Step Scores for Academic IM residencies as a DO

[deleted1117200]

Title says it all. I was wondering what kind of Step 1 and 2 scores were sufficient for a DO to match at a University IM program? I am interested in pursuing a fellowship, probably Cardiology or Heme/Onc and wanted some insight. Thank you all!

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[drducky.]

Title says it all. I was wondering what kind of Step 1 and 2 scores were sufficient for a DO to match at a University IM program? I am interested in pursuing a fellowship, probably Cardiology or Heme/Onc and wanted some insight. Thank you all!

I’d say 230+ step1, 240+ step2 probably

 

[Redpancreas]

Title says it all. I was wondering what kind of Step 1 and 2 scores were sufficient for a DO to match at a University IM program? I am interested in pursuing a fellowship, probably Cardiology or Heme/Onc and wanted some insight. Thank you all!

It’s honestly a wide range as DOs have definitely filled a lower tier or even mid tier of academic IM residencies so don’t let anyone here tell you you can’t match Heme onc or even Cardiology/GI with a 220 on Step 1.

Unfortunately I don’t have a score for you and I think above is the main point I wanted to make. I used Step 1 as an example as everyone c/o 2021 and earlier has some understanding of what a 220 on step 1 means and unsure what Step 2 equivalent really is as the exam doesn’t have the gradation of Step 1 and previously didn’t have the level of competition it will have in the future.

Now obviously the better the score, the easier it will be moving forward, but you’re not out unless you straight up or nearly have a board failure. Certainly 240+ puts you in the running for midtier academic IM that your MD colleagues get from just being average and that makes things easier but you can grind from a low tier and still match cardiology/GI somewhere.

 

[Ho0v-man]

Depends on the program. There are comlex-only people in low tier academic programs and there are people with 250+ who get auto rejected from midtiers

 

[AlteredScale]

Title says it all. I was wondering what kind of Step 1 and 2 scores were sufficient for a DO to match at a University IM program? I am interested in pursuing a fellowship, probably Cardiology or Heme/Onc and wanted some insight. Thank you all!

Look at FRIEDA. In general, interview invites happen about 10 points above the cutoff so if it says 220 is the cutoff then 230 is where you might get the interview.

All bets are off when you start looking at T20 IM programs as these are just as competitive as surgical subspecialties, and require high step scores and class rank, usually AOA designation (DO students cannot be a part of this and frankly no one cares or knows about SSP), very strong letters from high level university faculty, medical school prestige (yes, at times this matters; no, there are no "prestigious DO schools"), and incredible extra curricular activities that show you are an upcoming thought-leader/innovator in the field.

This has been my experience as a DO in academic IM interested in fellowship.

 

[deleted1117200]

Look at FRIEDA. In general, interview invites happen about 10 points above the cutoff so if it says 220 is the cutoff then 230 is where you might get the interview.

All bets are off when you start looking at T20 IM programs as these are just as competitive as surgical subspecialties, and require high step scores and class rank, usually AOA designation (DO's cannot be a part of this and no one cares or knows about SSP), very strong letters from high level university faculty, medical school prestige (yes, at times this matters; no, there are no "prestigious DO schools"), and incredible extra curricular activities that show you are an upcoming thought-leader/innovator in the field.

This has been my experience as a DO in academic IM interested in fellowship.

This is awesome thank you for this! I am obviously aiming for as high a score as possible, but it seems to be a crapshoot and the score predictors have been very off. A lot of my friends performed in the 220s and were predicted at 240 so I just wanted to ask this question! I have done a lot of research and other things in medical school that will hopefully help me.

Do you think doing auditions will help for IM? I wanted to do a few aways at places, but one in particular doest offer IM aways. It does however offer aways with cardiology, which I considered doing. Do you think anything like that would be beneficial?

Thank you again for all of your help, and good luck to you in your future career.

 

[AlteredScale]

This is awesome thank you for this! I am obviously aiming for as high a score as possible, but it seems to be a crapshoot and the score predictors have been very off. A lot of my friends performed in the 220s and were predicted at 240 so I just wanted to ask this question! I have done a lot of research and other things in medical school that will hopefully help me.

Do you think doing auditions will help for IM? I wanted to do a few aways at places, but one in particular doest offer IM aways. It does however offer aways with cardiology, which I considered doing. Do you think anything like that would be beneficial?

