Step 2 requirements for interviews/ranking?

[getunconcsious]

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Hey all,
Just a quick question about path residency and those who have already matched. I did very well on step 1 (240's) and thus would like to delay Step 2 for as long as possible. But do a lot of places require CK to give out interviews? My plan was going to be to take it in December, but should I take it sooner? I wanted to put it off b/c July and August are my Path electives from which I need letters, September is my AI and October is required ICU month. I know I probably should have put these latter 2 off, but I just refuse to have them hanging over my head after October (should be my very last inpatient rotation, EVER!).

As far as Step 2 CS, I really really wanted to put it off to the last weekend in February b/c that's my ambulatory family practice rotation, but some programs seem to require it for ranking. When do I need to take it for scores to be back in time for ranking? Are there any progs that DON'T require it for ranking? I don't do well with SP's, and since I decided on path my assessments and plans are total jokes, and will only get worse b/c all I have between now and February is 2 months of surgery, 4 months of Path, the ICU month, and my AI is in Neurology. None of these will be good preparation for CS at all. The soonest rotation that would be useful for it is the family med one in february 2009. The point being, I judge myself to be in very grave danger of being among the 5% of AMG's that don't pass CS if I take it any sooner than that.



Any advice much appreciated! 😀😀😀😀

 

[Arctic Char]

CS =

 

[Arctic Char]

CS makes me nauseas just thinking about it. hope fully i can schedule it for the end of september, but i have to wait until i have $1200 to puke up before i can schedule anything.

i have heard that one must have CS reported by january in order to submit your rank list. but that may just be for IMG's . . .

 

[Arctic Char]

CS makes me nauseas just thinking about it. hope fully i can schedule it for the end of september, but i have to wait until i have $1200 to puke up before i can schedule anything.

i have heard that one must have CS reported by january in order to submit your rank list. but that may just be for IMG's . . .

yeah, roger that: that deadline is just for us "foreigners"

 

[gbwillner]

Hey all,
Just a quick question about path residency and those who have already matched. I did very well on step 1 (240's) and thus would like to delay Step 2 for as long as possible. But do a lot of places require CK to give out interviews? My plan was going to be to take it in December, but should I take it sooner? I wanted to put it off b/c July and August are my Path electives from which I need letters, September is my AI and October is required ICU month. I know I probably should have put these latter 2 off, but I just refuse to have them hanging over my head after October (should be my very last inpatient rotation, EVER!).

As far as Step 2 CS, I really really wanted to put it off to the last weekend in February b/c that's my ambulatory family practice rotation, but some programs seem to require it for ranking. When do I need to take it for scores to be back in time for ranking? Are there any progs that DON'T require it for ranking? I don't do well with SP's, and since I decided on path my assessments and plans are total jokes, and will only get worse b/c all I have between now and February is 2 months of surgery, 4 months of Path, the ICU month, and my AI is in Neurology. None of these will be good preparation for CS at all. The soonest rotation that would be useful for it is the family med one in february 2009. The point being, I judge myself to be in very grave danger of being among the 5% of AMG's that don't pass CS if I take it any sooner than that.



Any advice much appreciated! 😀😀😀😀

Take CS ASAP because it sucks to schedule and if you run into any problems you may have a problem if you take it too late. February is probably after the cut-off of when you should take it... Make sure you register for it NOW and sign up for Feb or earlier. I took it in March, and if I did not pass I would have been SCREWED since I did not get the results until April 20th, and then it would have been nearly impossible to schedule again before July.

CK is not a big deal, and since you did well on Step I I think delaying this until the interview season is a good idea. I didn't take step II until March 30, and I only had 1 PD ask me about it (granted it was MGH since they have had a "problem" before...). Just make sure it is SCHEDULED before interviews so you can tell them WHEN you'll take it.
While it's true you will likely do WORSE on the test if you post-pone, it really doesn't matter because you'll have matched before the results anyway and thus it can't hurt you unless you fail. Some people need this score since they have crappy Step I scores- but this isn't your problem. You can do what I did and study for a week with USMLEworld and you'll be OK enough to pass. Just shoot for that 184...

Good luck!

 

[getunconcsious]

Thanks for the advise. I feel that I will be fine on the CK since I have done ok on shelf exams this year. But it's the CS that I'm really scared of. It's been 2 months already since I was even asked to think about ddx, assessment, plan, etc. I thought surgery would be helpful but it isn't (at least not surg. onc)
Assessment: Patient has a tumor
Plan: Cut it out

But maybe I don't really need any good real life practice to take CS? Those of you who took it was it enough to just cram the CS first aid?

