Low Step 1 Score: Feeling Scared, Please Help

[sparklystu]

Hello, I am new to this forum and feeling scared to post. I am at a US medical school and received a score of 208 on my Step 1, and do not know what I should be doing. I am honestly completely fine with any specialty of medicine, would be very happy to match into family medicine or pediatrics. Is that even possible now? I'm so frightened, I don't know what to do and feel ashamed of myself. Please, would appreciate any/all suggestions you may have.

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[bashwell]

Hello, I am new to this forum and feeling scared to post. I am at a US medical school and received a score of 208 on my Step 1, and do not know what I should be doing. I am honestly completely fine with any specialty of medicine, would be very happy to match into family medicine or pediatrics. Is that even possible now? I'm so frightened, I don't know what to do and feel ashamed of myself. Please, would appreciate any/all suggestions you may have.

US MD to be, Step 1 of 208, aiming for FM or peds -- no problem! Especially if you're geographically flexible and don't need to be at an academic or university program.

Importantly, check out the NRMP data for people who matched into FM or peds.

Why are you ashamed or frightened? You passed. There are med students who fail Step 1.

You can also take Step 2 and crush it. If you do, then you'll be in a better position. PDs mainly want to see that you're able to pass boards in a particular specialty. Show them you can.

 

[witzelsucht]

You go to a US medical school*. You will be 100% fine with a 208. You did better than THOUSANDS of US medical students who took the exam. They will match. You will match. Do well on rotations, work hard, and study.

*Provided you aren't talking about like, Touro or something. But even then, you'll still probably match. Like > 95%.

 

[Bombrainiac]

You will be fine, my friend. Your Step 1 score is adequate, shouldn't hold you back unless you're applying to a very competitive specialty (i.e. neurosurgery, integrated plastics). Your letters of recommendation are the most important part of your application, and residency admission committees spend the MOST time by far looking over your LORs. The right recommendation from the right person will carry you a LONG way. Keep learning all of medicine (4 years will go by faster than you think), and just make sure the rest of your application is tightened up (as per the usual expectation when you apply).

On a related topic…through out your training, you will face several instances that will shake your confidence and you will have to pull yourself up by the bootstraps and march forward. A test score that you're ashamed of now will pale in comparison to one of your patient's dying on your watch and under your care. You must remember that you are charged with a responsibility to be better every day, so you can be better for your patients. Your feelings about your exam score are totally understandable, but you must understand that this HAS to teach you something that will help you be a better physician. Trust me, you will face other challenges and hear comments from attendings/nurses/residents that may shake your confidence to the core, but you need to wear a proverbial "bullet-proof vest." You owe that much to yourself and to your patients. You ARE smart and fully capable of being an amazing doctor and make huge differences in peoples' lives. Take care of yourself, relax, and enjoy learning. Don't be a stressed out, miserable doctor--that's becoming the norm in some circles and it's really passé. Time for some healthy doctors taking care of sick patients…

Cheers to you and congratulations on finishing STEP 1!!!! Now go treat yourself and start figuring out how to enjoy your craft. You're not a premed student anymore. You've made it. Relax.

 

[sparklystu]

Thank you so much for your thoughts. I appreciate your words of advice. In truth, my goal is to be a good doctor, to be able to help someone in anyway I can. I will take your advice and try to grow from this experience as much as I can. It's difficult, I am at a "new" school and I think that added pressure compounds to my own feelings of inadequacy, but I hope I will be able to grow out of that. Thank you for your support, I am starting to feel better now.

 

[Psai]

everyone feels inadequate man. it's called imposter syndrome
there's just too much out there to know and not enough time to learn it

 

[coreytayloris]

You scored >200 and you're american. You're sorted. Step1 is the hardest step. Be thankful you didn't fail as many do and the feeling of failure is much grander than the feeling of inadequacy

 

[collegestud2013]

I don't think a 208 will automatically get you screened out for any of the primary care residencies that you want to do, except at the top academic programs. If you're not dead set on those, I think you should be able to match somewhere given no other red flags in you app. I guess what you can do at this point is do well on 3rd year rotations and ace Step 2 CK. The latter can help offset the lower Step 1 score (as long as you don't get screened out), will require fixing what you weren't doing right for Step 1. Did you only study for a short period of time (aka only used the 4-6 weeks most schools give and didn't start before)? Were you near the bottom of your med school class or have failed any classes? Did you have extenuating circumstances near your exam time? What resources did you use? How were your practice NBME scores or UWorld percentages if you used those?

 

[sparklystu]

I'm curious whether you think I also have a chance at Internal Medicine or EM? Does my current score stand out like a red flag? I am in the first class of a new medical school, which is why I really don't know much about the future process. I studied diligently in the 6 weeks before the test, and tried to study during the school year, but unfortunately was not able to accomplish as much as I wanted. I never failed any of the classes, but my scores were always in the low to mid 70s regardless of how much I studied. No extenuating circumstances, not sure but I'm guessing I'm in the bottom of my class. I used Pathoma during the year with First Aid, did the Kaplan Qbank during the year, and UWorld in the dedicated study time. I also used Firecracker during the year, my NBME right before the exam was 215. I'm really sad that the score went down, and I think I just feel my confidence shaken because everyone keeps saying to do better on the rotations and step 2. But I don't know how I will do that, because I have such an issue with exams repeatedly. How do I get better at taking them? I spent the first half of my study period reading and doing questions, but then the second half was doing UWorld, getting many questions wrong, and then going back and reading about the answer and the distractors. Also, I really don't know anything about the match process, I'm open to going most places (except maybe like Oklahoma or North Dakota), but my dream would be Pediatrics at UMass. Any thoughts?

