Research Year Between M2/M3?

[Bones&Bourbon]

Hi all,

I'm an MS2 currently slated to take Step 1 in April, but have faired pretty poorly on my CBSE's thus far. I learned the material well enough to score highly on our pre-clinical exams, but didn't use Anki/actively review the material following the exams; so, I'm stuck essentially trying to relearn previous material while also trying to learn new material that my school doesn't explicitly cover (e.g. biochem, cell bio, etc.).

Truthfully I'm not sure there's enough time for me to study the material in the depth required to achieve my goal score (250+). Because of this, I'm considering taking a year-long leave of absence - using the first two to three months to explicitly study for the exam, as I feel confident that if given the time to review it adequately, I can hit my goal - followed by using the remaining months dedicated to research with the intent of publishing 10-15 papers (my home institution has a robust research department that could support these lofty aspirations).

I was curious as to whether this would be feasible, or if anyone who had done anything similar had any feedback. Thanks in advance!

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[thatchemguy]

I don't think your school would even allow a leave of absence for a reason like this, those are usually for extenuating circumstances. And a traditional research year is usually between M3 and M4.

A couple of points here:
1) Are you able to push the exam date back at all?
2) It's normal to do poorly in CBSEs since you have yet to really hammer in content and questions that normally takes place during dedicated. Obviously there are different learning methods suitable for everyone, but have you reevaluated why your results have been poor? Have you considered meeting with your school's academic assistance program to create a structured schedule for Step1? I'm not sure how you define "poor" scores, but massive improvements are usually made on the CBSEs/NBMEs etc. once you're closer to finishing dedicated.
3) Consider tempering your expectations. 250+ is a very difficult score to achieve, and of course you should aim high, but don't hyperfocus on the goal score and then get demoralized during your studying.

 

[AzBasRad]

Disagree with the above.

If a you are gunning for a competitive speciality, 250+ Step 1 and 10-15 pubs will set up with an excellent residency app, provided you don't bomb third year clinical.

 

[thatchemguy]

Disagree with the above.

If a you are gunning for a competitive speciality, 250+ Step 1 and 10-15 pubs will set up with an excellent residency app, provided you don't bomb third year clinical.

Lol of course I agree with that. I just don't think he can take a leave of absence to study for the exam but I could be wrong.

 

[Bones&Bourbon]

For added context: my most recent CBSE was a 169. Granted, I haven't done nearly any formal reviewing thus far. I'll have six weeks of dedicated study time, and while I've heard that is plenty (and even too much time for some people) when religiously using UFAPS, I'm skeptical. Truthfully while a 250+ is my "ideal" score, I'd be content with anything above a 240+ seeing as the research component of my CV will be fairly strong at the time of my application.

 

[thatchemguy]

For added context: my most recent CBSE was a 169. Granted, I haven't done nearly any formal reviewing thus far. I'll have six weeks of dedicated study time, and while I've heard that is plenty (and even too much time for some people) when religiously using UFAPS, I'm skeptical. Truthfully while a 250+ is my "ideal" score, I'd be content with anything above a 240+ seeing as the research component of my CV will be fairly strong at the time of my application.

You will more than likely be fine. Most of my classmates also scored around that on our CBSE earlier this month. If you put the work in during dedicated, you'll see the results you want. You also said you scored highly on in class exams, so your clinical base knowledge is there - you just need to do questions to recall and consolidate it.

 

[Frogger27]

Disagree with the above.

If a you are gunning for a competitive speciality, 250+ Step 1 and 10-15 pubs will set up with an excellent residency app, provided you don't bomb third year clinical.

Except, there’s no guarantee of getting a 250+ Step 1 and 10-15 pubs...

 

[Frogger27]

For added context: my most recent CBSE was a 169. Granted, I haven't done nearly any formal reviewing thus far. I'll have six weeks of dedicated study time, and while I've heard that is plenty (and even too much time for some people) when religiously using UFAPS, I'm skeptical. Truthfully while a 250+ is my "ideal" score, I'd be content with anything above a 240+ seeing as the research component of my CV will be fairly strong at the time of my application.

You’ll be surprised how much you improve during dedicated. 6 months is plenty. Get this research year thing out of your head and focus on crushing step 1.

EDIT: 6 weeks not 6 months

 

[Bones&Bourbon]

You’ll be surprised how much you improve during dedicated. 6 months is plenty. Get this research year thing out of your head and focus on crushing step 1.

6 months would be a luxury; the reality is 6 weeks lol

 

[AzBasRad]

Lol of course I agree with that. I just don't think he can take a leave of absence to study for the exam but I could be wrong.

Its possible at my school, although one needs to prove that they aren't doing well on practice exams (eg <210)

 

[AzBasRad]

Except, there’s no guarantee of getting a 250+ Step 1 and 10-15 pubs...

Of course not!

Scoring 250 is difficult by not impossible with the right plan and resources. Similarly, 10+ pubs isn't unheard of from certain productive clinical research labs used to taking students for gap year (I assumed OP was talking about such labs). If OP takes the gap year between M2 and M3 and joins such as lab, they will have more time for pubs to come out by the time ERAS apps are due.

 

[M&L]

Well next year is pass fail ...

 

[Frogger27]

6 months would be a luxury; the reality is 6 weeks lol

Typo. I meant 6 weeks. 6 weeks is a ton of time. You’ll probably be trying to move your test up a week. All my friends took 4-5 weeks. I took 6. The last week was as absolute drag, I was hemorrhaging information and I think got a lower score than I would have with 4-5 weeks of studying. There is a point of diminishing returns

 

[Redpancreas]

See where you are 2-3 weeks before the exam. If you're scoring <210 on your NBMEs consider taking time off. I scored >250 on the real deal, but 220 on my last NBME. UWSAs were more correlative. Avoid speculation now though, 169 is completely fine given you haven't had time to consolidate anything.

 

[Bones&Bourbon]

Truthfully my biggest concern isn't so much reviewing the material I've already learned (e.g. material from our systems-based modules), but more so covering the material that isn't explicitly covered in our curriculum (biochem, cell bio, biostats/epidemiology, etc.). Here's to hoping that pixorize is as useful as people say!

 

[Frogger27]

Truthfully my biggest concern isn't so much reviewing the material I've already learned (e.g. material from our systems-based modules), but more so covering the material that isn't explicitly covered in our curriculum (biochem, cell bio, biostats/epidemiology, etc.). Here's to hoping that pixorize is as useful as people say!

That stuff will take you a couple of days to review max.... seriously if you did well in med school and know your systems (+ pharm and micro) you will do well

 

[drducky.]

Another thing to consider is that if you delay graduation, you’ll be applying with the class of 2024 where 99% of them won’t have a step 1 score. At that point, pd’s would have probably move their bar to step 2 already.