Thank you again for all of your help, and good luck to you in your future career.

Yes definitely score as high as you can. If you don't score that high it is what it is.

Audition rotations are a double edged sword. If you feel you can perform well clinically and truly be the one to stand out amongst the other sub-I's with you then do it. You need to make sure that you aren't standing out in the "wow this person is very annoying" way which means if you are by nature socially awkward, it can hurt you to audition. As a DO, you are essentially stuck, because you need good letters and will need to get them from a university hospital faculty member which by nature of DO schools, is unlikely to occur in your third year unless you push to rotate somewhere else.

Glad to help.

 

[JimBone905]

So is academic IM doable with a 220+? Got a 227 on step 1.

 

[AlteredScale]

So is academic IM doable with a 220+? Got a 227 on step 1.

Yes.

 

[Deecee2DO]

I would say to be very confident in matching academic IM as a DO a good goal would be 240+ Step 1 and a 250+ step 2. These are not by any means hard numbers either just good numbers to shoot for. I personally know DOs at mid tiers with 230s Step 1s but they typically had 240s-250+ Step 2s and some research experience. Its also not all about scores-having some sort of research experience is important especially for the mid tiers. Letters from academic faculty are also a big help. Honors in IM is pretty important as well, especially doing a subI and honoring that (many academic PDs cringe if they see your only IM experience is outpatient with no residents-they want to see that you have wards experience and can function on a team with residents). Overall I would say sub 230s for Step 1 sub 240s step 2, no research experience and no honors in IM would make it much more difficult to match academic IM as a DO. My mentors always told me to try and make your app as perfect as you can to give them the least possible reason to say no to you. Shoot for the stars and see how you do

 

[FutureDoctor5000]

I would say to be very confident in matching academic IM as a DO a good goal would be 240+ Step 1 and a 250+ step 2. These are not by any means hard numbers either just good numbers to shoot for. I personally know DOs at mid tiers with 230s Step 1s but they typically had 240s-250+ Step 2s and some research experience. Its also not all about scores-having some sort of research experience is important especially for the mid tiers. Letters from academic faculty are also a big help. Honors in IM is pretty important as well, especially doing a subI and honoring that (many academic PDs cringe if they see your only IM experience is outpatient with no residents-they want to see that you have wards experience and can function on a team with residents). Overall I would say sub 230s for Step 1 sub 240s step 2, no research experience and no honors in IM would make it much more difficult to match academic IM as a DO. My mentors always told me to try and make your app as perfect as you can to give them the least possible reason to say no to you. Shoot for the stars and see how you do

Low tier IM can be done by sub 230’s and sub 240 step 2 though! What you said is definitely for mid tiers. Also I have a hard time figuring out what’s a “mid tier” of “low” tier IM?

 

[Deecee2DO]

Low tier IM can be done by sub 230’s and sub 240 step 2 though! What you said is definitely for mid tiers. Also I have a hard time figuring out what’s a “mid tier” of “low” tier IM?

Yeah you right! Low tiers are like LSU, ECU, SLU, NJMS, UVM, Univ South Carolina, Med college of georgia etc. Mid tiers are like Georgetown (upper), GW (possibly low tier not sure), UConn, UMass, Brown (upper), Dartmouth (upper), UF Gainesville, USF, Wake, UVA (upper), BUMC (upper), Tufts (upper) but yes its hard to tell really after the T30

 

[FutureDoctor5000]

Yeah you right! Low tiers are like LSU, ECU, SLU, NJMS, UVM, Univ South Carolina, Med college of georgia etc. Mid tiers are like Georgetown (upper), GW (possibly low tier not sure), UConn, UMass, Brown (upper), Dartmouth (upper), UF Gainesville, USF, Wake, UVA (upper), BUMC (upper), Tufts (upper) but yes its hard to tell really after the T30

I gotchya. Yea I agree for mid tier >230 step 1 and 240+ step 2 is needed with some research output and IM honors. The academic letters help but with covid and many hospitals still restricting rotators and many schools only allowing “one” audition/sub I, I think PD’s will understand if you don’t. But yes you should do everything to get an in patient wards based rotation your 3rd/4th year.

 

[Deecee2DO]

I gotchya. Yea I agree for mid tier >230 step 1 and 240+ step 2 is needed with some research output and IM honors. The academic letters help but with covid and many hospitals still restricting rotators and many schools only allowing “one” audition/sub I, I think PD’s will understand if you don’t. But yes you should do everything to get an in patient wards based rotation your 3rd/4th year.

