MBA year between MS2/ MS3 and timing of Step 1

[anothermedstudent943]

Hello! So I was planning to get my MBA after 3rd year through the dual degree program at my school. However, I’ve been struggling with health issues and it all came to a head during dedicated. It made me realize that I need to take some time to get my health in a better place before MS3 so I moved my MBA year up to be now, between MS2 and MS3.

My MBA classes start in 3 weeks. I was really hoping to be able to take step 1 before then, but I’m not sure I’ll be ready and might need 2-3 more weeks. In the summer term, I only take 3 classes for the mba which will be good.

If I followed the normal school timeline, I would have taken step end of march/ early april and started rotations mid april. My question is, when applying to residencies will it look questionable if I take step 1 in June after my MBA program already started? I’m worried it will look bad or a red flag that I was struggling so hard “just to pass.” If it is, is there a good way to address this?

I plan to use some of this time during the MBA year to prep for step 2 stuff so hopefully I’ll get a good step 2 score which I think could help w any potential "red flag"

---

Members don't see this ad.

 

[ChordaEpiphany]

I doubt anyone would question step 1 taken in June. There are a million reasons why you might delay step 1 if you've got some flexibility with your MBA. Just cite personal/family reasons, pass, and move on. With a good step 2, absolutely no one would question it.