MS3s...how much time did you have between Step 1 and rotations?

[Frank Nutter]

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Was MS1-2 summer really our "last summer" ?

 

[genswim24]

Was MS1-2 summer really our "last summer" ?

Our last class was early march, we had shelf exams at the end of march in path and pharm. Our first rotation started at the beginning of May, so we had all of april dedicated to step 1. I had about a week to go on vacation, some of my classmates had around 2 weeks and some had just a few days.

You will have extended time off again at the end of your fourth year, before rotations start if you plan your schedule out well. You may also have to move during this period, but that still should leave you with a nice chunk of time.

 

[richse]

Our last class was early march, we had shelf exams at the end of march in path and pharm. Our first rotation started at the beginning of May, so we had all of april dedicated to step 1. I had about a week to go on vacation, some of my classmates had around 2 weeks and some had just a few days.

You will have extended time off again at the end of your fourth year, before rotations start if you plan your schedule out well. You will also have to move during this time, but that still should leave you with a nice chunk of time.

I had about 10 days free. Our last day of MS2 was May 13th and we had to start rotations on July 5th. I started studying on May 16th and studied for about 5.5 weeks for Step 1 and then went on a vacation with some friends. Got back with 2 days to relax before MS3. Some people in my class only studied for 4 weeks and took a long break and others took the exam at the last possible moment.

 

[235009]

i had 5 days off between step 1 and MS3 orientation

in most cases summer after MS1 is your last free summer

 

[ArcGurren]

I had about 10 days. It's definitely not like a real summer lol but I made the best of it.

 

[Mr hawkings]

I took step 1 early so i had about 4 weeks off

 

[Sheldor]

I took step 1 early so i had about 4 weeks off

Same here, except I didn't take it early. I used our schools NBME weeks to study, then did 4 dedicated and then took four weeks off.

Most of my classmates didn't study for it during NBMEs, took a week of before studying and then studied for 6-7 weeks ending up with no time off. Nothing wrong with that at all though. My point is, there are different ways to manage your time so you should be able to work it out to be the way you want!

 

[thepoopologist]

3 days. I don't recommend it.

 

[Thriller]

took boards june 13th, rotations started july 5th. some people i know took their boards at the end of june and had very limited time off. it just depends on how much time you decide to take to study for boards.

 

[b-real]

Your last summer will be between graduation and intern year. If you plan your 4th year strategically, you may get done by March/April, leaving you with a few months off.

 

[Siverhideo1985]

I had 2.5 weeks. I took 4 weeks to study for Step 1 because I knew I would burn out if I did it longer.

It all depends on how much time your school gives you for step 1 studying before rotations and how much of that time you end up using.

 

[DrYoda]

One week. I opted to break up my vacation time and took 1wk off between classes and step one studying, and then half a week off in the middle of study time.

 

[Hemichordate]

What kind of "vacations" do you guys go on if you only have 1 or a few weeks of break?

 

[isoquin]

how many weeks of break do you need for vacation?

 

[Ilovewater]

Your last summer will be between graduation and intern year. If you plan your 4th year strategically, you may get done by March/April, leaving you with a few months off.

I'm curious. How do you get done by March/April when graduation isn't until May? Don't they require you to go all the way until graduation?

 

[sylvanthus]

3 days. I don't recommend it.

I had the same, I also don't recommend it. I'm still burned out from step 1 studying and haven't fully recovered.

 

[DrYoda]

What kind of "vacations" do you guys go on if you only have 1 or a few weeks of break?

What kind of vacations do you go on where a few weeks aren't sufficient time?

 

[justdoit31]

3 weeks- I took step earlier than I should have based on early CBSE results but left myself enough time to move to our sattelite campus where I'm doing 3rd and 4th year have time to have and recover from surgery before starting MS3. We get 2 weeks off between MS3 and MS4 and I plan to have a vacation then.

 

[justdoit31]

What kind of "vacations" do you guys go on if you only have 1 or a few weeks of break?

Well over my 2 weeks for Christmas I'm going to visit friends where I grew up and went to college for at least a week.

