How would answer this ERAS question?

[sweetlenovo88]

"Was your medical education/training extended or interrupted?"


I graduated this year and am reapplying through ERAS for EM. I failed step 2 because of marital issues. I also took a month off from school to study for 2 after which I passed. Should I answer this question yes so I can make it clear why I failed my boards instead of them digging into my personal statement? My school do not consider the month I had time off, so they do not care.

I was going to answer it like this:

" I had a month off in fourth year. I took the Clinical Knowledge (CE for Comlex) and
Clinical Performance (PE for Comlex) one day apart (Jan 7th and Jan 8th) when I failed
them. I shortly thereafter passed both parts of the exam and have since resolved my
marital concerns."

Please advise

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[sweetlenovo88]

"Was your medical education/training extended or interrupted?"


I graduated this year and am reapplying through ERAS for EM. I failed step 2 because of marital issues. I also took a month off from school to study for 2 after which I passed. Should I answer this question yes so I can make it clear why I failed my boards instead of them digging into my personal statement? My school do not consider the month I had time off, so they do not care.

I was going to answer it like this:

" I had a month off in fourth year. I took the Clinical Knowledge (CE for Comlex) and
Clinical Performance (PE for Comlex) one day apart (Jan 7th and Jan 8th) when I failed
them. I shortly thereafter passed both parts of the exam and have since resolved my
marital concerns."

Please advise

bump

 

[twilightdoc]

"Was your medical education/training extended or interrupted?" I graduated this year and am reapplying through ERAS for EM. I failed step 2 because of marital issues. I also took a month off from school to study for 2 after which I passed. Should I answer this question yes so I can make it clear why I failed my boards instead of them digging into my personal statement? My school do not consider the month I had time off, so they do not care.
I was going to answer it like this: " I had a month off in fourth year. I took the Clinical Knowledge (CE for Comlex) and Clinical Performance (PE for Comlex) one day apart (Jan 7th and Jan 8th) when I failed them. I shortly thereafter passed both parts of the exam and have since resolved my marital concerns." Please advise

If your school doesn't consider your study month as "time off", I don't think that you need to list it. While I do think that the personal statement does afford the opportunity to explain some glitches in your transcript, board scores, etc., I would be very careful regarding the wording that you choose. Beware of the "overshare".....

 

[sweetlenovo88]

If your school doesn't consider your study month as "time off", I don't think that you need to list it. While I do think that the personal statement does afford the opportunity to explain some glitches in your transcript, board scores, etc., I would be very careful regarding the wording that you choose. Beware of the "overshare".....

if you may, what was wrong with my wording. What would you take out?

 

[twilightdoc]

I was going to answer it like this:
" I had a month off in fourth year. I took the Clinical Knowledge (CE for Comlex) and Clinical Performance (PE for Comlex) one day apart (Jan 7th and Jan 8th) when I failed them. I shortly thereafter passed both parts of the exam and have since resolved my marital concerns." Please advise

Nothing inherently wrong with your wording, but I don't think that you owe the programs that much detail. You might consider something like: "My initial attempt at the COMLEX exams was not successful; I took both exams a day apart, at a time when there were problems in my personal life. I have been able to move beyond those personal issues, and was able to successfully retake the exams shortly thereafter." If your retry scores are good, I would put them in the statement. If they were barely passing, you don't need to put them in but you do need to have them in the appropriate section of the ERAS application.

 

[34140]

i have a similar issue

i had to take a year off for step 1 study, during which time my father was diagnosed with cancer (originally i was only taking 2 months off for step 1 study, and then the diagnosis happened so it took longer then expected), and then i took 6 weeks off for step 2 studying.

this is what i've written on eras

"My medical education was interrupted for USMLE Step 1 which was extended due to family health concerns. It was also interrupted for USMLE Step 2 studying"

does that sound ok?

 

[gutonc]

i have a similar issue

i had to take a year off for step 1 study, during which time my father was diagnosed with cancer (originally i was only taking 2 months off for step 1 study, and then the diagnosis happened so it took longer then expected), and then i took 6 weeks off for step 2 studying.

this is what i've written on eras

"My medical education was interrupted for USMLE Step 1 which was extended due to family health concerns. It was also interrupted for USMLE Step 2 studying"

does that sound ok?

