Residency options. Anesthesiology and IM.

[FattySlug]

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Hello,

My step 1 score came out today and I am disappointed with the results. I got 227. Definitely not my goal. Anyway so far the 2 specialties I am interested in are anesthesiology and IM. I just signed up for an anesthesiology elective a month ago to explore the field. Anyway, my question is this:

1) With my score am I pretty much out of the running for anesthesiology or IM in California? That's my home state and my family and friends are all there so I would really love to go back. I know that step 1 is only one part of application but I just want to know how damaging this score will be. Input from anyone would be appreciated.

2) Should I take step2 CK early to make up for this? I dug around the internet and found conflicting ideas about how important step2 CK is. Some say it is in the top 3 and another says it is 6 on the list.

3) What about away rotations? I spent the last 2 days reading on the forum and it seems like many people think it is important to do away to match for anesthesiology. If that is true would other programs look at where I do away rotation and think I don't like them as much? My score is weak for UCSD or UCLA so should I do away at those places or UCI to make sure I have a good shot?

 

[DermViser]

I'm pretty sure your score of 227 does NOT put you out of the running for Anesthesiology nor IM.

If you're that nervous about it, you can definitely study hard for USMLE Step 2 CK, which by then you'll have a lot of practice with the NBME shelf exams, Case Files, etc. to be able to hit it out of the park.

 

[boogaloo]

Hello,

My step 1 score came out today and I am disappointed with the results. I got 227. Definitely not my goal. Anyway so far the 2 specialties I am interested in are anesthesiology and IM. I just signed up for an anesthesiology elective a month ago to explore the field. Anyway, my question is this:

1) With my score am I pretty much out of the running for anesthesiology or IM in California? That's my home state and my family and friends are all there so I would really love to go back. I know that step 1 is only one part of application but I just want to know how damaging this score will be. Input from anyone would be appreciated.

2) Should I take step2 CK early to make up for this? I dug around the internet and found conflicting ideas about how important step2 CK is. Some say it is in the top 3 and another says it is 6 on the list.

Some of the west coast anesthesiology programs are pretty competitive (e.g., UCSF, Stanford, and UCLA), but if you apply broadly to the "smaller name" schools, I think you should be fine as long as you don't have any red flags. That being said, there are many other things from here on out that will affect how competitive you are for those programs. Try to do well in third year and on Step 2 CK, and get good letters. The rest isn't up to you.

 

[FattySlug]

I am really not aiming for anything elite. Just want a respectable program with good training in California so I can potentially do research or fellowship afterwards.

 

[boogaloo]

2) Should I take step2 CK early to make up for this? I dug around the internet and found conflicting ideas about how important step2 CK is. Some say it is in the top 3 and another says it is 6 on the list.

I think UCSF requires you to have your Step 2 CK score in by the time you apply. I'm not sure about the other schools. It will probably be a good thing to take it earlier rather than later.

I am really not aiming for anything elite. Just want a respectable program with good training in California so I can potentially do research or fellowship afterwards.

Fellowship opportunities are generally pretty good, but they're obviously better at the bigger name schools. I think almost all of the California programs are pretty decent, but you might want to do your research on recent changes in faculty, program directors, and fellowship match rates when you get close to deciding on where to go. Your Step score is right around average--that's a good, solid score for anesthesiology (and in general, IMO).

 

[secants]

I think you'll be fine. Anesthesia's competitiveness IMO was less than previous years and as long as you do well on Step 2 and do an away at a reachable program, you should be fine. That being said, UCSF/Stanford/UCLA are still pretty competitive to get an invite especially if you don't do an away with them.

 

[Raryn]

Hello,

My step 1 score came out today and I am disappointed with the results. I got 227. Definitely not my goal. Anyway so far the 2 specialties I am interested in are anesthesiology and IM. I just signed up for an anesthesiology elective a month ago to explore the field. Anyway, my question is this:

1) With my score am I pretty much out of the running for anesthesiology or IM in California? That's my home state and my family and friends are all there so I would really love to go back. I know that step 1 is only one part of application but I just want to know how damaging this score will be. Input from anyone would be appreciated.

2) Should I take step2 CK early to make up for this? I dug around the internet and found conflicting ideas about how important step2 CK is. Some say it is in the top 3 and another says it is 6 on the list.

1) I have no idea about anesthesia. That said, regarding IM:

There are more than thirty IM programs in CA. There is no passing score that puts you out of the running to do IM in CA, at least as a US grad.

The question is just how far down the list you're going to have to go, and the answer is, for your score: not THAT far. You're somewhere around the national average for Step 1, which is still a pretty respectable score for IM. You're probably not going to go to UCSF, Stanford, or UCLA. But I know numerous people (including myself) who had a scores at that level or below who got numerous CA interviews, sometimes 10+. You're in the running for programs ranging from university programs like USC or Davis to pretty darn good community programs like CPMC, UCLA Olive View/Harbor or other community programs like Alameda County, Stockton, Kern and everything in between. The question you'll run into is how much you want to go to a university program (as opposed to university affiliated or even straight community) versus how much you want to stay in CA.

