DOs in this year's match

[Sam212]

Just wanted to add here that take the Step II, even if your Step I was excellent. I didn't out of my laziness and it hurt me, even though I have more than enough interviews to match hopefully, but nowhere close to what I was thinking I was gonna get in the beginning. If there is something that I learned, its that step II is weighed in very heavily in EM.

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[MSmentor018]

step II is weighed in very heavily in EM.

yep....I heard the same thing during the interview process from multiple sources although it is not weighted heavily on NRMP.com stats

 

[Flushot]

MSmentor, I know you only took Step 2 and I posted in the Osteo thread about this, but I have to ask: do you believe it would be fine to do what you did and only take Step 2 USMLE if one is considering ACGME at all?

After reading over some of these threads, it seems taking both Step 2s is worth it now, but now I'm beginning to wonder if you really need Step 1 USMLE. Any insight/opinion would help.

 

[pink2011]

I'm a 4th year DO student and I had the same questions as to take the USMLE or not. I wish I could go into the 2nd year class and tell them the importance of taking usmle BOTH step 1 and step 2! If you are applying to the allopathic match, having the usmle will allow them to compare apples to apples. For my interviews, I was told too-many-times-to-count that taking the usmle makes me as competitive as my MD counterparts.
I think where it comes in most handy is to places where you did not rotate, and also when it comes time for the programs to rank the applicants.
Also, I think programs really like when you see that you took the usmle. I went through and struggled as to should I take usmle or not---and looking back at it, it was one of the best decisions I made. I applied to 40 allopathic EM programs, I got interviews at 32 of the programs. Besides my SLOR's, I truly believe that number was high because of the USMLE.
As far as taking step 1 or step 2--take both! I did terrible on my step 1, so I was really nervous to take step 2. I studied as hard as I could, and did very well on step 2. Programs like to see that, and I heard from many programs that Step 2 is more important than Step 1.

If anyone has other questions, PM me. I hope that helps and drives home the importance of taking the usmle.

 

[MSmentor018]

MSmentor, I know you only took Step 2 and I posted in the Osteo thread about this, but I have to ask: do you believe it would be fine to do what you did and only take Step 2 USMLE if one is considering ACGME at all?

After reading over some of these threads, it seems taking both Step 2s is worth it now, but now I'm beginning to wonder if you really need Step 1 USMLE. Any insight/opinion would help.

during interviews I was never asked why I didn't take step I, except for a few places that said they couldn't take me at all without it. but overall I didn't think I'd do that well on step I so I didn't take it. it was a gamble that paid off. the worse thing you want is to score low on a test that they know how to read! statistics say that step 2 score is 10% higher than step I. that's the purpose of taking step 2 only, so they can compare you and extrapolate that you'd "probably have done well on step I if you'd taken it"

 

[Sam212]

I'm a 4th year DO student and I had the same questions as to take the USMLE or not. I wish I could go into the 2nd year class and tell them the importance of taking usmle BOTH step 1 and step 2! If you are applying to the allopathic match, having the usmle will allow them to compare apples to apples. For my interviews, I was told too-many-times-to-count that taking the usmle makes me as competitive as my MD counterparts.
I think where it comes in most handy is to places where you did not rotate, and also when it comes time for the programs to rank the applicants.
Also, I think programs really like when you see that you took the usmle. I went through and struggled as to should I take usmle or not---and looking back at it, it was one of the best decisions I made. I applied to 40 allopathic EM programs, I got interviews at 32 of the programs. Besides my SLOR's, I truly believe that number was high because of the USMLE.
As far as taking step 1 or step 2--take both! I did terrible on my step 1, so I was really nervous to take step 2. I studied as hard as I could, and did very well on step 2. Programs like to see that, and I heard from many programs that Step 2 is more important than Step 1.

If anyone has other questions, PM me. I hope that helps and drives home the importance of taking the usmle.

What you said is entirely true. Step 2 is very important and I learned it that hard way. I scored a 235+ in step 1 and thought it was a good enough score to land plenty interviews. Anyone that I talked to told me that I was gonna get an interview at every program I applied to. Therefore, I ended up not taking the step 2. I applied to 40 programs just like you but only got 11 interviews. Coincidence? I think not, had I taken the step 2 I would have had in excess of 20 interviews or so. I was specifically asked why I didn't take the step 2 at a couple of interviews.

In the end, I got plenty of interviews to match hopefully, however, I was rejected by most of the top notch programs I applied to. EM is such a clinically oriented field and step 2 scores are very important to program directors, IMO.

 

[Flushot]

Thank you all for the responses. I believe I will go ahead and take both Steps for both tests. I really have no excuse for not taking the USMLE Step 1 since I'm pretty much studying for it anyway, but I appreciate the advice to take both.

 

[ShanFan]

This "Step 2 is critically important" talk is news to me!

I have heard and read more times than I can count that it is NOT necessary to take Step 2 if you take Step 1 and do well on it.

