How will Step 1 becoming Pass/Fail effect how programs evaluate candidates before this change takes effect?

[MDPedigree]

So as we all know, Step 1 will becoming p/f in 2022. This means that students applying for the next few years will still have a 3 digit score when they apply to residency. Students in the class of 2022 will all be applying with a 3 digit score, while students in the class of 2023 will have a combination of students with a straight pass and students with a 3 digit score (students who take step after 2nd year will have a score vs students who take it after 3rd year will have a pass).

My question is, will residency programs for the coming years still evaluate applicants business as usual (i.e make step 1 still the most important part of the application) or will they start viewing applicants differently and experimenting with different ways to evaluate candidates because they know change is coming. i.e in the past some competitive programs used to screen for applicants with a step 1 >240. Will they still be doing this in the coming years? Or will they look to other things now, in essence making step 1 a lot less important than it used to be. To me it doesn't make sense for programs to keep the same way of evaluating candidates for the next few years only to then get caught with their pants down when all of a sudden the major way in which they used to screen applicants is now obsolete.

What do you guys think?

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[libertyyne]

Its much easier to keep using a tried and trusted metric, until they are unable to use the metric anymore. Once that occurs they will use Step 2 Screens.

 

[Chelsea FC]

So
1- I dont think we Know step 1 will be pass-fail in 2022. They said this is the earliest they plan to implement it. So all we know it could happen 2 years after
2- This has been discussed before on here and the consensus is that programs are avert to change and prob won't change their evaluation of students until they are forced to. Hence don't expect much change until we say goodbye to that 3 digit score

 

[MDPedigree]

So
1- I dont think we Know step 1 will be pass-fail in 2022. They said this is the earliest they plan to implement it. So all we know it could happen 2 years after
2- This has been discussed before on here and the consensus is that programs are avert to change and prob won't change their evaluation of students until they are forced to. Hence don't expect much change until we say goodbye to that 3 digit score

Oh I didn't know this was discussed already. I tried searching earlier and didn't find anything. Do you have the link?

Thanks

 

[Chelsea FC]

Oh I didn't know this was discussed already. I tried searching earlier and didn't find anything. Do you have the link?

Thanks

Did a quick search and didn't find it. Probs mixed in with the general Pass/Fail thread. Sorry about that

 

[aldol16]

Organizations don't like changing unless they're forced to. And they're not going to be forced to for another few years at least. Why not keeping using the same metric they've been using for years? They have no incentive to change right at this moment. When the change actually happens, you'll probably see them shift towards some combination of Step 1 and Step 2 scores because all the applicants who have Step 1 scores better have taken Step 2 CK before they apply. So there's still some objective metric although you can't really compare people with Step 1 but no Step 2 scores to people with Step 2 scores and P/F Step 1 scores.

 

[efle]

It got discussed a bunch in the 20+ page monster thread about the Pass/Fail change.

Personally I think

1) They cannot allow a mixed cohort to apply where some have scores and others have Pass. This would be a clear unfair advantage to the former group that gets to brandish their 250+ while the latter group are all restricted to "Pass - 195 or better." They're going to have to set a deadline after which they wipe the numerical scores and report only a Pass for everyone. I'd peg this for ERAS submissions in Sept 2021.

2) Step 2 CK cannot effectively replace Step 1. The average person is already getting >80% of test items correct right now, while the test has no standardized prep material, little to no "dedicated" period (10-15 days of light reviewing usually) and little to no importance for most people taking it. If we suddenly shift it to have the role of Step 1, there will be an explosion of prep materials and people will start taking months off for dedicated, hardcore review. Much like Step 1 it is a studyable knowledge check rather than an aptitude test, so they'd have a lot of trouble preventing a huge score creep and compression of the upper end, with average and top 10% performers being differentiated by only a handful of the questions.

Plus all the same issues with Step 1 Mania would just become true of Step 2 Mania. I ultimately think this was a compromise so PDs wouldn't riot, and that Step 2 CK will end up joining Step 1 and Step 2 CS as a Pass/Fail measure of whether you clear the minimum. But, by then there may be some alternative standardized test to compare with, either widespread adoption of preclinical and clinical NBME shelves and reporting their scores on ERAS, or specialty-specific exams being developed by each field.

 

[aldol16]

1) They cannot allow a mixed cohort to apply where some have scores and others have Pass. This would be a clear unfair advantage to the former group that gets to brandish their 250+ while the latter group are all restricted to "Pass - 195 or better." They're going to have to set a deadline after which they wipe the numerical scores and report only a Pass for everyone. I'd peg this for ERAS submissions in Sept 2021.

Way too early. The earliest they would implement a Step 1 reporting change is early 2022. Everyone applying in the 2021 cycle will have Step 1 scores because nobody in their right mind applying in September 2021 is going to take their Step 1 in early 2022, after interviews and the match has already happened. So there's absolutely no reason to begin wiping out everyone's scores at that stage.

 

[Goro]

So as we all know, Step 1 will becoming p/f in 2022. This means that students applying for the next few years will still have a 3 digit score when they apply to residency. Students in the class of 2022 will all be applying with a 3 digit score, while students in the class of 2023 will have a combination of students with a straight pass and students with a 3 digit score (students who take step after 2nd year will have a score vs students who take it after 3rd year will have a pass).

My question is, will residency programs for the coming years still evaluate applicants business as usual (i.e make step 1 still the most important part of the application) or will they start viewing applicants differently and experimenting with different ways to evaluate candidates because they know change is coming. i.e in the past some competitive programs used to screen for applicants with a step 1 >240. Will they still be doing this in the coming years? Or will they look to other things now, in essence making step 1 a lot less important than it used to be. To me it doesn't make sense for programs to keep the same way of evaluating candidates for the next few years only to then get caught with their pants down when all of a sudden the major way in which they used to screen applicants is now obsolete.

What do you guys think?

Why on earth would they change now??? Practice????

 

[efle]

Way too early. The earliest they would implement a Step 1 reporting change is early 2022. Everyone applying in the 2021 cycle will have Step 1 scores because nobody in their right mind applying in September 2021 is going to take their Step 1 in early 2022, after interviews and the match has already happened. So there's absolutely no reason to begin wiping out everyone's scores at that stage.

My mistake, meant to say by Sept 2022

 

[AnatomyGrey12]

1) They cannot allow a mixed cohort to apply where some have scores and others have Pass. This would be a clear unfair advantage to the former group that gets to brandish their 250+ while the latter group are all restricted to "Pass - 195 or better." They're going to have to set a deadline after which they wipe the numerical scores and report only a Pass for everyone. I'd peg this for ERAS submissions in Sept 2021.

I honestly don't really think the NBME really cares about any "unfair advantage." People should be prepared to apply to residency with a P against people with scores, as much as that would suck.

Edit: just saw your post.