I hope PDs understand lmfao I totally agree these past two years have been tough to get academic letters with restrictions on aways. VSAS was a waste of my time and money!

 

[FutureDoctor5000]

I hope PDs understand lmfao I totally agree these past two years have been tough to get academic letters with restrictions on aways. VSAS was a waste of my time and money!

Yes I mean the literal guidelines are no more than one away SubI!! Like they want students to actively go against that hahah

 

[MDMechEngr]

Yeah you right! Low tiers are like LSU, ECU, SLU, NJMS, UVM, Univ South Carolina, Med college of georgia etc. Mid tiers are like Georgetown (upper), GW (possibly low tier not sure), UConn, UMass, Brown (upper), Dartmouth (upper), UF Gainesville, USF, Wake, UVA (upper), BUMC (upper), Tufts (upper) but yes its hard to tell really after the T30

Do you determine this using program Reputation found in Doximity, or something else?

 

[Deecee2DO]

Do you determine this using program Reputation found in Doximity, or something else?

Just what ive gathered based on experience and making my application list based on the 6 tier system my residency advisor crafted for me. Just my personal opinion I think many of the mods within WAMC IM thread would probs agree with my assessment but who knows. A lot of this is speculation

 

[AlteredScale]

Yeah you right! Low tiers are like LSU, ECU, SLU, NJMS, UVM, Univ South Carolina, Med college of georgia etc. Mid tiers are like Georgetown (upper), GW (possibly low tier not sure), UConn, UMass, Brown (upper), Dartmouth (upper), UF Gainesville, USF, Wake, UVA (upper), BUMC (upper), Tufts (upper) but yes its hard to tell really after the T30

Just what ive gathered based on experience and making my application list based on the 6 tier system my residency advisor crafted for me. Just my personal opinion I think many of the mods within WAMC IM thread would probs agree with my assessment but who knows. A lot of this is speculation

Idk as much about academic/research/reputation tier as I don't spend much time looking at that, but I def think it is important to describe the perceived difficulty of DO's entering a program based on the objective evidence which is provided in the way of 3 years of resident information which, though limited and still not explaining a complete story, does paint an idea of what to expect applying to such programs. I am only going to name the ones on the list mentioned above if I think they are worth mentioning.

Hard: Wake, GW=GT, UVM only 1-3 DO's in each class.

Very hard: UVA, Dartmouth and BU have no DO's from what I can tell and looking at their alumni list (if available) there are no DO's that have ever graduated from the program.

Take whatever conclusions you want with the information. I still applied to Dartmouth because at the end of the day, you never know unless you apply and may be that exception so take the chance if you have applied smartly as is and have the extra money.

 

[FutureDoctor5000]

Idk as much about academic/research/reputation tier as I don't spend much time looking at that, but I def think it is important to describe the perceived difficulty of DO's entering a program based on the objective evidence which is provided in the way of 3 years of resident information which, though limited and still not explaining a complete story, does paint an idea of what to expect applying to such programs. I am only going to name the ones on the list mentioned above if I think they are worth mentioning.

Hard: Wake, GW=GT, UVM only 1-3 DO's in each class.

Very hard: UVA, Dartmouth and BU have no DO's from what I can tell and looking at their alumni list (if available) there are no DO's that have ever graduated from the program.

Take whatever conclusions you want with the information. I still applied to Dartmouth because at the end of the day, you never know unless you apply and may be that exception so take the chance if you have applied smartly as is and have the extra money.

UVA, Dartmouth have DO’s and based on IM spreadsheet interview DO’s with the stats mentioned above.

 

[Deecee2DO]

Idk as much about academic/research/reputation tier as I don't spend much time looking at that, but I def think it is important to describe the perceived difficulty of DO's entering a program based on the objective evidence which is provided in the way of 3 years of resident information which, though limited and still not explaining a complete story, does paint an idea of what to expect applying to such programs. I am only going to name the ones on the list mentioned above if I think they are worth mentioning.

Hard: Wake, GW=GT, UVM only 1-3 DO's in each class.

Very hard: UVA, Dartmouth and BU have no DO's from what I can tell and looking at their alumni list (if available) there are no DO's that have ever graduated from the program.

