impact of pass/fail step 1 on fellowship match

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ramses99

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Anyone have any intuitions how this will play out?

Were step scores even important for the heme onc match to begin with? Would the best advice for a medical student interested in heme onc be to just go to the best medicine program we can get into, and do some research?

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Anyone have any intuitions how this will play out?

Were step scores even important for the heme onc match to begin with? Would the best advice for a medical student interested in heme onc be to just go to the best medicine program we can get into, and do some research?

The same exact advice as before step 1 went pass fail
 
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Residency and Fellowship are largely:
1. Where you did med school/residency/connections
2. LORs
3. Research/Extracurriculars

Step 1 was a nice filter that programs could use to help distinguish applicants, but I don't think it moved the needle enough to trump these top 3 things. CK and step 3 are still scored numerically, so maybe programs will use these to filter. Your goal if you're interested in Heme Onc should be to get into the best IM program you can, be a rockstar resident, and start building your CV.
 
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Anyone have any intuitions how this will play out?

Were step scores even important for the heme onc match to begin with? Would the best advice for a medical student interested in heme onc be to just go to the best medicine program we can get into, and do some research?

Doing your best is never wrong. Heme onc is not so unreasonably competitive that every aspect of your app is scrutinized. Residency "prestige" matters, people who write your letters matter (try to find well-connected attendings or people who sit on regional committees), and research, RESEARCH, RESEARCH.

I think step scores are largely used as a prelim screen for programs that can't review all the applications. I have an abysmal step 1 score (<210) and I'm pretty sure I was simply filtered out at many programs which I believe I would be competitive at otherwise (considering I'm now at a "name-brand" heme onc fellowship). Do NOT fail anything. Failure is still considered a red flag. Also, CK score probably trumps step 1 for residency. I think for fellowship all 3 steps are looked at about the same.
 
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research. You have to show you're invested.
 
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