do most residency programs screen applicants?

[fobdout]

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hey residents!

I've heard from a couple of people that surgery residencies screen out applicants based on their step 1 scores. is this true? i only scored a 204 but i would still like to be a surgeon. of course, i plan on doing well in my clinicals and rocking step 2 but will i be out of the running from the get-go because of my step 1 score? also i will be a US IMG from the caribbeans when i apply.

thanks in advance! 👍

 

[SLUser11]

hey residents!

I've heard from a couple of people that surgery residencies screen out applicants based on their step 1 scores. is this true? i only scored a 204 but i would still like to be a surgeon. of course, i plan on doing well in my clinicals and rocking step 2 but will i be out of the running from the get-go because of my step 1 score? also i will be a US IMG from the caribbeans when i apply.

thanks in advance! 👍

I'm not sure what to tell you that won't kind of suck......you definitely will have an uphill battle.

On a sidenote, I think that's the 1000th post I've read on SDN that references the need to "rock step 2."

 

[Winged Scapula]

Almost all residency programs, Surgery or not, screen applicants by some factor.

You can set your ERAS filter to include almost any factor you want. Thus, most programs will filter by something...for many it will be USMLE Step 1 score, for others FMG/IMG status.

As SLUser notes, there will be programs you will be out of the running at for both having a score less than the US average and being an IMG. Rocking Step 2 is nice, but at some programs it won't make a difference because not everyone takes Step 2 before applying for residency so its not the great comparison measure that Step 1 is.

About 1/3 of independent applicants with your score match according to the NRMP data: http://www.nrmp.org/data/chartingoutcomes2007.pdf so not impossible, but an uphill battle.

NB: Closing this thread because I see you've asked the same question in multiple forums.