Take whatever conclusions you want with the information. I still applied to Dartmouth because at the end of the day, you never know unless you apply and may be that exception so take the chance if you have applied smartly as is and have the extra money.

Dartmouth has had several DOs within the past few years I actually spoke with one of them over the past 2 years! BU also just graduated a DO who matched GI at UMD. UVA hasn't matched a DO since like 2012 I think (spoke with her she is an Allergist now) and she was the only DO to ever match UVA IM (she went to VCOM). I agree as a DO breaking into an upper mid-tier program you really have to be like within the top 5% of DOs in a given year to match at any one of them especially ones with only 1 or 2 DOs on an entire roster

 

[Deecee2DO]

UVA, Dartmouth have DO’s and based on IM spreadsheet interview DO’s with the stats mentioned above.

UVA has a DO? Ive only heard of 1 DO matching there ever and it was many years ago. Dartmouth has 2 DOs in their PGY3 class but none in PGY1 or 2-not a good sign if they haven't matched DOs again in the past 2 years

 

[FutureDoctor5000]

UVA has a DO? Ive only heard of 1 DO matching there ever and it was many years ago. Dartmouth has 2 DOs in their PGY3 class but none in PGY1 or 2-not a good sign if they haven't matched DOs again in the past 2 years

I don’t know if those people matched there but they interview DO’s as does Dartmouth. Even on the IM Spreadsheet this year I saw DO’s getting interviews at UVA I believe and even University of Wisconsin?

 

[xjustcuious]

I would say to be very confident in matching academic IM as a DO a good goal would be 240+ Step 1 and a 250+ step 2. These are not by any means hard numbers either just good numbers to shoot for. I personally know DOs at mid tiers with 230s Step 1s but they typically had 240s-250+ Step 2s and some research experience. Its also not all about scores-having some sort of research experience is important especially for the mid tiers. Letters from academic faculty are also a big help. Honors in IM is pretty important as well, especially doing a subI and honoring that (many academic PDs cringe if they see your only IM experience is outpatient with no residents-they want to see that you have wards experience and can function on a team with residents). Overall I would say sub 230s for Step 1 sub 240s step 2, no research experience and no honors in IM would make it much more difficult to match academic IM as a DO. My mentors always told me to try and make your app as perfect as you can to give them the least possible reason to say no to you. Shoot for the stars and see how you do

Are there really medical schools out there where med students only do outpatient IM? That seems crazy to me.

 

[deleted1117200]

Idk as much about academic/research/reputation tier as I don't spend much time looking at that, but I def think it is important to describe the perceived difficulty of DO's entering a program based on the objective evidence which is provided in the way of 3 years of resident information which, though limited and still not explaining a complete story, does paint an idea of what to expect applying to such programs. I am only going to name the ones on the list mentioned above if I think they are worth mentioning.

Hard: Wake, GW=GT, UVM only 1-3 DO's in each class.

Very hard: UVA, Dartmouth and BU have no DO's from what I can tell and looking at their alumni list (if available) there are no DO's that have ever graduated from the program.

Take whatever conclusions you want with the information. I still applied to Dartmouth because at the end of the day, you never know unless you apply and may be that exception so take the chance if you have applied smartly as is and have the extra money.

Look im going to be honest, I take step in a week.... I was doing well on my practice tests but I bombed UWSA2. I got a 215. I am terrified now that my future is destroyed and I will never match cardiology. How much do you think a low step 1 score would hurt me for fellowship? I am going to try my best, I worked my very hardest but I have had a lot of personal obstacles this year and I will get what I get. I am sad and depressed but I will apply for fellowship 10 years in a row if I have to.

Many of the places you mentioned I would do anything to get into, but they dont take deplorables like me. Are there any "low tier" academic places that I may have a shot at? I have a lot of research and I did well in school I was in the top quarter of my class, I tutored, etc. I am genuinely interested in Geisinger and they have a cardiology fellowship but idk. Any advice for a desperate friend?

 

[FutureDoctor5000]

Look im going to be honest, I take step in a week.... I was doing well on my practice tests but I bombed UWSA2. I got a 215. I am terrified now that my future is destroyed and I will never match cardiology. How much do you think a low step 1 score would hurt me for fellowship? I am going to try my best, I worked my very hardest but I have had a lot of personal obstacles this year and I will get what I get. I am sad and depressed but I will apply for fellowship 10 years in a row if I have to.