 

[FattySlug]

1) I have no idea about anesthesia. That said, regarding IM:

There are more than thirty IM programs in CA. There is no passing score that puts you out of the running to do IM in CA, at least as a US grad.

The question is just how far down the list you're going to have to go, and the answer is, for your score: not THAT far. You're somewhere around the national average for Step 1, which is still a pretty respectable score for IM. You're probably not going to go to UCSF, Stanford, or UCLA. But I know numerous people (including myself) who had a scores at that level or below who got numerous CA interviews, sometimes 10+. You're in the running for programs ranging from university programs like USC or Davis to pretty darn good community programs like CPMC, UCLA Olive View/Harbor or other community programs like Alameda County, Stockton, Kern and everything in between. The question you'll run into is how much you want to go to a university program (as opposed to university affiliated or even straight community) versus how much you want to stay in CA.

Since you sound like you matched recently can you comment on the competitiveness of UCI IM program or UCSD? My family lives close by and UCI is probably my number 1 choice at the moment. When you did your research for individual residency, what are your sources? Their website is obviously not saying much.

 

[Raryn]

Since you sound like you matched recently can you comment on the competitiveness of UCI IM program or UCSD? My family lives close by and UCI is probably my number 1 choice at the moment. When you did your research for individual residency, what are your sources? Their website is obviously not saying much.

There's no objective measure of competitiveness. Word of mouth (in person and on SDN) will give you a rough measure, as will looking at the composition of residents at the program (hint: if they're all graduates of top 20 US med schools, its a more competitive program).

Roughly, I can say that UCLA>UCSD>UCI. UCI is probably in the next tier down in southern california. So about comparable to USC, cedars, scripps green. Below that you're probably at loma linda, harbor and olive view. Some people would even put UCI with that grouping. Note: There's at least 2-3 more "tiers" below that. There's a LOT of programs in so cal.

And my rankings are more gut than anything. You could easily convince yourself of just about any ranking. There's a thread in the IM forums going on for a few pages on whether or not USC is awesome or a total POS, and both camps were pretty well entrenched.

Either way, a 227 for a US grad leaves you plenty competitive for everything listed above except UCLA/UCSD. That doesn't mean you're guaranteed an interview, it just means you're not excluded.

(If you were to somehow get @gutonc or @jdh71 in this thread, you'd probably get at least 4 additional opinions regarding ranking just from the two of them. But it really doesn't matter)

 

[DermViser]

There's no objective measure of competitiveness. Word of mouth (in person and on SDN) will give you a rough measure, as will looking at the composition of residents at the program (hint: if they're all graduates of top 20 US med schools, its a more competitive program).

Roughly, I can say that UCLA>UCSD>UCI. UCI is probably in the next tier down in southern california. So about comparable to USC, cedars, scripps green. Below that you're probably at loma linda, harbor and olive view. Some people would even put UCI with that grouping. Note: There's at least 2-3 more "tiers" below that. There's a LOT of programs in so cal.

And my rankings are more gut than anything. You could easily convince yourself of just about any ranking. There's a thread in the IM forums going on for a few pages on whether or not USC is awesome or a total POS, and both camps were pretty well entrenched.

Either way, a 227 for a US grad leaves you plenty competitive for everything listed above except UCLA/UCSD. That doesn't mean you're guaranteed an interview, it just means you're not excluded.

(If you were to somehow get @gutonc or @jdh71 in this thread, you'd probably get at least 4 additional opinions regarding ranking just from the two of them. But it really doesn't matter)

USC's IM program has changed a LOT. It used to be nearly all IMG grads. It's now all American grads.

 

[Raryn]

USC's IM program has changed a LOT. It used to be nearly all IMG grads. It's now all American grads.

Oh, I know all that. I interviewed there and was really impressed by the program. Just saying, opinions can vary widely.

 

[FattySlug]

3) What about away rotations? I spent the last 2 days reading on the forum and it seems like many people think it is important to do away to match for anesthesiology. If that is true would other programs look at where I do away rotation and think I don't like them as much? My score is weak for UCSD or UCLA so should I do away at those places or UCI to make sure I have a good shot?

 

[Priapism4tooLong]

3) What about away rotations? I spent the last 2 days reading on the forum and it seems like many people think it is important to do away to match for anesthesiology. If that is true would other programs look at where I do away rotation and think I don't like them as much? My score is weak for UCSD or UCLA so should I do away at those places or UCI to make sure I have a good shot?

Def not. 227 doesn't put you out of the running for ANYTHING. Dominate step 2 and you can be back in the running again easily. UCLA's IM program is great, i interviewed there myself. Also, do away rotations where you want to go, i got an interview at nearly all the places i did away rotations.


EDIT: the reason i say 227 doesn't put you out the running is because i know people who have scored in 230s and matched into ortho. Their step 2 score were 240+ though. But don't let 227 put you down.

But you should probably delete your SDN account.