 

[docbiohazard]

I don't remember much about CS. I think I crammed First Aid for CS the day before. The little mini-cases were golden, as well as the approach to the patients and what not. Introduction, hand washing, summarization, asking if they have any other questions... the writing part, I almost always had problems running out of room and worried about "non-standard" abbreviations. I passed. It's tough to judge because its pass / fail so no one can tell you if they did really great or just barely passed.

The cases I've heard of people failing the CS have been people who seem to have some severe axis II action going on, although I have also heard of perfectly normal people failing it - but more rarely. If you're not a total freak thats going to scare your SPs, you should come out ok.

I'm currently freaking out about Step 3. 😛

BH

 

[gbwillner]

I don't remember much about CS. I think I crammed First Aid for CS the day before. The little mini-cases were golden, as well as the approach to the patients and what not. Introduction, hand washing, summarization, asking if they have any other questions... the writing part, I almost always had problems running out of room and worried about "non-standard" abbreviations. I passed. It's tough to judge because its pass / fail so no one can tell you if they did really great or just barely passed.

The cases I've heard of people failing the CS have been people who seem to have some severe axis II action going on, although I have also heard of perfectly normal people failing it - but more rarely. If you're not a total freak thats going to scare your SPs, you should come out ok.

I'm currently freaking out about Step 3. 😛

BH

Agreed that CS sucks in particular because you never really know how you did, and when you hear of people failing it's always puzzling and they tell you they did the same thing as everyone else.

However, there are a couple of mistakes I've seen people do that results in them failing.

1) they spend too much time on unneccessary physical exams
2) they spend too much time on non-relevant history
3) ** they forget to "summerize" their findings and have a treatment plan for the patient, and ask the patient if they have any questions** THIS IS BIG
4) go slow and run out of time

It seems that FMGs typically have poor communication skills, but AMGs mess up the note or the above.

I basically pretended I was in FM clinic and I did fine- but I agree that First Aid is critical for review. I went over it for 3-4 days, went over all the mini-mini cases and then about 1/3 of the "mini-cases" in the back.

 

[docbiohazard]

I don't remember if this was in First Aid or not, but my absolute favorite CS question was to ask them if there was "anything else" bothering them before getting to summarizing and asking if they had questions. I found in general the CS SPs to be far more "giving" in terms of volunteering info when given the chance vs. the SPs at my school, who seemed to make a game out of trying to withhold information from you...

BH

 

[neurotrancer]

1) STEP 2 CS BLUEPRINTS >>> STEP 2 CS FIRST AID

2) I interviewed at many of the best pathology programs in the country, all I had was step I (average score), average clerkship grades, but excellent letters of rec, excellent experiences during undergraduate and 4th year that would prepare me for pathology, and I have a genuine love and interest in the subject and profession. My step 2 CK and CS scores were available only after the match, yet I have received letters from top programs post match telling me that I would have matched with them had I not chosen another residency above them.

I think if you can provide evidence that you have a genuine love of learning and love of pathology, that you are a hard and independent worker, and that you will be able to get along well with the people that you will work with, these characteristics are far superior than just having above average board scores.

 

[docbiohazard]

I think if you can provide evidence that you have a genuine love of learning and love of pathology, that you are a hard and independent worker, and that you will be able to get along well with the people that you will work with, these characteristics are far superior than just having above average board scores.

Sure, but above average board scores never hurt.

BH

 

[neurotrancer]

if you have the above mentioned personal characteristics, and you have high step I and step II scores, then you should think about the top programs - MGH, Johns Hopkins, etc. Path is not that competitive I think compared to the other specialties so MD graduates who are "average" for competitive specialties like rads, etc. are excellent for path. Of course, that's given you have a genuine interest in path. I had heard on so many of the interviews from interviewers that genuine interest in pathology is something they really, really value. Peace!

 

[deleted57552]

Hey all,
Just a quick question about path residency and those who have already matched. I did very well on step 1 (240's) and thus would like to delay Step 2 for as long as possible. But do a lot of places require CK to give out interviews? My plan was going to be to take it in December, but should I take it sooner? I wanted to put it off b/c July and August are my Path electives from which I need letters, September is my AI and October is required ICU month. I know I probably should have put these latter 2 off, but I just refuse to have them hanging over my head after October (should be my very last inpatient rotation, EVER!).

As far as Step 2 CS, I really really wanted to put it off to the last weekend in February b/c that's my ambulatory family practice rotation, but some programs seem to require it for ranking. When do I need to take it for scores to be back in time for ranking? Are there any progs that DON'T require it for ranking? I don't do well with SP's, and since I decided on path my assessments and plans are total jokes, and will only get worse b/c all I have between now and February is 2 months of surgery, 4 months of Path, the ICU month, and my AI is in Neurology. None of these will be good preparation for CS at all. The soonest rotation that would be useful for it is the family med one in february 2009. The point being, I judge myself to be in very grave danger of being among the 5% of AMG's that don't pass CS if I take it any sooner than that.



