Failing Step 2 Residency

[notsobright]

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My friend needs help. She's a fourth year and ,she just failed her step 2. She wants to go into internal medicine but doesn't know how failing step 2 will impact her matching into residency this year. If anyone can shed light, that will be very helpful. Also, if it does impact, what to do? Thanks..😀

 

[Rogue Synapse]

The guy on Grey's Anatomy did it. He wound up taking it again and passing once he was already in his residency. Fact. Trust the boob tube.

 

[Gimlet]

First "your friend" needs to check with her school to determine whether she can graduate without a passing score on Step 2. Some schools require it.

 

[helpfuldoc2b]

First "your friend" needs to check with her school to determine whether she can graduate without a passing score on Step 2. Some schools require it.

it's always someoens "Friend" with the tragedies... My "friend" is typing this response

 

[Dr. McDreamy]

how in the world did she fail step 2??? i thought that was supposed to be the easy one...

 

[deleted77919]

The guy on Grey's Anatomy did it. He wound up taking it again and passing once he was already in his residency. Fact. Trust the boob tube.

I haven't watched Grey's in a while, but if I recall correctly he failed Step II CS, not Step II CK.

 

[mules05]

My friend needs help. She's a fourth year and ,she just failed her step 2. She wants to go into internal medicine but doesn't know how failing step 2 will impact her matching into residency this year. If anyone can shed light, that will be very helpful. Also, if it does impact, what to do? Thanks..😀

CK or CS?

 

[Tired]

how in the world did she fail step 2??? i thought that was supposed to be the easy one...

The couple folks I've seen this happen to had exactly this attitude going into it. They blew off the exam, didn't brush up on the topics they hadn't seen in a while (ie - did a bunch of medicine sub-i's, felt good about life, and forgot that Peds and Ob figure prominently on the exam). It's an easier exam, but you can't ignore it.

 

[notsobright]

Hi... thanks for replying..

I really am writing for my friend. I am taking step 1 this june. So any advice for me would be helpful.

My friend will be able to graduate. She said she wants to go into internal medicine, but she is not sure if she can, since she didn't pass step 2. She might have to scramble. Any advice on helping her get into internal medicine. She scored like 190's on step 1. The interview period is supposedly over. Does anyone know any internal medicine program where you don't have to pass step 2 before entering residency? If so, please let me know so I can pass it on. Thanks...😉

 

[notsobright]

As far as how she didn't pass step 2, its hard to say. She is not a particularly strong test taker, especially with standardized exam. She is hard working though, and studied for 2-3 months. She struggled with the step 1.

Any advice for her for step 2 would be helpful as well. I think she did USMLE World and Kaplan Bank. Thanks again.. I am worried for her. She's been a good friend, and I don't like to her to look so down.

 

[Tired]

Does anyone know any internal medicine program where you don't have to pass step 2 before entering residency? If so, please let me know so I can pass it on. Thanks...😉

At my school, you cannot graduate without passing Step 2. What is her plan then, to take it during her intern year, when she has even less time to study? Sounds like a dumb idea to me. Better check with your Dean about this.

 

[notsobright]

Thanks for your reply. I think she is retaking it in a few months and hopefully pass. Again, any advice for her would be helpful. Since she hasn't pass the step 2 before match date, how would she go about matching into internal medicine? Thanks Tired for your comment..

 

[Tired]

You're not exactly getting flooded with responses, so I'll take a stab.

There's really nothing for your friend to do at this point. It's getting late, the NRMP rank list is coming due in a couple weeks, and she should be done with interviews (assuming she was invited to any). She cannot retake Step 2 before the match, so either she released her scores (in which case prospective programs know about her failure) or she didn't release her scores (and her entire record stands on a barely passing Step 1).

So here's the deal:

1) IM isn't the hardest thing to sneak into, so if she was smart she applied to like 60+ programs, got a couple interviews, and may have a chance to match.

2) If she doesn't get any interviews, then she won't be matched. She will have to scramble.

And that's pretty much the end of that. It's going to be a waiting game for her, and I can't think of anything she can do to help herself now. Good luck.

 

[notsobright]

Need big help.

She needs to improve by 30-40 points on her step 2 in 1 1/2 months. Please, any input would be great. Thanks for all of the reply so far. 😉

 

[Wizard of Oz]

Correct me if I'm wrong, but I thought that you didn't have to report step 2 to residency programs. As such, I don't understand how it would impact a match.

Just to throw in my school's story, we have to take it to graduate. I don't know of a residency program that would let you start without having passed it, so it's kind of a wash either way.

 

[Tired]

Correct me if I'm wrong, but I thought that you didn't have to report step 2 to residency programs. As such, I don't understand how it would impact a match.

Yeah, this whole story is really bizarre. No one has to take Step II, and it's hard to understand how any exam taken now could have any kind of impact on someone's match. Interviews are wrapping up, and either this person got interviewed or didn't. Taking the exam in "1.5 months" puts it right on Match Day, which would give it zero impact this year.

At this point, I'm guessing the OP either doesn't really understand the friend's situation, or this is some really elaborate troll that I don't get.

 

[Winged Scapula]

Yeah, this whole story is really bizarre. No one has to take Step II, and it's hard to understand how any exam taken now could have any kind of impact on someone's match. Interviews are wrapping up, and either this person got interviewed or didn't. Taking the exam in "1.5 months" puts it right on Match Day, which would give it zero impact this year.

At this point, I'm guessing the OP either doesn't really understand the friend's situation, or this is some really elaborate troll that I don't get.

I was thinking the same thing, unless she released the scores when taking the exam. If she did, it obviously didn't make any difference since she got interviews apparently.😕

 

[irlandesa]

My program does not require passage of Step 2 for US grads until the end of your PGY-1 year; so if your friend didn't release her score, this will have NO impact on the match. A friend of mine didn't even take Step 2 until after the match; and she matched at BIDMC in Internal Medicine.