Research conference during dedicated--worth it?

[Bubbles0523]

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I'm not sure if this is the right place for this tread, so please redirect me if needed!

Long story short, big research conference is 5.5 weeks before my set STEP 1 date (during my first week of dedicated time). It's only a 2 hour flight away, but I can't decide if this will throw off my studying ultimately impact my STEP 1 score. It'll likely take 2 days of out my study time + any time I might need to prepare (hard to gauge at this point). Any thoughts? Is a first author poster presentation at a big conference worth taking a couple days out of my dedicated time?

 

[deleted610572]

I'm contemplating the same conference for the same reason. Love to hear what people think

 

[Bubbles0523]

I'm contemplating the same conference for the same reason. Love to hear what people think

I knew I couldn't be the only one with this problem! Are you going to submit an abstract regardless?

 

[deleted610572]

I knew I couldn't be the only one with this problem! Are you going to submit an abstract regardless?

My The doc I'm working with is really pushing me to do a poster so that I can start networking. If it doesn't work out then he said we might look into submitting it somewhere else. He wants me to get FaceTime

 

[muhali3]

I recommend going. 5 full weeks is a lot of time to study for step.

 

[Smurfette]

If you plan ahead in your study schedule to go, I don't know how it would be an issue. It's not like the conference is right before your test date---you'll have over a month to go. Everyone has some non-productive days.
I would recommend not planning to get anything done those 2 days and consider it a bonus if you do.

 

[sloop]

If there's something you want to do, do it. I studied for 6 wks for step 1 and I felt like a lot of the last 2 weeks were studying to avoid losing knowledge. People freak out about this test (understandably so) but you really don't have to put everything on hold for it.

 

[ortnakas]

That far out is fine. Download some Goljan lectures for the plane ride.

I was in a wedding a few weeks before my USMLE and I don't think it had too much of an impact. (And even if I lost a few points, the couple is important enough to me that it was worth it)

 

[evilbooyaa]

Worth it, IMO, especially given how far out it is from your test date.

Is your mentor going to be there? It's a huge bonus if he/she is so they can introduce you to whichever big names they know. Less useful if you go by yourself although a 1st author poster isn't anything to sneeze at, and you may end up meeting people of some importance who come to wander by.

 

[Bubbles0523]

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[Bubbles0523]

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[evilbooyaa]

Mentor will be there along with the department chair/ residency director/residents/ and other faculty (department is medium size and they basically send everyone lol).

Important. Stick with the residents as they meet other PDs/Chairs. Mention your name (first and last if you can without looking like a weirdo), mention that you're the MS2 looking to go into ophtho. Somehow mention you have a 1st author poster, again, without being a weirdo.

I would definitely go.

 

[medstud268]

Go for sure. If you're worried about step, you can definitely study first aid on the plane and at the hotel if you stay there for a night or so. Its a great opportunity to make connections, but at some of these bigger conferences, in my experience its a little awkward if you don't have someone there to make the first introduction. You said all your mentors and faculty will be there, so go, kill that ****, and get a mental break from worrying about step.

Furthermore, I honestly don't think it'll affect your step score. We had a couple of kids who went to conferences around the same time frame you are talking about before their exam if not even closer. One got somewhere well north of 265 and I'm sure the other person also did really well.

 

[nlax30]

 

[Bubbles0523]

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