Next summer I get 2 weeks between MS3 and MS4 and I think my family is planning to spend 4 days or so in NYC then rent a lakehouse and go boat/ski/tan for a week.

 

[Rollo]

Classes ended at the end of April for us, and first week of June was when our rotations started so we had roughly 4 weeks for boards.

I took the entire 4 weeks to study so I only had the weekend off from the Friday of my boards and Monday of rotation.

Though I know lot of my classmates decided to take the boards during their rotations so they would have more time to study. In theory, this may work well but in real life, it didn't really work for them too well.

 

[2012mdc]

Was MS1-2 summer really our "last summer" ?

Last shelf exam was mid May. We were expected to take step 1 by June 30th if we wanted to start M3 on time. M3 orientation was late July and rotations started the first week of August.

The month off was appreciated

 

[Decicco]

0 days. Not the best idea.

 

[b-real]

I'm curious. How do you get done by March/April when graduation isn't until May? Don't they require you to go all the way until graduation?

So your school will most likely give you a lot of vacation your 4th year. This ranges between 9-12 weeks at most schools. How you spend that vacation is up to you. Most schools do not build in time for you to study/take Step 2, so this time comes from the vacation. As you can see, if even if you take 4-6 weeks for Step 2, you still have a lot of vacation left. You simply take the balance of your vacation time at the end of the year.

 

[LossForWords]

10 days, but I took a week off after 2nd year ended before starting Step 1 studying.

 

[mrwesticles]

That's pretty much your last summer, hope you didn't spend it all studying 😛

There are elective spots in the latter years, which, if you did the electives sooner, can lead to months at a time where you are technically not in classes (though you could be interviewing and writing application materials at that time)

 

[Mattabet]

I had about 15 days. I probably could have had a little more - people pretty much universally put their Step One date about 7 days after they stop improving, in my experience. I was no exception. Better safe than sorry.

So that's plenty of time for a little vacation, but it's certainly not the same as a summer off. Sorry.

 

[olemissbabydoc]

I took about two weeks. Several people in my class put their test off til the bitter end - some even the Sunday before we started rotations 😱. But I felt like three weeks of studying and DIT was about all my heart/emotional state could handle - and the vacation in between was WELL worth it.

My score came back just where I wanted it - not amazing, but I didn't lose my mind in the process. Disney World >>>> an extra 5-10 pts anyday.

 

[mdeast]

I actually have been considering just taking the whole summer off after Step I. Maybe traveling, doing some easy epidemiology research, etc. and getting paid $$$. My school only requires 15 months of clinical rotations. So only 3.5 months of 4th year (i.e. most people can graduate in December of their last year). I could delay clinics a few months and still graduate early (March). Plus have a little more sanity for when I start clinics as a 3rd year.

 

[dienekes88]

4 days.

 

[septoplasty]

I recently took the Step, and so far.. it feels like I haven't taken ANY days off since I keep thinking about the bloody thing. Dammit!

Rotations are gonna be a biatch.

 

[bruinhd]

They gave us 8 weeks total to take Step 1. I decided I needed a 3-week vacation to decompress after the stress of M2 and Step 1 back-to-back. So after studying 5 weeks for Step 1 I ended up scoring right on the national average. I feel like I could have scored better if I took those extra couple weeks like others did, but at the same time I knew I needed that vacation in order to maintain my sanity.

No regrets so far. We'll see when match comes around. hahaha.

 

[mvenus929]

I'm curious. How do you get done by March/April when graduation isn't until May? Don't they require you to go all the way until graduation?

Vacation rotations. Also, you could get some really cush electives that require like 1 day of work in a 2 week period, so it essentially works out to the same thing.

My school gives us 5ish weeks of dedicated study time, plus 2ish weeks of vacation right after classes (we end classes in December, and have to take Step 1 by Feb 10th). Then we have 2 weeks of orientation, and start on the wards in the last week of February.

I'm planning on taking it so that I have two weeks of 'vacation', one of which will be going somewhere... maybe a cruise... and the other will be spent tying up loose ends prior to starting on the wards.