Need Advice for Applying to General Surgery

[gensurg91345]

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Simply put, Got a problem.

The demographics:
US 3rd Med student
Low step 1 score. 209. Honestly had a bad day. Anxiety got the best of me. Took that test on like 2 hours of sleep. Anyways, whats done is done. attachFull179093
Haven't taken step 2 yet.

I just finished surgery rotation and loved it. Got honors.
Just finished my second research project. Got one publication.
I do some volunteer work here and there when I can. I plan on doing 3 aways in August, Sep, and Oct.

I really need some advice on how to recover from this.

I've been studying for step 2 and plan on taking it Mid-July.

What do you guys think is the best approach to this situation?
Do I even have a shot? I am getting mixed answers. Some say I'll be fine, others tell me to change to something else.

Need some honest opinions.

Thanks a lot.

 

[PB n J]

There were a couple of times when I accidentally "caught eye" of a few of my fellow interviewees board scores while sitting at an interviewers desk (I mean, you would think they'd try and cover those things up a little better and not sit them RIGHT BESIDE YOU). I saw numerous 205-220 Step 1 scores. And Step 2 scores were many times 220-230 for those interviewees.

My point is: if you apply broadly and realistically, I think you'll get the interviews you want. Just be sure to have an honest and non-excuse filled explanation for your score.

 

[bulldogmed]

A friend of mine who is a PGY-2 in GS graduated near the bottom of his class and made a 205 or something close to it on Step 1. He did really well 3rd year and got strong LOR. I'm not sure what his Step 2 was.

 

[gensurg91345]

Thanks for the contents. Much appreciated.

It's just frustrating because after taking nbmes for step one I was almost hitting 250 but then again I did get plenty of sleep when I took them. with only 2 hours of sleep, I felt like a zombie when I was taking step One.

Looking ahead, looks like crushing step two is a must and getting good letters at this point. If anyone else has some experience with this situation and have anything to add, by all means.

 

[SouthernSurgeon]

Thanks for the contents. Much appreciated.

It's just frustrating because after taking nbmes for step one I was almost hitting 250 but then again I did get plenty of sleep when I took them. with only 2 hours of sleep, I felt like a zombie when I was taking step One.

Looking ahead, looks like crushing step two is a must and getting good letters at this point. If anyone else has some experience with this situation and have anything to add, by all means.

Crush step II.

Doing the aways is a good idea - they need to be smartly targeted aways however (i.e. even if you do well on the away rotation, it is unlikely MGH is going to move past the 209).

Apply broadly to a wide range (competitiveness wise) of programs.

 

[mikeGR]

Please do your best with step 2, as early as possible, and work on your connections. I 've seen excellent interns unable to find a categorical gen surg spot 2/2 low scores.

 

[ram006]

Crush step II.

Doing the aways is a good idea - they need to be smartly targeted aways however (i.e. even if you do well on the away rotation, it is unlikely MGH is going to move past the 209).

Apply broadly to a wide range (competitiveness wise) of programs.

I agree with the comment above. I was in a similar situation, same exact step 1 score actually. Destroyed step 2 and got over 10 interviews.

Your score will keep you out of a lot of high profile places unless you have serious connections, but it's not the end of the world.

As a side note, I know programs will tell you they care about step 1 because it means they don't have to worry about your test taking skills but, in addition to there being conflicting literature on the subject, it wasn't predictive of my ABSITE performance. Personally, bombing step 1 lit sort of a competitive fire and I've killed every standardized test since. You can do the same, just don't let it weigh you down or let people tell you you're "just not a good test taker" or whatever.

 

[gensurg91345]

Thank you for the advice.

 

[caffeinemia]

Crush step II.

Doing the aways is a good idea - they need to be smartly targeted aways however (i.e. even if you do well on the away rotation, it is unlikely MGH is going to move past the 209).

Apply broadly to a wide range (competitiveness wise) of programs.

Agree with apply broadly. Should have no issues with quality community GS programs. I saw many applicants with these numbers on the trail.

Regarding aways for GS, I have always been suspicious of their efficacy and potential risk. If you are going to be doing aways at large medical centers, be aware that GS departments generally have multiple services and you will get a very small survey of the entire program. Likewise your interactions will mostly be with the few residents and attendings on your service. While doing well may impress a handful of people in a department of many -- and possibly not even the key players like the administrative chiefs, PD, chair, effing up can cause a catastrophic blacklist because it only takes pissing off one person. Remember that the impetus to get someone to go to bat for you versus sinking your ship is vastly skewed towards sinking your ship. (At least that's how my eternal pessimism frames it). That's why I tend to think that it's high risk, low reward. This can be contrasted to smaller departments in surgery like ENT, Urology, Plastics, where you have the opportunity to meet more people in a tightly knit department and really wow a greater percentage of the decision makers. Of course, if you're interested in a tiny program and are extremely confident in your ability to perform on service then go for it.