pathology out of the question for me?

[ironsky]

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Hello, I'm wondering if pathology is a career option for me being as so much emphasis is placed on Step1 scores. I scored 207. The rest of my application is pretty standard, American med school, pass in all first two year courses, research in pathology with one co-author publication.

Thanks for any advice.

 

[yaah]

You passed. In a sense, that's the most important thing. 50% of test takers get below the average, after all. Some bigger name programs might not grant you an interview based on step I score, but your AMG status, solid academic record, and research will outweigh that for many. I suspect you will do just fine. If you are worried, you can cast a wide net with applications and see. If you start getting lots of interviews, you can always cancel ones you don't care for as much.

 

[Sean2tall]

Agreed, I wouldn't panic. I matched this year at what I consider to be an excellent residency program and had a Step 1 score a few points lower than that. The pathology research would certainly help. Hopefully you will be able to get some honors on rotations and you should be all set. Some of the more elite programs seemed to turn me down on the basis of that score, but other "high tier" programs did not. So, in summary, don't be afraid to apply to even some high tier programs. I was surprised by some of the places that I received interviews. I could have applied to more, had I known it was not such a reach. But I am extremely happy where I ended up.

 

[ironsky]

Thanks Yaah and Sean2Tall, that is so good to hear. Sean2Tall, congratulations. I was reading about community programs last night and noticed you interviewed at Baptist-Birmingham, from what I read it sounds like a solid and friendly program. I think I'm going to do an away rotation there, along with Baylor-Dallas. We'll see how it goes.