Many of the places you mentioned I would do anything to get into, but they dont take deplorables like me. Are there any "low tier" academic places that I may have a shot at? I have a lot of research and I did well in school I was in the top quarter of my class, I tutored, etc. I am genuinely interested in Geisinger and they have a cardiology fellowship but idk. Any advice for a desperate friend?

Low tier takes DO, you don’t need a 240/250 to match low tier or even really any crazy research. Just apply broadly to low tier and you will get enough interviews. FWIW a person from my school last year said he had below average step 1 (said not high scores lol) and got a few mid tier IM interviews(U AZ Tucson and UNM) so it’s possible.

 

[FutureDoctor5000]

Idk as much about academic/research/reputation tier as I don't spend much time looking at that, but I def think it is important to describe the perceived difficulty of DO's entering a program based on the objective evidence which is provided in the way of 3 years of resident information which, though limited and still not explaining a complete story, does paint an idea of what to expect applying to such programs. I am only going to name the ones on the list mentioned above if I think they are worth mentioning.

Hard: Wake, GW=GT, UVM only 1-3 DO's in each class.

Very hard: UVA, Dartmouth and BU have no DO's from what I can tell and looking at their alumni list (if available) there are no DO's that have ever graduated from the program.

Take whatever conclusions you want with the information. I still applied to Dartmouth because at the end of the day, you never know unless you apply and may be that exception so take the chance if you have applied smartly as is and have the extra money.

Georgetown is very DO friendly they usually have like 6-7+ DO’s(have 3 DO’s as chiefs this year) every year and so does GWU. Wake is 1-3 DO’s but honestly who knows how many they interview. They might interview way more. Most lay people actually don’t understand how IM programs are ranked and Winston Salem isn’t exactly the most desirable location.

 

[AlteredScale]

Look im going to be honest, I take step in a week.... I was doing well on my practice tests but I bombed UWSA2. I got a 215. I am terrified now that my future is destroyed and I will never match cardiology. How much do you think a low step 1 score would hurt me for fellowship? I am going to try my best, I worked my very hardest but I have had a lot of personal obstacles this year and I will get what I get. I am sad and depressed but I will apply for fellowship 10 years in a row if I have to.

Many of the places you mentioned I would do anything to get into, but they dont take deplorables like me. Are there any "low tier" academic places that I may have a shot at? I have a lot of research and I did well in school I was in the top quarter of my class, I tutored, etc. I am genuinely interested in Geisinger and they have a cardiology fellowship but idk. Any advice for a desperate friend?

You are more than your scores. Fellowship just like residency will screen but that "cut off" is even more varied in comparison to residency and other aspects such as clinical strength, research, letters weight even more. Best advice I have is to apply to all programs that have in-house cards fellowship and are DO friendly and keep churning out research.

 

[JimBone905]

I would say to be very confident in matching academic IM as a DO a good goal would be 240+ Step 1 and a 250+ step 2. These are not by any means hard numbers either just good numbers to shoot for. I personally know DOs at mid tiers with 230s Step 1s but they typically had 240s-250+ Step 2s and some research experience. Its also not all about scores-having some sort of research experience is important especially for the mid tiers. Letters from academic faculty are also a big help. Honors in IM is pretty important as well, especially doing a subI and honoring that (many academic PDs cringe if they see your only IM experience is outpatient with no residents-they want to see that you have wards experience and can function on a team with residents). Overall I would say sub 230s for Step 1 sub 240s step 2, no research experience and no honors in IM would make it much more difficult to match academic IM as a DO. My mentors always told me to try and make your app as perfect as you can to give them the least possible reason to say no to you. Shoot for the stars and see how you do

So for low tier academic IM: would the cutoff be around 220-225+ for step 1 and 230-240+ for step 2? What are some examples of programs in this tier that I could look into that you know of? I'll probably still apply to a few mid-tiers just in case but, do you or anyone here know some realistic academic programs I can look into? I was looking at doximity rankings but other than that I'm not sure how to determine if a program is low/mid/high tier. If a program has mostly IMG's and a few DO's I assume this is low tier, but then again I'm also looking to match in NY/NJ/PA and these are very IMG friendly areas from what I've read.

