Feeling depressed

[A-non-y-mous]

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I just finished NBME form 1 and got a 201. My test was supposed to be next Monday but I am so upset that I cancelled it. Not sure when I will reschedule since my rotations start in July.

CAn anyone give me words of encouragement or a "I failed NBME and aced the real thing" type story.

I just feel like complete crap right now.

 

[jfotos]

do you mean a 201, as in projected for the real test? cause that is not that bad.

 

[stargirl50]

a 201 is NOT a disaster. You could push your date back until right before rotations start and still have a couple weeks left to study. You're still going to have to take the thing sometime. I say work your butt off these next couple weeks and go for it!

 

[A-non-y-mous]

I've basically been a C=MD student through out med school. Not for lack of trying, I just have a harder time picking up major concepts and remembering minutiae. So I was really hoping that Step 1 would be the test where I prove my knowledge. Getting a 200 on the real thing is very self defeating.

Plus I want to do anesthesia, which I hear is getting more and more difficult each year.

 

[jfotos]

Well, fair enough, but never underestimate the power of connections. When you are on rotations, or even not, talk to the anesthesia residency director at your school. Letting doctors know that you are interested in what they do will always yield help. Try to do an away rotation in anesthesia at the school you want to go to. Board scores aren't everything. Its also about who you know. I'd say study hard, pass the test your have scheduled and go from there. but of course, your call.

 

[Medikit]

Call up your advisor and figure out what's going to be best. Sometimes you can get time off, sometimes you can't. Taking it before your rotations start is better than missing a year if that's what you are concerned about.

Right now you need to focus on your weakness. I don't know your studying history but if your main weakness is the timing itself then you need to bombard yourself with questions. If it's knowledge you need to hit the books immediately.

Don't get discouraged, as others have said, where there is a will there is a way. If you can't get the scores you're just going to need to work a little bit harder than everyone else.

 

[soeagerun2or]

I've basically been a C=MD student through out med school. Not for lack of trying, I just have a harder time picking up major concepts and remembering minutiae.

If you have a problem with major concepts a 200 is quite a fine score..

 

[lord_jeebus]

If you've been C=MD, you're not likely to exceed the national mean through a few weeks of intense cramming.

If you really need to score above 220 or so, you could try rescheduling for the latest possible day and continuing to push hard through practice questions. You could take NBME #3 or #4 during the last week to see if you pulled it up to your liking.

If location is not an issue it is possible to match in anesthesia with a 201, although some are unsuccessful. I don't recall the stats (search for "charting outcomes in the match") but most applicants above 220 match in anesthesia so that would be a reasonable goal.

An extreme alternative (which would be difficult to arrange at this point) would be to do a year of research in anesthesia and use that time to relearn your preclinical coursework in a deep and comprehensive way.

Even with a Step I below the mean you still have an opportunity to strengthen your application with good clinical evaluations and Step II. But even these will depend on a good fund of knowledge and it sounds like you need to take a look at the efficacy of your current study strategy.

If you're set on anesthesia you should be able to find a way to get into it even with a low Step I, but this will require a lot of work and time (research, etc.).

What are your reasons for seeking Anesthesia? It's not common for people to go after this specialty before the clinical years, although I have.