Need advice regarding internal medicine residency

[hdmi33]

Hey guys!
I am an MS4 at a top 25 medical school applying into IM. I have a decent ECs, some research, and should have pretty good LORs. My step 1 is 240-245 (no step 2 yet).
All that said, I am rounding out my 3rd year with 3 P's in required clerkships (including surgery) and only an HP in medicine with a few honors from early in the year. I am expecting an H in my medicine sub-i and one of my LORs is from my sub-i attending. I had a rough year personally, dealing with multiple very sick close family members, which took me away from the hospital a few times, and my grades definitely reflect all of that.
I guess my question is how hard will it be to match at a top IM program in a big city with these poor grades, and more importantly what can be done to try to compensate for them so I can stay competitive?
Thank you so much!

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[watermelon master]

can't do anything about it. you'll be fine

 

[studentdocftw]

Assuming you aren't MGH, JHU, UCSF, etc. or bust..you'll be fine. Its IM..not ortho or derm. There are plenty of solid programs in big cities..just apply broadly. In terms of what you can do now..take Step 2 and do well. Cant think of anything else considering eras is only 1.5 months away..you'll be fine.

 

[Aurum]

Speaking from personal experience, I've noticed IM tends to value clerkship grades (particularly the medicine grade) highly. The HP in medicine might shut you out of Mass Gen/Brigham/Hopkins etc, but you should still be able to interview at some strong spots in the top 20 (think UTSW, NW, NYU, etc depending on geography).

Working on research during 4th year, crushing your sub I, getting good letters, and doing better on step 2 are just about the only things you can do, the rest is a roll of the dice.

 

[hdmi33]

Speaking from personal experience, I've noticed IM tends to value clerkship grades (particularly the medicine grade) highly. The HP in medicine might shut you out of Mass Gen/Brigham/Hopkins etc, but you should still be able to interview at some strong spots in the top 20 (think UTSW, NW, NYU, etc depending on geography).

Working on research during 4th year, crushing your sub I, getting good letters, and doing better on step 2 are just about the only things you can do, the rest is a roll of the dice.

Thank you so much for response.
Do you have any advice about what programs are good targets on the east coast specifically?

 

[watermelon master]

Thank you so much for response.
Do you have any advice about what programs are good targets on the east coast specifically?

Anything in a major city on the east coast

 

[seeinghowitgoes]

Outside of the big 4 (MGH/Brigham/Hopkins/UCSF) and maybe Columbia, Duke, and Penn you should have a chance applying to most other top programs in big cities. Based on my experience, Cornell, Mt. Sinai, NYU, and Montefiore in NYC, Beth Israel in Boston, Emory in Atlanta (if that counts as East Coast? It’s a normal sized city at least) all come to mind as places that would be reasonable to apply to and have strong programs. It is IM, so programs are huge, and even at great places not everybody can be that uber-competitive applicant.

Great letters will definitely help, and don’t be afraid to advocate for yourself at a couple of your top places - have faculty reach out when interviews start trickling out from places, or email your interest at a couple of your top places.

 

[Moko]

Also keep in mind that you don't need to go to a top program in order to get top-notch training.

 

[sargon2123]

Also keep in mind that you don't need to go to a top program in order to get top-notch training.

It certainly helps when it comes time to choose a location and negotiate a salary though