 

[FutureDoctor5000]

So for low tier academic IM: would the cutoff be around 220-225+ for step 1 and 230-240+ for step 2? What are some examples of programs in this tier that I could look into that you know of? I'll probably still apply to a few mid-tiers just in case but, do you or anyone here know some realistic academic programs I can look into? I was looking at doximity rankings but other than that I'm not sure how to determine if a program is low/mid/high tier. If a program has mostly IMG's and a few DO's I assume this is low tier, but then again I'm also looking to match in NY/NJ/PA and these are very IMG friendly areas from what I've read.

It's very varied. 220 is good target score for low tier but even lower say 210-220 could be ok. As far as examples it's hard to determine programs after the top 30(or upper mid tier programs) after that it's really just kind of simmilar programs.

 

[AlteredScale]

So for low tier academic IM: would the cutoff be around 220-225+ for step 1 and 230-240+ for step 2? What are some examples of programs in this tier that I could look into that you know of? I'll probably still apply to a few mid-tiers just in case but, do you or anyone here know some realistic academic programs I can look into? I was looking at doximity rankings but other than that I'm not sure how to determine if a program is low/mid/high tier. If a program has mostly IMG's and a few DO's I assume this is low tier, but then again I'm also looking to match in NY/NJ/PA and these are very IMG friendly areas from what I've read.

As @FutureDoctor5000 mentioned, it's varied but the majority of programs on FRIEDA will have their cutoff step 1 scores available which the majority had 220. They will even sometimes provide average step 1 and step 2 as well as comlex scores of their residents. Be careful with this information as it may be outdated as some PD's do not update this info for a few years at a time. There are east coast programs with ALL IMGs who will not have DO's in their program, what the reason is I am not sure.

I never used doximity outside of "reputation" ranking which I did not utilize for my application planning.

 

[xjustcuious]

Low tier takes DO, you don’t need a 240/250 to match low tier or even really any crazy research. Just apply broadly to low tier and you will get enough interviews. FWIW a person from my school last year said he had below average step 1 (said not high scores lol) and got a few mid tier IM interviews(U AZ Tucson and UNM) so it’s possible.

Hope you are right about this.. ive only got 2 iv so far and ive applied to a lot of low tier programs

 

[JimBone905]

It's very varied. 220 is good target score for low tier but even lower say 210-220 could be ok

As @FutureDoctor5000 mentioned, it's varied but the majority of programs on FRIEDA will have their cutoff step 1 scores available which the majority had 220. They will even sometimes provide average step 1 and step 2 as well as comlex scores of their residents. Be careful with this information as it may be outdated as some PD's do not update this info for a few years at a time. There are east coast programs with ALL IMGs who will not have DO's in their program, what the reason is I am not sure.

I never used doximity outside of "reputation" ranking which I did not utilize for my application planning.

on that note, if i meet a programs step cutoff but not their comlex cutoff, will i still be screened/does it matter? was looking at SUNY downstate on FRIEDA and their average level 1 is pretty high while the step 1 is kind of average.

 

[AlteredScale]

on that note, if i meet a programs step cutoff but not their comlex cutoff, will i still be screened/does it matter? was looking at SUNY downstate on FRIEDA and their average level 1 is pretty high while the step 1 is kind of average.

really hard to say. at that stage you can email the program coordinator to see but I usually think this is something to be done prior to app cycle opening since PC's are being destroyed with emails from applicants. IMO if you meet one of their cutoffs just apply. I was a COMLEX only applicant (stupidly) and applied and interviewed at places that stated a step score was "high suggested".

 

[FutureDoctor5000]

on that note, if i meet a programs step cutoff but not their comlex cutoff, will i still be screened/does it matter? was looking at SUNY downstate on FRIEDA and their average level 1 is pretty high while the step 1 is kind of average.

I would think this is very rare, like most filters would be OR not AND so you dont need to meet both requirements, if USMLE is met I highly doubt they care about comlex.

 

[FutureDoctor5000]

Hope you are right about this.. ive only got 2 iv so far and ive applied to a lot of low tier programs

It's only been a week and you already have 2, I have 2 low/mid-lower tier academic IV's as well, will just have to wait. Just saw on the IM spreadsheet a DO get an interview at WashU/B-J with 240/240's from what it seems like

 

[deleted1117200]

Low tier IM can be done by sub 230’s and sub 240 step 2 though! What you said is definitely for mid tiers. Also I have a hard time figuring out what’s a “mid tier” of “low” tier IM?