I am in my 3rd year right now and have only scheduled myself to take the COMLEX this summer, NOT the USMLE. Should I seriously re-think this? I got a 240/99 on Step 1 and am ranked in the top 5% of my class.

 

[Vee]

This "Step 2 is critically important" talk is news to me!

I have heard and read more times than I can count that it is NOT necessary to take Step 2 if you take Step 1 and do well on it.

I am in my 3rd year right now and have only scheduled myself to take the COMLEX this summer, NOT the USMLE. Should I seriously re-think this? I got a 240/99 on Step 1 and am ranked in the top 5% of my class.

Take it. If you don't, you'll never know if that has kept you from receiving interviews at programs you don't hear back from.

 

[pink2011]

This "Step 2 is critically important" talk is news to me!

I have heard and read more times than I can count that it is NOT necessary to take Step 2 if you take Step 1 and do well on it.

I am in my 3rd year right now and have only scheduled myself to take the COMLEX this summer, NOT the USMLE. Should I seriously re-think this? I got a 240/99 on Step 1 and am ranked in the top 5% of my class.

Why would you not take it??? If you did that well on Step 1, score even higher on step 2 because its based on clinical-decision making, which is MUCH more relevant to EM than the Krebs cycle.
I've head step 1 is more important in a lot of other fields, but if you are doing EM, take step 2. Tailor your studying to the USMLE, take a week or so off inbetween usmle and comlex and in that time study Savarese and do Combank.

You won't regret your decision TO take the USMLE, but there could be a change you'd regret NOT taking it. You never know what doors it can open...

 

[allendo]

This "Step 2 is critically important" talk is news to me!

I have heard and read more times than I can count that it is NOT necessary to take Step 2 if you take Step 1 and do well on it.

I am in my 3rd year right now and have only scheduled myself to take the COMLEX this summer, NOT the USMLE. Should I seriously re-think this? I got a 240/99 on Step 1 and am ranked in the top 5% of my class.

my program looks at class rank and step 2

 

[Stretchypants]

This "Step 2 is critically important" talk is news to me!

I have heard and read more times than I can count that it is NOT necessary to take Step 2 if you take Step 1 and do well on it.

I am in my 3rd year right now and have only scheduled myself to take the COMLEX this summer, NOT the USMLE. Should I seriously re-think this? I got a 240/99 on Step 1 and am ranked in the top 5% of my class.

I would definitely take it. I wasn't going to take it because I did the same as you on step I (same rank as well) and I felt that if I did worse on step II it would look bad and ruin my chances. But at the same time I knew I was going to have to take it sometime and didn't want to study for the COMLEX, take it, have an 8 month break and study for the USMLE all over again. Interview season and out-rotations are busy enough without having to worry about studying for USMLE step II. I took them both early about three days apart. I didn't realize how important it was to have taken the step II until interview season and I sure was glad I had taken it. It definitely helped me get interviews and a lot of interviewers were glad to see that I had taken it and done well on it. Good luck with next year shanfan.

 

[ShanFan]

Why would you not take it??? If you did that well on Step 1, score even higher on step 2 because its based on clinical-decision making, which is MUCH more relevant to EM than the Krebs cycle.
I've head step 1 is more important in a lot of other fields, but if you are doing EM, take step 2. Tailor your studying to the USMLE, take a week or so off inbetween usmle and comlex and in that time study Savarese and do Combank.

You won't regret your decision TO take the USMLE, but there could be a change you'd regret NOT taking it. You never know what doors it can open...

The reasons I would not take it are:
-I am not 100% certain that EM is what I want to do. I haven't done an EM rotation yet, but I have enjoyed every rotation so far and would love to be in a field where I get to see aspects of EVERYTHING, and I also volunteered in an ER for a year and loved that experience. So, yes, I am really leaning towards EM, but it's not something I am set on.
-The cost of it.
-The stress of one more huge test.

I really appreciate all of this advice from everyone. You have given me a lot to think about! Thank you for your input!

 

[MSmentor018]

The reasons I would not take it are:
-I am not 100% certain that EM is what I want to do. I haven't done an EM rotation yet, but I have enjoyed every rotation so far and would love to be in a field where I get to see aspects of EVERYTHING, and I also volunteered in an ER for a year and loved that experience. So, yes, I am really leaning towards EM, but it's not something I am set on.
-The cost of it.
-The stress of one more huge test.

I really appreciate all of this advice from everyone. You have given me a lot to think about! Thank you for your input!

-anything competitive in the MD world would like to see their own exams taken and mastered
-what's the cost of not getting the residency you want? or worse spending a time doing a transition yr and having to reapply
-I felt it was less stressful taking the usmle than comlex....and did way better on the usmle!
good luck!

 

[Flushot]

Yeah, I'm finding less and less reasons to not take Step 2, especially in EM. This is also recently news to me, but it makes a lot of sense now that I've heard it. Still gotta get through Step 1 first though