 

[collegestud2013]

According to the NRMP Charting the Outcomes document (which I recommend you look at in detail) you have a 85% chance of matching into any EM and 90% of IM based on Step 1 score alone. As others have said it probably won't be top tier and you'll have to be flexible applying across the country to have those odds. And with IM, going in to a lower tier program and lower Step 1 scores will also significantly hurt your chances at the more competitive fellowships like cardio or GI.

It seems like the amount of time you spent studying for Step 1 and the resources you used aren't any different than what everyone else uses, so I think it may be an issue with how you're studying and how much info you're retaining. This is suggested by you being at the bottom of the class and scoring what seems to be very low on med school exams (unless your exams are just very hard and the class average is always in the 70s). For example, do you get distracted very easily when studying on then just end up procrastinating? Any chance you think you may have a learning disability? Many people with learning disabilities who are also very intelligent may have gotten away with good grades in high school or undergrad, but it's only that they get into med school and the work load is significantly higher do they find out. Also, most people tend to do a bit better on the real Step 1 than on the NBME/CBSSA (probably due to how the they are curved), so the fact that you went down could suggest some testing day conditions were less than optimal (testing taking anxiety, lack of sleep the night before, being sick on the day of the test?).

 

[Jeffrety]

Sorry to say that derm, EENT, plastics, ortho are out of the question OP. Good news is you can get FP, peds, psych all day with that score.

 

[failedatlife]

...feeling scared.... Step 1...do not know what I should be doing...I'm so frightened, I don't know what to do and feel ashamed of myself.

My brain only comprehended certain (quoted) portions of your post, but yes, I have similar sentiments. Sad how one day makes you question your worth in life, and well makes others question your worth too. The whole process is painful.

 

[zeppelinpage4]

Hello, I am new to this forum and feeling scared to post. I am at a US medical school and received a score of 208 on my Step 1, and do not know what I should be doing. I am honestly completely fine with any specialty of medicine, would be very happy to match into family medicine or pediatrics. Is that even possible now? I'm so frightened, I don't know what to do and feel ashamed of myself. Please, would appreciate any/all suggestions you may have.

First off breathe and relax.
Congrats on passing that horrible exam, and never having to look back on it.

Do well third year, do well on Step 2CK and you'll be fine.
I matched into pediatrics and interviewd at lots of peds and FM programs (I applied both) that I liked with a 199 Step 1, and 223 Step 2, as well as several slip ups third year.

A friend of mine who allegedly had a sub 200 Step 1 and improved hugely on Step 2, is going to Columbia for PM&R.

If your goal is to match, peds, or FM you should be just fine. Now go treat yourself for passing the hardest Step exam.

 

[Stagg737]

Be more interesting to find out if OP actually matched since this thread is now almost 2 years old...

 

[Taddy Mason]

Be more interesting to find out if OP actually matched since this thread is now almost 2 years old...

And why was I not surprised when I saw who was responsible for the necrobump...

 

[68PGunner]

My brain only comprehended certain (quoted) portions of your post, but yes, I have similar sentiments. Sad how one day makes you question your worth in life, and well makes others question your worth too. The whole process is painful.

With your current Step 1 score, even a FM residency in the Dakotas is a reach for you.

 

[Taddy Mason]

With your current Step 1 score, even a FM residency in the Dakotas is a reach for you.

At least there's Wyoming.

 

[zeppelinpage4]

Be more interesting to find out if OP actually matched since this thread is now almost 2 years old...

Ugh I didn't even notice. -_- Bamboozled again. Damnnit failedatlife!

 

[ortnakas]

My brain only comprehended certain (quoted) portions of your post, but yes, I have similar sentiments. Sad how one day makes you question your worth in life, and well makes others question your worth too. The whole process is painful.

You necrobumped just to say this?

You didn't fail at life. You didn't even fail at step 1. Third year is almost over. You need to move on. You're a US MD who got an acceptable score and shouldn't have a problem matching, unless you talk about how you fail at life in your interviews.

 

[795722]

You go to a US medical school*. You will be 100% fine with a 208. You did better than THOUSANDS of US medical students who took the exam. They will match. You will match. Do well on rotations, work hard, and study.

*Provided you aren't talking about like, Touro or something. But even then, you'll still probably match. Like > 95%.

Why that Touro reference?

 

[795722]

Ugh I didn't even notice. -_- Bamboozled again. Damnnit failedatlife!

Yeah fell for it too. Damn you failedatlife

 

[673441]

Lmao failedatlife at it again... you're fine man, stop looking for a form of justification!!! Most importantly, don't Drink and SDN.


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[zeppelinpage4]

Lmao failedatlife at it again... you're fine man, stop looking for a form of justification!!! Most importantly, don't Drink and SDN.


Sent from my iPhone using SDN mobile

At this point, I think failedatlife is professionally trolling us and he or she has miraculously kept in character this whole time. If true, I'm genuinely impressed, that's commitment.

 

[Brorthopedic]

@failedatlife is by far my favorite member on this forum

 

[673441]

At this point, I think failedatlife is professionally trolling us and he or she has miraculously kept in character this whole time. If true, I'm genuinely impressed, that's commitment.

That or pure boredom ‍♂️


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[medicinewoman101]

dude, just calm down. I guarantee you'll match and youll become a physician. Learn now that you shouldnt feel bad about stupid things like this. eople that do are doing to be miserable. Who cares, go out have some fun. Then learn clinical medicine, thats all that matters.