Any advice much appreciated! 😀😀😀😀

Your step 1 score is very good. Delay step 2 as much as possible. Good step 2 scores are important if you did poorly on Step 1. Given your situation, just pass step 2 but take it late so that a worse score will not have the chance of hurting your application.

 

[DarksideAllstar]

Just to reiterate: delay your 2CK til Jan/Feb, take CS ASAP.

I also had a step 1 score similar to yours, and I waited to take CK until February-- it didn't affect my rank at all. I waited until March to take CS and I didn't get my score until like 2 weeks before residency started, which really sucked @ss since you never know how you will fare on that thing. You should schedule that piece of **** right now. I interviewed at the following programs and none of them required CK or CS results for ranking applicants: UCSF, Stanford, BWH, BIDMC, MGH, UCSD, UCLA, UW. I'd email a few specific programs you are interested in and fine out if they won't rank you w/o CK or CS results (I doubt it).

 

[raspberry009]

Just to reiterate: delay your 2CK til Jan/Feb, take CS ASAP.

I also had a step 1 score similar to yours, and I waited to take CK until February-- it didn't affect my rank at all. I waited until March to take CS and I didn't get my score until like 2 weeks before residency started, which really sucked @ss since you never know how you will fare on that thing. You should schedule that piece of **** right now. I interviewed at the following programs and none of them required CK or CS results for ranking applicants: UCSF, Stanford, BWH, BIDMC, MGH, UCSD, UCLA, UW. I'd email a few specific programs you are interested in and fine out if they won't rank you w/o CK or CS results (I doubt it).

Are you serious? wow, Feb? Hats off to you.

There was 1 program that I interviewed at that required my step 2 results before my interview: U of MN - which I wouldn't recommend anyway. They required a score above 80 in order to be asked for an interview.

 

[getunconcsious]

Thanks for the input everyone! I signed up to take Step 2 CK on November 1, I don't know how long it takes for results to get back but I imagine it would hopefully be in time for interviews for at least some of the programs that require it?

I'm taking CS on Jan 3, and I don't know of any program that requires a score on that to be in just to interview. At least not for AMG's. Hell some MS4's are taking CS this week at my school!

This whole forcing us to take CK thing is really pissing me off. Honestly, do they really think I'm not going to pass given my step 1 score. Not to be arrogant, but geez, the HOOPS we have to jump through! 👎boom:

 

[DarksideAllstar]

Thanks for the input everyone! I signed up to take Step 2 CK on November 1, I don't know how long it takes for results to get back but I imagine it would hopefully be in time for interviews for at least some of the programs that require it?

I'm taking CS on Jan 3, and I don't know of any program that requires a score on that to be in just to interview. At least not for AMG's. Hell some MS4's are taking CS this week at my school!

This whole forcing us to take CK thing is really pissing me off. Honestly, do they really think I'm not going to pass given my step 1 score. Not to be arrogant, but geez, the HOOPS we have to jump through! 👎boom:

I'm not sure of any program that requires CK results for ranking an applicant, little lone an interview. I had my score 3 weeks to the day that I took the exam. I don't think CK will be difficult to do well on. I took mine 18 months after I finished my 3rd year and with a couple weeks of doing questions and reading FA (like 3-4 hours per day of work) was able to surpass my step 1 score. The most important thing is probably how hard you worked during third year (if you killed the shelf exams---> you will have no problem).

I took my CS after an outpatient family medicine rotation I did in Tahoe. It was decent practice (and was something I really needed since I hadn't taken an H&P in soooo long at that point). I think you'll be fine. Just go over the cases in FA for 2CS.

P.S.: The hoops only get worse from here on out.

Are you serious? wow, Feb? Hats off to you.

There was 1 program that I interviewed at that required my step 2 results before my interview: U of MN - which I wouldn't recommend anyway. They required a score above 80 in order to be asked for an interview.

I had absolutely no motivation to take it earlier and it became difficult studying for it so late knowing it would have no impact on my rank, so that philosophy has its downsides, but I wasn't willing to risk going down from my step 1 score. Worked out though.

 

[asrt101]

I was reading through this old thread. If some pathology programs require step 2 CK results for ranking applicants, will they make that explicitly clear during the interview?

 

[suckerfree]

California programs require step 2 ck and cs to match you. I interviewed without my step 2 ck score in hand, my step 2 ck score was right at the national average. I still got my #1 choice.