Getting a B in EM rotation...

[DCDAWG]

Probably an annoying question- please forgive in advance.

Looks like I likely will end up with a B in my rotation due to the end of rotation test they give. (My school gives ~85-90% B's mainly because of this test).
I was hoping to look at some moderately competitive places for residency. My step one is no problem and Ive gotten As and Bs throughout med school. My away rotation is in October.
Without getting ridiculous SLORs- which is unlikely for me. I imagine a B in the rotation is not going to help me out too much.
Any words of wisdom?

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[doctorFred]

i'm not sure what a "B" means. i've never heard of a medical school that gives traditional sequential letter grades for rotations. most people operate on some kind of high honors-honors-pass-fail level. if a "B" means you earned honors, and not high honors, then don't worry about it too much.

for the majority of applicants, your away rotation should be at a competitive place ranked high on your list - i hope this is the case. a monster step 2 score also looks good.

 

[DCDAWG]

Yep, my school does a, b, c, d, f for all 4 years. An American allopathic school in the southeast. Ridiculous if you ask me and most of my classmates. Pretty much the same thing as honors, high pass, pass, fail..just different terminology. Really I think high pass looks better than a B... Oh well

 

[ccfccp]

Our school had letter grades as well, and it never was an issue on interviews. I think most people assume A equates to honors, B to high pass, etc. As for your original question, it will likely not sink your application if you're competitive in most other areas. You might miss out on a few interviews, but likely not many. There are other details that affect the answer to your question though. Are you doing any away rotations? Did you get a good SLOR from this rotation?

Edit: as I recall our deans letter had the percentages of people in each letter category in each class for comparison (ie 15% had As 30% Bs etc.)

 

[Tiger10]

Edit: as I recall our deans letter had the percentages of people in each letter category in each class for comparison (ie 15% had As 30% Bs etc.)

The SLOR also asks for a breakdown on the grades.

 

[Arcan57]

Yep, my school does a, b, c, d, f for all 4 years. An American allopathic school in the southeast. Ridiculous if you ask me and most of my classmates. Pretty much the same thing as honors, high pass, pass, fail..just different terminology. Really I think high pass looks better than a B... Oh well

I went to an allopathic school in the Southeast that gave letter grades all four years and was notorious for being miserly with A's in EM. The program directors in the EM community were aware of this, and we had plenty of students match in competitive programs having received B's. The school I'm talking about was located in a city with way too many peach trees, so your results may vary.

 

[qwerty1234]

You're fine.

I had the same experience, honored my away and ended up with far more interviews than I could use.

If there's something you can learn from it then do so, otherwise just keep moving on.

 

[hothause]

Just to piggy back on this, how do programs look at discrepancies in Step scores? My Step1 is a dismal 216, but I just got a 254 on Step2CK. Grades mostly high pass, with a few honors mixed in at a school known for being hard on grading.

 

[ILEMres]

Just to piggy back on this, how do programs look at discrepancies in Step scores? My Step1 is a dismal 216, but I just got a 254 on Step2CK. Grades mostly high pass, with a few honors mixed in at a school known for being hard on grading.

That's a great step 2 & most programs (especially EM) are now placing more emphasis on step 2 than step 1 so you'll be fine. In your interviews i'm sure everyone will ask you about it but don't percieve it as a, "why did you suck at step 1" but more of a, "I'm just curious about the scores." Also, the EM community knows that most programs only give Honors to top 5-10% of students (and a heck of alot more than the top 5-10% of students in EM match - not that it's not competitive, it is). I got a high pass on one of my 3 EM rotations & no one said a thing.

 

[gutonc]

Just to piggy back on this, how do programs look at discrepancies in Step scores? My Step1 is a dismal 216, but I just got a 254 on Step2CK. Grades mostly high pass, with a few honors mixed in at a school known for being hard on grading.

216 isn't dismal. Not awesome, but not dismal. 254...that's awesome. You'll be fine.

Your MSPE should include the breakdown of grades in each of your rotations (e.g. 10% got H, 30% got HP, 60% got P, 10% failed) so it will be clear where you stand among your peers.

 

[OncoticPressure]

Agree with the above. The first day of my EM rotation we were told only 20% of us would get Honors, the rest High Pass, etc. I'm not sure if the letter grade matters as much as the overall quality of the SLOR.

 

[DCDAWG]

Thanks for all the replies. Very helpful advice/information.
I actually somehow ended up with an A in the end, but still good replies and advice in this thread.

 

[sideways]

Thanks for all the replies. Very helpful advice/information.
I actually somehow ended up with an A in the end, but still good replies and advice in this thread.

lol