I'm I totally screwed?

[drmscomtru]

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Hi all. Im an MS III, in my third rotation and I'm really struggling. First of all, Im a Caribbean med student. I left the island with a 4.0 in the basic sciences, and just got my grades for my first two rotations and they are B and B+. I am just about half way thru my current rotation (IM) and I don't think things will turn out any better for this one. Im doing really ****ty. I don't know anything and I'm sure my intern hates me and thinks I'm a complete fool.The worst part is, I think the residents and attendings were just being nice when they gave me those grades. Is a B bad for a clinical grade? Will it look bad that I went from all As to all Bs now. I would like to go into OB/Gyn. I have a decent step 1 score of 233. I know OB/Gyn is historically not all that competitive, but are my clinical grades plus the fact that I will be an IMG put me out of the running for a good spot? I desperately need guidance. Any helpful comments are appreciated.

Also, any practical tips on how I can not suck so much are appreciated too.

Thanks

 

[duckie99]

Both of your questions are tough to answer. JAMA had an article the other week about how more and more US med schools are opening and US students are taking more and more of the available residency slots which are not increasing in number. So for a carribean student it is vital to get the best grades possible for what it's worth. Obgyn is fairly noncompetitive so perhaps applying to a TON of places, even with your step 1, will be enough. My bro knew a guy from the carribean who was doing gen surg that ranked 30 programs and matched at number 29. Sure obgyn is less competitive but it's getting harder for IMGs now in all fields. Honestly if I were you I would consider FM. It is much easier than obgyn and you get to do L&D (assuming that's what you like about obgyn). There's no harm in applying and ranking both though.

Regarding the grading system of 3rd year you likely now realize that grades are pretty subjective. Giving advice on "how not to suck" is hard since you didn't give reasons on why you got Bs. Generally if you work hard, act interested, help out, don't complain etc then people will like you and give you a good eval. Otherwise it's mostly based on how nice the people you work with are and most of the time there isn't much you can do to change things drastically.

So just try your best and keep a positive outlook. I'd recommend also applying and ranking FM programs in addition to obgyn.

 

[Top Gun]

For you, the grades don't matter so much because the Caribbean med schools have different grading systems from the US schools, although I would still try to get the best evaluations possible so that your Dean's Letter will look good. And make sure you do especially well on your Ob/Gyn clerkship, as that is your chosen specialty. More important are your Step scores. Try to do even better on Step 2 so you have a better chance of getting Ob/Gyn. A 233 might be competitive for an AMG, but as a Carib grad, you have to do better.

 

[VenusinFurs]

I second the applying to FM thing. If you apply to the right programs, do a fellowship, and are okay with practicing in the middle of nowhere, you could do almost everything an OB can do, including C sections and high risk deliveries. Even if you don't want to do all that you can fairly easily get the required numbers to do uncomplicated OB and a variety of outpatient gyn procedures. Family medicine is actually getting a bit more competitive, though, so I would still apply to a large number of programs.

Bs would not be disastrous at all for a US grad for OB Gyn, but I'm not sure how it would play out for a Caribbean student. But a 233 step 1 is very competitive for FM.

And frankly I don't think anyone knows what they're doing in clinical rotations until their last few months, so I wouldn't feel too bad. The worst thing is to let it get you down, because a negative attitude is obvious to people around you.