Old img and 1 failed step 1 attempt

[doclovebugcali]

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Hi,

I graduated from medical school in Pakistan in 2000. I attempted Step 1 in 2002 and got 71. I continued to work in Pakistan as a resident. I moved to USA in 2006 and worked a couple of months in pathology research and got a letter of recommendation from the professor. I have been unemployed since november, 2009. I am disabled (psychiatric condition) and receiving social security and barely surviving.

My questions are :

1. Should I re-attempt Step 1?

2. Do I have any chance to match if I pass Steps?

3. I recently became a US Citizen. I am unmarried. How do these factors play out in trying to match?

4. I just did 20 UWorld respiratory physiology questions (no particular reason for picking respiratory physiology) without studying and got 13 right. is that a good sign?

5. I would like to get into an IM, Pathology or Psychiatry residency program? what are my chances? any specifically recommended programs/locations?

6. I have tried to find any observorships but not found any in southern california. What kind of work or experience can I get that would help me?

7. I have all A's and a couple of B's in my clinical rotations and have the transcript. does that help?

8. In the event that I get considered and called for an interview (fingers crossed), what should I tell them regarding the time from 2006 till I get called for interview? My cousin who is an oncology fellow says tell them the truth that you were disabled and get a letter from my doctor saying I could not work. What is your advice?

9. I have tried reading FA but not been able to understand/remember a lot of it. I have kaplan lecture notes 2009. I am weak in ALL subjects/areas. Should I stick to FA and annotating it with UWorld questions to get a decent score?

10. What is UWSA? would you recommend I check it out?

If I can think of anything more (phew!) I'll ask later in the thread. I hope some of you can help, and good luck!

 

[cage92]

hey yes you can do step1 and no one can know that you have failed bcz you did it in 2002 and bcz you are old graduate you should build a basic for step1 begin with kaplan is a good idea plus you have a us citizen so you have a great chance with some good score 230 to enter psych or internal medicine programm

 

[doclovebugcali]

hey yes you can do step1 and no one can know that you have failed bcz you did it in 2002 and bcz you are old graduate you should build a basic for step1 begin with kaplan is a good idea plus you have a us citizen so you have a great chance with some good score 230 to enter psych or internal medicine programm

Thanks cage92! I don't know why you say no one will know I failed it in 2002 because when I check the ECFMG/ERAS website it still shows I failed when I log into my username.

My cousin also said I try to do some short course like medical transcription and then work from home (part of my disability is that I cannot step out), and then I can tell the residency people that that's what I started doing after 3 years of nothing.

Have you done USMLE step1? how many attempts and what was your score? what about residency? Are you a US medical student or IMG?

 

[Greenbayslacker]

Hi,

I graduated from medical school in Pakistan in 2000. I attempted Step 1 in 2002 and got 71.

do you mean a 171?

 

[calvnandhobbs68]

do you mean a 171?

He means the two digit score (I'm assuming). For some reason most of the imgs like to reference the two digit score instead of the three digit even though it doesn't actually mean anything. That's why you'll see people talking about trying to get a "99".

 

[doclovebugcali]

do you mean a 171?

No I think it was a 182 or something. The 71 was the 2-digit score