Step 1 = 214, time to consider another residency?

[robotech]

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Well folks, congrats to all who finished and did well on step 1. I'm mired in disappointment with my score and seek some of your opinions. I wanted to hit the 220 mark as that seems to be an unofficial cutoff for GS from my research

My stats:

-Upper third of class at a mid-tier allopathic school
-Published with distinguished surgeon in our network
-Just started 3rd year clerkships (working hard and getting good feedback)
-Goal: categorical at any gen surg residency in the Pacific (CA,WA,OR) region

Sorry to bring such a downtrodden tone, but any realistic chances with the above scenario?

Thanks! Love to SDNers as always.

 

[Pir8DeacDoc]

You are fine.. You won't have your pick of places but you'll get a spot at a University program. I'm told by our people here that applications for surgery have gone up, but not necessarily from qualified people. It seems folks who wouldn't have made the cut in the past are giving it a go. Keep your chin up, I know someone at my school last year who failed step I and ended up at a very nice program.

 

[TheThroat]

Well folks, congrats to all who finished and did well on step 1. I'm mired in disappointment with my score and seek some of your opinions. I wanted to hit the 220 mark as that seems to be an unofficial cutoff for GS from my research

My stats:

-Upper third of class at a mid-tier allopathic school
-Published with distinguished surgeon in our network
-Just started 3rd year clerkships (working hard and getting good feedback)
-Goal: categorical at any gen surg residency in the Pacific (CA,WA,OR) region

Sorry to bring such a downtrodden tone, but any realistic chances with the above scenario?

Thanks! Love to SDNers as always.

Do not give up yet! I know a guy who got into Oto with a sub 210 step 1 score. You must keep up the research and do well on your rotations. Finally, you must consider doing your residency at ANY geographic location. If you think about it, you are a plane flight away from where you want to be. I am in Iowa and spend 2 vacation weeks out of my alotted 3 to see family in Texas. If you really want to be a surgeon, you've got to be willing to spend 5 years in a non ideal location to get there. You can move back to the Pacific after residency is over.

 

[GenSurg]

I'm a categorical resident on the west coast and still believe that even with the increase in applicants and fewer unmatched spots, general surgery is not that competitive. There are other fields that seem to attract the top medical students from every class.

General surgery is quite reachable with sub 220 Step I scores. You have published research that looks quite good on a CV. The west coast is possibly more competitive than midwest sites, but I'm willing to bet that many residents have average board scores.

There is more than board scores that go into resident selection. Letters of recommendation and a phone call from your PD to your #1 choice is much more important IMO. Board scores may get you an interview, but after that doesn't mean much. Work hard as a third year student, get to know the surgeons at your program and consider an away rotation at a program on the west coast. Letters of recommendation will go a long way. Good luck.

http://www.freeiPods.com/?r=20049323

 

[Celiac Plexus]

havong seen the summary of applicant stats to my (probably mid-tier from a research standpoint) university program last year, i would say that a 214 is not a deal-killer. the people we ranked in the upper third of our list had 220+ scores with the top 20 or so people being in the 225-235 range with one exception who had a 208. the 208 person had fantastic letters from friends of our chair.

i agree with the above poster who thinks recs and phone calls are the most important factor.

that said, a 214 will not eliminate you from consideration. apply to a wide range of programs, and apply to a wider geographic area, and you will have a pretty reasonable shot of matching. i think that the number of competitive applicants to gs actually has increased, as well as the number of less competitive applicants. it's not really the numbers of the whole group of applicants that determines competitiveness anyway. after the number of applicants exceeds ~1050 for gs, it really doesn't matter what the stats are of the 400 or more applicants who didn't match was. it's only important what the stats are of the matched group. and 214 is probably on the lower range of the matched group, but probably not out of that range. there are ~1050 spots for gs every year, so there is wiggle space for people to get in. unlike rad onc for example which has ~100 spaces...

best of luck.

 

[15Blade]

one of the first year categoricals our chairman took this year had just barely above a 180 on step 1......keep your head up, anything is possible.

 

[fourthyear]

Someone should outlaw these "what are my chances" threads - I don't see the purpose - they either make people hopeless (lots of people would be happy with a 214 until they read this thread), or give over confidence (b/c, honestly, not a lot of people match GS with a barely above 180 either).

I matched 3 yrs ago (the first year of this upswing of competetiveness) with a less than 200 score...but everyone has heard of someone who is AOA with some outrageously high test score that didn't match - this hearsay means nothing in your personal chances of matching.

As I have said before - apply to lots of programs, various levels of competetiveness, go to as many interviews as you can possibly travel to, and anyone has a chance.

To answer your original question...no, it's not time to choose another residency - if you love surgery, regardless of your scores or grades or whatever, go for it. You won't know if you have a chance until you put yourself in that application pool and try. And you don't want to spend the rest of your life wondering if you could have done it but didn't do it only b/c you were in fear of not getting chosen based on some propaganda posted on this website.

 

[Vincristine]

I agree with forthyear. Everyone has chances. Do an away, get good letters, be a good person.

My step 1: 207, step 2: 214, but I had fabulous letters, work my ass off, and people like me. (And gosh darn it, I'm good enough.)