nontraditional pathway a problem?

[suckerfree]

Hi,

I'm a 3rd year US MD student very interested in pathology. I'm currently halfway through my 3rd year and have only OB, Peds, and surgery remaining. I scored 214 on my Step I and straight passed all preclinicals. My issue though is this...after the death of a parent, I decided to stay in school but cut back to half time during my 2nd year, thus med school for me will have been 5 years duration. Is this going to be a problem for me? If I do well in 4th year path electives and get good recs, will I be able to make it into the pathology field if I'm willing to go anywhere for residency?

Thanks!

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[yaah]

I highly doubt you will have a problem - there are LOTS of med students who take extra time to finish med school these days. I would say as long as you have a legitimate explanation (which you appear to) it is not going to matter at all. Some people will ask, many others won't even notice the discrepancy between when you started and finished. Your scores are not that high but scores are only part of the application - talk to someone in pathology and get advice on a personal level, get good reference letters, etc.

 

[suckerfree]

Thanks!

Will a high step II be especially helpful in compensating the lower step I score? Should I be worried about that kind of a step I score?

 

[mmed]

High step2 score for sure will compensate. But your step1 score is not that bad to find good pathology program. Few programs require 90 and above in both steps.

 

[suckerfree]

Thank you for the responses. I certainly agree that there are differences between great programs and not so great programs, but I don't know if there is anything such as a bad program in the U.S. My main concern is getting into ANY program because I have become very passionate about pathology in the last few months, especially after doing my internal medicine clerkship (as weird as that may sound). Is 214 really going to create difficulties for me if my main goal is only to get into any program and I'm willing to relocate anywhere?

Thanks!

 

[yaah]

I would avoid any program that never seems to have any american medical graduates. That is not a slam on foreign medical graduates for anyone who can't tell.