I'm screwed, aren't I?

[chicamedica]

---

Members do not see this ad.

So today I FINALLY got my grade for my IM rotation (which was my first rotation of the year). I worked so hard, got great comments in the written eval, and all I got was a PASS.
The IM course director has this policy of not giving any honors for the first rotation, but in any case I guess I'm a little disappointed that i didn't even get a high pass.

well, enough complaining. . .and on to the real issue. . .

Is not having a high pass or honors in the Medicine rotation going to hurt me a lot when applying to residency? I'm considering either IM or anesthesia at this point, and I want to end up at a strong program (even though I'm not junior AOA and my Step 1 is 223, quite average)



p.s. If I can't pull off higher than Pass for medicine having worked so hard, I can't even imagine getting anything higher than that for my upcoming surgery clerkship!!

And those 2 are the big ones that everyone advises to HONOR!

 

[gimmedog]

Don't count yourself out yet. A lot of the grading is arbitrary or based on chemistry, circumstance, whatever. It;s your first rotation, go easy on yourself. You're not screwed. Relax.

 

[grouptherapy]

what i learned from third year was that one could work his or her ass off and yet not be rewarded appropriately. this applies to life in general.

 

[huktonfonix]

Agree with above note. Heart, RRR. Lungs CTAB....oh wait a minute forgot where I was. Anyway agree with above. 3rd year grades are completely random. If you don't have the right chemistry with one person it can sink your grade. The only thing you can do is do well on the test and work hard like you;ve been doing. Regardless of pass/honors a good work ethic will get you noticed now and in your externships and will take you far. Just keep doin your thing, sounds like you'll do fine.

Oh as far as anesthesia goes. 223 is competitive although some honors will help. I'm still in the process of applying but based on the anesthesia board I would still think you're competitive. acing Step 2 wouldn't hurt either.

 

[Krafty]

I'm applying to anesthesia, and from what I see the field is NOT NEARLY as competitive as people would have you believe. Your score (This year) is STELLAR for Anesthesia. Everybody would give you an interview (I am serious). I have friends with scores much lower than yours that are interviewing at Duke, Penn, Yale, Columbia, NYU and others (and I'm a state school dude).

Btw, it's the two digit score that matters. No program directors will know anything about the three digit scores. Apparently this year over 80 will get most interviews, and 85+ is a SOLID score.

With regards to your IM, here's what you can do.

1) Do better (at least High Pass) in Surgery.
2) Do a Medicine AI (floors or MICU) and Honor that. I say Honor, because it's tons easier to Honor stuff 4th year than 3rd year.

Plus with your Step I you won't have to take Step II early -- Hence do an early AI (acting internship).

My biggest point of advice is to NOT GET DISCOURAGED about what others (students) say about competitiveness. Talk to people that know - program directors, professors, people on the committees.

Cheers and Keep your ear to the grindstone.

 

[thegasman]

I would disagree with Krafty and advise you to take step 2 early and ace it if you decide on anesthesia. My step 1 was 214 and while my application was otherwise very good, I was getting very few interviews until my step 2 came back at 240. Your step 1 could very well be good enough to get you where you want to be, but I wouldn't take the chance. Anesthesia IS more competitive now and with so many applications programs are screening by USMLE almost exclusively. Good luck.

 

[thegasman]

I also wouldn't worry too much about that honors stuff. In my experience it is very low-yield. In other words you can put a ton of work into trying to get honors and it might just never happen. It is much more worthwhile to study harder and perform well on exams because you can actually make a difference towards your score on an objective test. Maybe it shouldn't work this way, but I think it does. Work hard and if you get honors that's great, but if you don't it really doesn't matter much. And relax, you're definitely not screwed.

 

[Krafty]

So with a 214 you weren't getting interviews? Hmm I'm sorry to have suggested otherwise, all my average/run of the mill state school friends and I were bombarded with offers, with scores in this range. I don't even think there's anybody that's applying from my year with over 226 Step I.

How early did you send out your application. I did it on the first day (9/2) and so did some of my friends. The people who haven't done that, did not as of yet hear about the same places as we did.

Moot point. Regardless, congrats on a truly stellar Step II score and best of luck on the interview trail.

One more thing is that It's probably easier to get local interviews from a local program. We're from the Northeast, so we're getting those interviews. Cheers and good luck on the interview trail.

 

[thegasman]

Krafty, My application went out in mid September so I might have missed out on the first round. I also applied to only schools in the SE. I emailed programs I had not heard from when I got my step 2 back. Some of them told me that they had been waiting on my scores and offered interviews on the spot. I think that if I hadn't done this I might still be hurting for interviews. Anyway it'll all work out in the end.

 

[womansurg]

Originally posted by Krafty
So with a 214 you weren't getting interviews?

I think (don't bombard me here) that thegasman is a DO? Am I remembering that right?

Sorry, but that was the reality of residency in my experience. My program wouldn't even look at osteopathic applicants. And I'm not saying that's right - I don't think it is.

 

[bustbones26]

My school has an A,B,C,F system. This translates into

A = pass with honors
B = pass
C = Your passing because the doctor feels sorry for you
F = you're an idiot!

Unfortunately, some doctors don't understand evaluations. I once heard of an OB/GYN doc that believed that every student was average. and because every student doing an MS3 OB/GYN rotation on his servic was average, he gave them all C's. IF he really thought you wre wonderful, you might get a B. He did this not realizing that the school and potential programs that you apply to would not see it this way.

I once had a surgeon grade me like I was one of the FP residents at the hospital.

So it happens. If you get one average grade then programs will just figure you had one of those weird preceptors that give nobody A's or HP. Believe me programs are aware that preceptors like this exist.

So don't sweat it much, do well, if you really feel you have to redeem yourself, do an IM elective and get an A or HP.

 

[thegasman]

Originally posted by womansurg
I think (don't bombard me here) that thegasman is a DO? Am I remembering that right?

No, I will get my MD, US grad. Although you're right about DO's. I know my home program cuts all DO's, IMG's, and anyone else USMLE<220.