pattern that you can work on.
By cramming. And getting it all to "click" somehow. It is untrue that you can't cram for the Step 1. If you have the concepts down from the MS1/2 you can definitely cram a ton in the 2-3 wks before the exam and even 1-2 days before the test, but only details. The framework/understanding has to be there for a while for the cramming to work.
