IMG question: step 2 CK before step 1?? Help~

[hippoppop]

Hi all, thanks for reading this.

Need a urgent advice on my question.

I am a UK MS graduating this July, trying to get into the MATCH 2009, taking CK on the 4th of August 2008, taking Step 1 on the 19th of August 2008, CS in September. I know i am taking this a little bit late, but I just decided to go for US residency recently.

I am aiming for categorical general surgery residency, I have 2 months working experience in St lukes- Roosevelt Hospital, New York.

Is the above arrangement ok? provided i passed all of them on the first go....

Will it affect my ERAS matching process? or chances of getting interview? I know the PDs start downloading the application in September....

By 2009 July, I will have a year of MD experience in Anaesthetics/Surgery/Medicine, does it help in getting a residency?

Thanks for helping..........

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[buckley]

Hmmm...what do you mean "by 2009 july, I will have a year of experience in..."? If these are rotations you are doing on your own, you should be fine. If they are required in any way for your medical degree, you may be in trouble. As IMGs, I know you have to be ecfmg certified by rank order list deadline which is sometime in february, so you need to have all the requirements in by that time, including verification of your medical school credentials.

Usually it's good to be ecfmg certified by Spet 1st but it's not a hard and fast rule. You can get lots of interviews depending on how competitive you are even if you are not certified.

Good luck

 

[hippoppop]

Sorry about the confusion...what i meant was, Do I stand a better chance if i apply residency as a Doctor, and had experience in the relevant field?

and, not having step 1 result by 1st of September will affect by chance in getting interview?

Thanks..

 

[buckley]

Do I stand a better chance if i apply residency as a Doctor, and had experience in the relevant field?

and, not having step 1 result by 1st of September will affect by chance in getting interview?

First question--- you know the answer is yes
2nd question---I would wait until I have at least my Step 1 scores in-- Think about it, how will you be able to be evaluated if you have no scores in? And most US seniors do have their step 1 scores in, so it becomes a generic index of comparison. Rock your exams and I do believe you have a chance at getting interviews. Will you have more interviews if you had your results in by Sptember 1?--you know the answer is likely a "yes". But if you can't go around that limitation than just do your best in the other areas of your application.

 

[hippoppop]

i changed my plan....take step 1 first...then step 2 2 weeks later.........hope all the results will come back by 1st of sept..........finger crossed!!!

 

[Top Gun]

i changed my plan....take step 1 first...then step 2 2 weeks later.........hope all the results will come back by 1st of sept..........finger crossed!!!

Good idea, IMHO. Residency programs tend to look at Step 1 scores more than Step 2 CK. Don't ask me why. Doesn't make sense to me, considering that Step 2 CK is more clinically oriented. But I've heard that programs tend to use Step 1 as a cutoff, and Step 2 CK validates your Step 1 score. But get those scores in ASAP, and rock both exams. As an IMG, your Step scores are scrutinized more closely than those of US grads, along with all of your other credentials.

 

[Winged Scapula]

Good idea, IMHO. Residency programs tend to look at Step 1 scores more than Step 2 CK. Don't ask me why. Doesn't make sense to me, considering that Step 2 CK is more clinically oriented. But I've heard that programs tend to use Step 1 as a cutoff, and Step 2 CK validates your Step 1 score. But get those scores in ASAP, and rock both exams. As an IMG, your Step scores are scrutinized more closely than those of US grads, along with all of your other credentials.

Because Step 1 is something all candidates have; many students have not taken Step 2 by application season.

 

[hippoppop]

so it wont affect me much if my Step 2 CK result comes out at the end of september? is that right?

Other documents such as LOR, MSPE, personal statement will definitely be ready by 1st of september for ERAS...ready to rock~

 

[doctr2be]

So as an IMG, who just recently graduated which Step should I take first?
I just opened a few study materiasl and Step 1 subjects seem like Greek and Latin to me and Im terrified.
Help please?

 

[shan564]

It doesn't matter which one you take first... that's just a question of what works for you. But as an IMG, you should make every effort to have all three scores reported by the time you submit your applications in mid-September. If you can't do that, then you should at least have Step 1... but if you're coming from Indian and you don't have scores from all three tests, you'll have trouble getting interviews.

 

[akhim]

So as an IMG, who just recently graduated which Step should I take first?
I just opened a few study materiasl and Step 1 subjects seem like Greek and Latin to me and Im terrified.
Help please?

if youre a recent graduate and you dont have any clinical experience in the US, I would take step 1 first. and that will give you a good foundation for step 2. but like the person above me said, in terms of applying, it doesnt matter which one you take first.
i personally think if you do well on step 1, then step 2 becomes a lot easier, because then youre just deriving from what you already know from step 1

 

[doctr2be]

Ya that seems to be the advice I've been getting.
Started reading FA but everything in it seems so concise.
I have 6 months till I take the exam, planning on FA/UWorld/Pathoma, and Kaplan notes (If I find out where to get them without taking a Kaplan course), is that sufficient?

