Originally posted by PimplePopperMD:
•midwest girl and hotdog,
why take step II when you already have sufficient step I scores? have there been programs which require it?
that's one of the decisions i'm grappling with. i'm at 223 for step I, and don't want to roll the dice unless i really must...
also, everyone else...
also, any advice, in retrospect, on things you wish you had on your cv (other than six publications in science) that a third year can still do?
i'm just realizing how competitive EM is and it would be a shame (ie sucky) to not achieve the career best suited for me...
thanks for all the input!•••
You're right - ideally I wouldn't have taken Step II this early, but my school has an Oct 15th deadline to take it. I have classmates who applied to ERAS before taking it, so as to have ERAS get a USMLE transcript with only Step I, and then withheld the Step II score. If I were you, I would take Step II early but start studying for it now. I don't mean an all-out, every waking moment, type of studying, but a concerted effort to do USMLE type studying at the same time as your rotation, ie. read board review books, take notes, make flash cards or however you study for Peds while on Peds. I think it enhances your rotation experience, and means that there is that much less to do when you sit down to study for Step II. Obviously this is easier said than done, but a good Step II score is just one more positive piece of information that you would want programs to have. As for other things, the only thing I wish I knew last year at this time was which were the good programs. Knowing that means you can apply early (and the earlier the better) to get EM electives in June, July, August, or even September. You want these done early to give faculty enough time to write letters.