Is it the end of the world if you don't H/HP your IM rotation?

[nykka3]

Hi,
I am considering a career in IM ....ultimately subspecializing. At my school we have some serious cutoffs for getting high scores in a rotation. For honors, you have to be in the top 15% which I guess is acceptable. For HP you have to get above an 86. The problem for me is that I can make the HP cutoff if the course director actually took the evaluation grade more seriously. I received top honors and above avg on my evals with many GREAT and detailed comments given by the faculty. However, my course director says that the most I can get on the eval portion of my grade is an 85. He says they usually never give above a 90 on the evals. He said that the evaluator would have to write on the eval " This is the best student I have ever seen in my lifetime"---these were his exact words. I am gonna take an educated guess and say that rarely happens regardless of how highly the evaluator thinks about your performance. I found this demoralizing, esp. b/c I only got roughly the avg. score on my shelf exam.

Bottom line: How will this hurt my overall application when applying to IM programs. I have done or am in the process of beefing up my application with tons of research, leadership/community activities, and I know I can get strong LOR's. I am also serioulsy considering one away rotation at a residency program of interest.

So any advice?
Thanks!!!

---

Members don't see this ad.

 

[Medical123]

You will probably be okay in terms of Matching in IM. At my school, the Deans take comments from our clinical evals and put them into our MSPE. Those comments are often taken very seriously by programs and it sounds as if you have done very well.

Other things to consider are your letters of recommendation and USMLE scores. If those are good, you will have a very good chance of interviewing at some of the higher tier programs. You might want to consider doing your Medicine Sub-I early in your 4th year. Good luck!

 

[nykka3]

thanks. my step 1 score is ok but not spectacular. so i hope to have a stellar step 2. i hope the research i have done, good LORS, leadership/volunteering exp. count also.
my goal is to get into a good IM program that focuses on evidence based medicine and gets many residents into good felloships. i would like to be in an urban setting though (nyc, chicago, etc.) but we will see.
thanks

 

[zzeyfzz]

another thing -- especially if you are applying to programs in the area and this type of grading is typical of your med school, program directors will know about it. i've had some interviewers comment that my school was known for not inflating certain rotation grades. so they'd definitely take that into account when putting in invites.

 

[nykka3]

does doing well in your surgery rotation help any? IM is my top choice, but surgery is also pretty interesting. Also, there is a fair bit of medicine topics on the exam and in preop/postop mgmt