I really need some guidance...

[daisygirl]

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Here is my story-

I am in the midst of preparing to take a remedial exam due to my having failed one course this year. I just started studying for this exam, and having done so, I realize that this will take a substantial chunk of my board studying time (5 days). I will take the exam on June 14th, which will then allow me to resume my board studying.

When I realized that preparing for the remedial exam would take away so much precious board studying time, I asked the deans of my school for a leave of absence during my first clerkship so that I would have an extra two weeks to for step I. Apparently, I am far from the only person at my school who has made this request (higher number than normal this year due to an unusually large number of people having to take make-up exams this summer- a lot of this most likely stems from the fact that major curriculum changes were made and some of them did not work out too favorably). I was informed tonight that the deans have decided to allow anyone who needs a leave of absence in order to study more for step one will be granted it as long as it is b/c they are making up exams this summer. The deans then proceeded to tell us that they inquired with residency directors at our school with regards to how this will affect us and the overwhelming answer was negatively especially in areas such as surgery, ob(which is what I am interested in), peds, and im. I do understand that everything comes with its price, however, I need to make a decision that wil ultimately be in my best interest.

Ironically, I also found out today that my prometric site should not have scheduled me for the day that I had initially requested (june 26th) since they won't be open. So, as it is, I have to reschedule this exam anyway and there is nothing available till July6/7. Clerkships start for me July 1st, and I would not have to take a leave of absence if I were to schedule the exam by mid-July since my having to reschedule is beyond my control. However, I don't view this extra time as golden since I'll be in my peds clerkship and this will severely limit the hours that I can spend a day studying.

A little background info on me may be helpful- I did extremely well in the majority of my classes this year (I honored many systems and micro; I high passed a few systems and pharm; I low passed pulmonary and failed cardio).
I recently took the the nbme $45 assessment part 1, after having studied (but not completed) first year stuff and only neuro and blood related stuff from second year and I scored 440 (which is sixty points below the mean- mean is 500 and sd is 100). As it is now, I most likely can schedule step 1 for July 15th without having to take a leave since prometric screwed up. However, that would mean I have only 17 days where I could study 14hours/day and about two weeks of only studying 6 hours.

I would really appreciate as many opinions on this as possible. I want to make the best decision possible, and other's views will definitely help me see the whole picture.

Thanks for reading this longarse post and sorry for any spelling or grammatical errors- the first time I wrote this, I tried editing it and for some reason I lost the whole post in the process. I didn't want to have to rewrite this a third time 😱

One more thing- I am in no way shooting for the stars. I would be immensely happy with passing step one. If I hit the mean, I could quite possibly faint since I'd be so ecstatic.

 

[Chicago Doc]

I very rarely post but I always read! Don't worry about the potential negative of the leave of absence. Take the exam when you are ready and your scores will reflect the fact that you did your best. I too have a makeup exam to take and I am not taking the test until I am ready ($435 is a lot of money!!!)

Hang in there

 

[Jalby]

I would say take the leave of absense. And get a letter from Prometric put in your file that they screwed up and the date you originally sceduled shouldn't have been scheduled and that is why they had to bump you back and why you had to take a leave during the first block. That way, while on residency interviews you can say that is the reason you took the block off rather than wanting to study more.

 

[daisygirl]

Thanks Chicagodoc and Jalby. I'm leaning towards taking the leave so that I'll get a few more weeks of hardcore studying in. I'm just really nervous about doing it though since I really don't want to get screwed for such a decision when its time for residency interviews. I am geographically limited to where I can apply (NYC and boroughs), which makes me a bit more stressed.

Unfortunately I can't do what you suggested Jalby regarding blaming this solely on Prometric. It will be specifically stated on my transcript that I had taken a leave to study for step I. The only way I can circumvent that is to start my first clerkship and take the test mid-July while in clerkships (only reason this is allowed is b/c prometric screwed up).

I'll make my final decision today. I'd be very grateful for anymore opinions 😳

Also, good luck Chicagodoc!!!! The torture will soon be over

 

[scootad.]

I dont understand the residency dilemma. Just make sure you do your OB-GYN rotation by May/June 2005 and you'll be fine (make sure the registrar schedules you for it by then). OB is not very competitive, you will have no problem IMO. Is it that you are worried about scheduling an OB subI by Nov 2005?

Also, you might wind up not liking OB after doing the clerkship. So it is in your best interest to do the very best you can on Step 1 if you may later consider a specialty that is somewhat competitive.

 

[daisygirl]

I dont understand the residency dilemma. Just make sure you do your OB-GYN rotation by May/June 2005 and you'll be fine (make sure the registrar schedules you for it by then). OB is not very competitive, you will have no problem IMO. Is it that you are worried about scheduling an OB subI by Nov 2005?

Also, you might wind up not liking OB after doing the clerkship. So it is in your best interest to do the very best you can on Step 1 if you may later consider a specialty that is somewhat competitive.

The residency dilemna is due to a few things. First, my school is going electronic with fourth year schedules next year. I was told today that there is no guarantee that I will get to make up peds during the first fourth year clerkship, which means I may be doing it during the second (not sure what the dates are but that is not good). This sucks since I will not be allowed to do any sub-Is (or whatever they are called) until I have finished all of my third year clerkships. Therefore, I will lose time and this translates to me not being able to do enough away-rotations for whatever I may be interested in. Obviously that will be a bigger factor if I am not able to do peds in the beginning of the year. Secondly, the deans told us that the OB residency directors really look down upon students taking time off to study for step I.

I've come to the point where all I care about is passing step I. So, I'm going to take the time regardless of what I've heard so far. I think it is a hell of a lot worse to fail step one because you didn't put enough days in to study for it. I contacted the deans regarding the fourth year scheduling of making up third year clerkships- maybe they will make sure that the students will be able to make up the missed clerkships asap during fourth year. I also asked if I would be able to do an additional elective third year (in ob-gyn) so that I will only miss the first two weeks of third year.

Thanks to everyone who has posted. I'm happy with my decision 🙂 I'm really looking forward to putting my first two years of med school behind me