NEW USMLE Format and Results

[lovebug]

I am posting for one of my friends who is an IMG and passed USMLE in the 1st attempt and is wondering if he can get into any IM, IM/FP or IM/Peds residency program at all with scores of 196/80 and 250/99 in parts 1 and 2, respectively. Passed CSA also and has shadowing experience for 8 months in the US.

The guy is depressed about his part 1 score although I tell him its a pass and should be glad for it. I guess uni programs are out for him but he is wondering if there are any chances in a community hospital or uni-affiliated hospital with those scores. Has great reco letters.

Can anyone please post if there is any chance of an IMG getting into a residency with the above scores. He is apparently among the top students in his class but took the part 1 exam when he was sick. Stupid thing to do IMO.

Any thoughts from anyone about this would be appreciated. Thanks.

---

Members don't see this ad.

 

[Phospholipid]

What school did your friend go to. I'am a pre-med so take my advice with a grain of salt. The step 2 score is great, but it tends to not have as much weight as step 1, nonetheless his step 2 score will definately help him.

 

[lovebug]

Thanks for the reply. He went to a well known government university in India called Gandhi medical college.

Some people say that step 2 matters a lot because it is the clinical knowledge that is important but others say what you said. Its hard to know which is true but IMO it may depend on the entire application itself rather than a single score. I know some IMGs with 99/99 who did not match this year. So who knows what each program looks at?

If anyone knows about how important the step 1 scores truly are compared to step 2, would like to hear from them. Thanks.

 

[a817]

post this on Internal medicine residency forum, you will get a better response. right under this "the Caribbeans med school forum".

 

[basupran]

That step 2 more than makes up for the step 1. Look for an fmg friendly program, ie robert packer hospital, norwalk hospital, flushing hospital.... do a search on fmg friendly programs.

 

[McGillGrad]

The step 2 score is great but it will probably not make up for the step 1 score considering that he is an Indian FMG.

With that being said, a community hospital that is FMG friendly would probably take him.

He just needs to apply wisely.

 

[lovebug]

Thanks to everyone who posted.

 

[dragonfly99]

Well, I'm an internal med doctor but not an IMG, so take this with a grain of salt.
First of all, congrats on the Step 2 score. That is quite good. Your friend kicked my butt, by the way! Would think Step 1 would hurt him/her some, but Step 2 is more important. It would be worse to do poorly on Step 2 but do well on Step 1. Would think the US clinical experience would help his application.
My advice would be apply to residencies that have historically taken students from his/her school in India. I would think he would have a shot. Family practice is easier to get in to than internal medicine, but then you don't really have a chance to specialize later. You can always apply to both. Pediatrics I don't know...might be easier than IM but harder than fam. practice?

Anyway, just go for it and see what happens. I don't think the low Step 1 score is "the kiss of death". The fact is, fewer and fewer US medical students are choosing primary care fields like internal medicine, so there are spots out there.

Your friend may like to consider programs outside of large US cities, if he doesn't mind living in a small town. It costs less to live there and sometimes there is less stress (less traffic, sometimes friendlier people). Of course there are not as many cultural opportunities in these places (i.e. not many museums, not as many restaurants, etc.). Or try large cities but outside of the US east and west coasts...these programs don't get as many applications.

 

[lovebug]

Thanks a lot everyone. My friend found a few recent IMGs (08 match) in uni programs and uni affiliated programs who got in with low 80s for step 1 and low 90s in Step 2.

Thus it looks like there are programs out there that still look at the entire application and there those that look only at scores. So, applying wisely and doing extensive research appears to be the way to go when it comes to the residency match process!