Was your training extended because of the 6 weeks for Step 2? If so, mention it. If not, don't. I would just say the 1y LOA was for a family illness and leave it at that.

FTR though, taking extended time off for the Steps (esp Step 2) will be looked at askance.

 

[peppy]

I would not answer the question yes if you still graduated on time. It will not help you and could possibly hurt you.

 

[34140]

Was your training extended because of the 6 weeks for Step 2? If so, mention it. If not, don't. I would just say the 1y LOA was for a family illness and leave it at that.

FTR though, taking extended time off for the Steps (esp Step 2) will be looked at askance.

Thanks for replying.

It wasn't extended due to the 6 week gap, but it does show up on my transcript as an LOA, so that was the purpose of addressing it. I took the leave because my step 1 score wasn't very strong and I did not want to risk a bad grade or worse a fail. Do you think I should still address it because of the LOA on my transcript or not?

I would not answer the question yes if you still graduated on time. It will not help you and could possibly hurt you.

I was told by my school and ERAS people that if you have an LOA on your transcript, you should mention it because it looks worse if you don't.

 

[twilightdoc]

...I was told by my school and ERAS people that if you have an LOA on your transcript, you should mention it because it looks worse if you don't.

If your time away shows up on your school transcript as an LOA, you should address it directly in ERAS and maybe in your personal statement as well. Being "up front" is better than having the programs think that you are being misleading.

 

[peppy]

Yeah, if it is noted as a LOA then that's different. I was thinking that when you said the school wasn't treating it as time off that it wasn't being noted on your transcript. In your situation I'd probably say something like what twilightdoc suggested. Good luck!

 

[34140]

ya, I will address it, thanks.

It was an unfortunate set of events, it would have not shown up if my school didn't cancel my rotation forcing me to set up electives that ended a week earlier, leaving me with a 6 week gap that shows up on my transcript vs a 5 week gap that wouldn't have.

C'est la Vie

thanks guys

 

[gattaca83]

Well, regarding this same question, I have an additional question. If one graduates medical school on time, but does not apply for residency until later (i'm doing a post-doc research fellowship), is that considered to be an extension or interruption in medical training?

 

[gutonc]

Well, regarding this same question, I have an additional question. If one graduates medical school on time, but does not apply for residency until later (i'm doing a post-doc research fellowship), is that considered to be an extension or interruption in medical training?

No. But you will be asked about it so put it in your PS.

 

[md11]

Similar questions on the LOA topic...

The answer to this ERAS question should be YES for anyone who took a year's fellowship/etc. to do full-time research...correct? I can't imagine why not, but a research LOA is a little different from a personal/medical LOA, so I just want to confirm.

Also, if one takes 6 weeks off at the beginning of third year, but it's not listed as an LOA on the transcript (and was never really treated as one by my school), is it acceptable to just not mention it? Can I expect to get asked about this--i.e. is 6 weeks long enough to be considered a red flag? (Reasons were multiple, but none are on my record--no failed exams.)

 

[RxnMan]

Similar questions on the LOA topic...

The answer to this ERAS question should be YES for anyone who took a year's fellowship/etc. to do full-time research...correct? I can't imagine why not, but a research LOA is a little different from a personal/medical LOA, so I just want to confirm.

Also, if one takes 6 weeks off at the beginning of third year, but it's not listed as an LOA on the transcript (and was never really treated as one by my school), is it acceptable to just not mention it? Can I expect to get asked about this--i.e. is 6 weeks long enough to be considered a red flag? (Reasons were multiple, but none are on my record--no failed exams.)

I did a year out for a research fellowship and ended up answering "Yes" to this question as well. Yes, it's something that could be looked upon as a red flag if you didn't give some context (there's a box that lets you describe what you did) and if you didn't put it as a research experience. I think of it as a way of calling greater attention to the neat stuff I did. Besides, if you don't, then the dates on your degree won't match and then you'll have to face some interesting questions during your interview.

With regards to taking other time off - if it's not a LOA, and you fulfill your school's class requirements and graduate within the 4 year format, then I don't think there's any need to mention it.