 

[shan564]

Ya that seems to be the advice I've been getting.
Started reading FA but everything in it seems so concise.
I have 6 months till I take the exam, planning on FA/UWorld/Pathoma, and Kaplan notes (If I find out where to get them without taking a Kaplan course), is that sufficient?

"Sufficient" depends on your baseline level of knowledge. We can't really tell you what's sufficient without knowing about your med school curriculum. You can try the people on usmle-forums.com - there are a lot of Indian students there, so they know all about the Indian curriculum.

FA/UWorld/Pathoma will cover most of the material on the test, but those sources won't be adequate to teach you material that you haven't learned before. The Kaplan course does a good job of that, and DIT does a great job of reinforcing it with FA as a guide.

 

[akhim]

Ya that seems to be the advice I've been getting.
Started reading FA but everything in it seems so concise.
I have 6 months till I take the exam, planning on FA/UWorld/Pathoma, and Kaplan notes (If I find out where to get them without taking a Kaplan course), is that sufficient?

i dont know what pathoma is....but the Kaplan notes, FA, and Uworld, and being able to connect the dots is all you need

 

[Caryawn]

Hi, just came across this forum! I am the 4th year medical student from Malaysia going to be final year next year 2019. I will be sitting for my final professional exam on October 2019. I am thinking of sitting step 2 Ck before step 1 on December 2019 as the clinical knowledge will be fresh in mind. However after went thru many forums, and found out that everyone says that it is better to sit for step 1 first. To be honest, I’ve forgotten most of my basic science stuff.

Here’s my concern:
1) does step 2 ck really consists most of the basic science questions?

2) studying basic science along with clinical stuff together in final year of med school, is it really benefit? I find that it might be quite challenging and not really sure how to make a schedule to balance the study.

I would really appreciate if anyone could give some advice.
Thank you

 

[GoSpursGo]

Hi, just came across this forum! I am the 4th year medical student from Malaysia going to be final year next year 2019. I will be sitting for my final professional exam on October 2019. I am thinking of sitting step 2 Ck before step 1 on December 2019 as the clinical knowledge will be fresh in mind. However after went thru many forums, and found out that everyone says that it is better to sit for step 1 first. To be honest, I’ve forgotten most of my basic science stuff.

Here’s my concern:
1) does step 2 ck really consists most of the basic science questions?

2) studying basic science along with clinical stuff together in final year of med school, is it really benefit? I find that it might be quite challenging and not really sure how to make a schedule to balance the study.

I would really appreciate if anyone could give some advice.
Thank you

Ultimately probably doesn't make a huge difference what order you do things in, but the longer you wait to take step 1 the more you will continue to forget about basic sciences. You have to do them both eventually anyways, and while step 2 CK is more clinical than basic science, it will ask some basic science concepts where studying for step 1 may bring some of that back to your mind.

Studying for the USMLEs and finishing med school at the same time is definitely challenging, especially as an IMG where dedicated studying time is not built into the curriculum. Many choose to study and take the USMLEs after they graduate and apply a year after graduation. Only you can know whether you will have more opportunities to study and do well now vs. next year, but obviously you need to do well on these tests the first time so make the decision that will give you your best chance to study. Keep in mind that if you do not have US clinical experience, you need to be planning NOW for how you will be getting that next year.

 

[Caryawn]

Ultimately probably doesn't make a huge difference what order you do things in, but the longer you wait to take step 1 the more you will continue to forget about basic sciences. You have to do them both eventually anyways, and while step 2 CK is more clinical than basic science, it will ask some basic science concepts where studying for step 1 may bring some of that back to your mind.

Studying for the USMLEs and finishing med school at the same time is definitely challenging, especially as an IMG where dedicated studying time is not built into the curriculum. Many choose to study and take the USMLEs after they graduate and apply a year after graduation. Only you can know whether you will have more opportunities to study and do well now vs. next year, but obviously you need to do well on these tests the first time so make the decision that will give you your best chance to study. Keep in mind that if you do not have US clinical experience, you need to be planning NOW for how you will be getting that next year.

Yes, thank you so much for the advice! I’m really appreciate it. Indeed, sitting for clinical exam without a strong basic foundation might not be so beneficial especially for IMG with no exposure to US clinical setting at all.
Will definitely make a better plan now in order to archive better.
Thanks again, have a nice day