Getting B's and worried about it!!!

[soonMDfromPR]

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Hey guys I'm an MS1 prematurely interested in Surgery, I know I have a lot of MedSchool left, but I am really getting dissapointed that I am mostly getting B's in my classes and am staying at about the 60 percentile of my class, I'm just wodering if I am being too paranoid and is it possible to have such a class ranking and still be competitive towards surgery in the future (not talking about the top residencies...just overall) any help would be greatly appreciated!!!!

 

[FrickenhugeMD]

Take a deep breath and relax. You are doing more than adequately to get into gen surg, assuming you are an AMG (which I am pretty sure a school in Porto Rico is considered) . If you really need some solid answers, check this out:

http://www.nrmp.org/data/chartingoutcomes2009v3.pdf

enjoy

 

[ACSurgeon]

Hey guys I'm an MS1 prematurely interested in Surgery, I know I have a lot of MedSchool left, but I am really getting dissapointed that I am mostly getting B's in my classes and am staying at about the 60 percentile of my class, I'm just wodering if I am being too paranoid and is it possible to have such a class ranking and still be competitive towards surgery in the future (not talking about the top residencies...just overall) any help would be greatly appreciated!!!!

The biggest thing for residency programs will be step 1. Work hard on UNDERSTANDING most of what you learn in MS1 and MS2, and you should be set to do well on step 1. I wouldn't worry about the actual grades you're receiving (as long as your passing), but rather, would worry about the foundation you're building for second year. If you're getting B's b/c of stupid mistakes or stupid questions, I wouldn't think much of it.

Come back in two years after taking step 1, and your chances for surg (or anything) will be much clearer.

 

[ArcGurren]

Surgery is not even that competitive of a residency unless you're talking about orthopedics, urology, ophtho, ENT, or neurosurgery. You'll be fine even with step scores in the average range (220 - 230) and good letters of recommendation. Grades and research do not play a huge role in it.

Of the other options the only one I know which actually gives two sh**s about your first two year grades is Neurosurgery... however this is also a very very competitive residency which requires (1) people who are 100% dedicated to the job and (2) selecting between a dozen people who have 250 on step 1 and honored all third year grades and have research leaves the preclinical grades as the only other deciding factor.... Also they select for personality too (like urology, but that doesn't require as ridiculous grades) so don't worry.

 

[MossPoh]

You'll discover that the more you focus on understanding the material rather than getting A's, the better you'll actually end up doing overall too. You spend less time learning the "factoid" questions and more time imprinting core concepts into your head. Naturally, I want an A in everything but if I get a B on an exam and find out it is because I didn't memorize a particular percentage that has no significance or the little box in the right hand corner of page 1236, I don't really care that much.

 

[ArcGurren]

You'll discover that the more you focus on understanding the material rather than getting A's, the better you'll actually end up doing overall too. You spend less time learning the "factoid" questions and more time imprinting core concepts into your head. Naturally, I want an A in everything but if I get a B on an exam and find out it is because I didn't memorize a particular percentage that has no significance or the little box in the right hand corner of page 1236, I don't really care that much.

We apparently had an incident at our school a few years back where someone confronted the course director of our Pathology second year course and asked why they expect us to know this nonsense and don't simply just teach to excel on the boards. His response was something akin to (in a very nicely stated manner) "why bother coming to this school if you don't want to learn extra? we're here to teach you pathology, not be your step 1 prep". Thankfully he is no longer course director.

 

[Meerkatology]

they look at step1 score to see how much u know M1 and M2 material, they don't care much about m1/m2 grades. those are not even used in class ranking at our school's dean's letter.

they care much more about M3 rotation grades.

step2 score can be equally important. but competitive specialties weed apps out by step1 score since not every1 has their step2 scores by the time they apply. so your step 1 needs to make it past the cut off for them to even see your step2.

 

[thedoctor8706]

I wish I was getting mostly B's.

 

[LRAccord624]

I've been getting mostly B's, but depending on the class here a B might be a "high pass" or just a "pass". I often score ~2 points below the high pass cut off, so my grade looks the same as if I scored a 69. I have never been one to worry about grades, and I know that step 1 and MS3 grades are much more important, but it's really hard to just let go.

 

[HealingSenses]

I have seen people talking about "personality for Urology" for quite a few times. OK, this might sound silly, but what type of personality are we talking about ：）

Surgery is not even that competitive of a residency unless you're talking about orthopedics, urology, ophtho, ENT, or neurosurgery. You'll be fine even with step scores in the average range (220 - 230) and good letters of recommendation. Grades and research do not play a huge role in it.

Of the other options the only one I know which actually gives two sh**s about your first two year grades is Neurosurgery... however this is also a very very competitive residency which requires (1) people who are 100% dedicated to the job and (2) selecting between a dozen people who have 250 on step 1 and honored all third year grades and have research leaves the preclinical grades as the only other deciding factor.... Also they select for personality too (like urology, but that doesn't require as ridiculous grades) so don't worry.

 

[Knicks]

I once read on this message board that P = MD



Just throwing that out there....