So I got my score back today, and I got a 228 (a little less than predicted but not a catastrophe). I have a lot of basic science research with quality pubs (~3). Do I have a shot at Academic IM? What about some of those "mid tier places" that were listed like UMASS, UCONN, Wake, etc. Thank you so much! What a wild ride.

 

[Deecee2DO]

So I got my score back today, and I got a 228 (a little less than predicted but not a catastrophe). I have a lot of basic science research with quality pubs (~3). Do I have a shot at Academic IM? What about some of those "mid tier places" that were listed like UMASS, UCONN, Wake, etc. Thank you so much! What a wild ride.

Whats your Step 1 score and are you a USMD? If you are a USMD then most definitely and if you are one from a Top school then you are a shoe in at those places. if you are an IMG or DO much less likely but still possible

 

[deleted1117200]

Whats your Step 1 score and are you a USMD? If you are a USMD then most definitely and if you are one from a Top school then you are a shoe in at those places. if you are an IMG or DO much less likely but still possible

Sorry my Step 1 score was 228, I havent taken Step 2 yet. Sadly no, I am a DO

 

[xjustcuious]

Sorry my Step 1 score was 228, I havent taken Step 2 yet. Sadly no, I am a DO

you definitely have a shot esp if u do wel on step 2.. i got 230 step 1 and 260 step 2.. and have ivs from academic places just not any top tier places

 

[JimBone905]

you definitely have a shot esp if u do wel on step 2.. i got 230 step 1 and 260 step 2.. and have ivs from academic places just not any top tier places

Damn how'd u get that baller step 2? Got a 227 step 1 myself and would love to pull off what u did. I've just been doing uworld but my comats have been in the 90s-100...

 

[xjustcuious]

Damn how'd u get that baller step 2? Got a 227 step 1 myself and would love to pull off what u did. I've just been doing uworld but my comats have been in the 90s-100...

I used Uworld (no anki or amboss) .. studied about 6 week. Also first aid to re-learn some basic stuff. My comats were all 100-108… never honored any of them. I didnt use uworld when studying for comats, only comquest/combank.

 

[deleted1117200]

you definitely have a shot esp if u do wel on step 2.. i got 230 step 1 and 260 step 2.. and have ivs from academic places just not any top tier places

That is alright I am not gunning for MGH or Hopkins, but a solid mid-tier academic IM place would be nice but we will see. I wish I had gotten a good enough MCAT to get into an MD school it would really have helped me out in this process. Congratulations on your interviews!

 

[FutureDoctor5000]

So I got my score back today, and I got a 228 (a little less than predicted but not a catastrophe). I have a lot of basic science research with quality pubs (~3). Do I have a shot at Academic IM? What about some of those "mid tier places" that were listed like UMASS, UCONN, Wake, etc. Thank you so much! What a wild ride.

Your in the running for low tier and mid tiers depending on your step 2. UCONN and umass are possible but not a guarantee. Apply broadly and you will get academic interviews. It's crazy how some DO's with worse scores have gotten interviews from academic places that I didn't even apply to so it's not just the scores. It's your overall app and stuff like research as well. There is a DO bias but overall I think it's fading, it's only really evident at the top of the top places imo, solid mid tier places are open to DO's with well rounded apps.

 

[AlteredScale]

So I got my score back today, and I got a 228 (a little less than predicted but not a catastrophe). I have a lot of basic science research with quality pubs (~3). Do I have a shot at Academic IM? What about some of those "mid tier places" that were listed like UMASS, UCONN, Wake, etc. Thank you so much! What a wild ride.

Yes, you will be in the running for IM. I cannot say if those places will grant you an interview because you're too much in the middle of the road though your research will make you stand out. PM me for more questions I am also a DO at a academic university focused on basic science research.

 

[deleted1117200]

Yes, you will be in the running for IM. I cannot say if those places will grant you an interview because you're too much in the middle of the road though your research will make you stand out. PM me for more questions I am also a DO at a academic university focused on basic science research.

Do you think I will still have a chance at doing cardiology? I dont care where I do my residency, I just want to go to the best place possible so I have a better shot at cards. Thank you so much for your insight!

 

[AlteredScale]

Do you think I will still have a chance at doing cardiology? I dont care where I do my residency, I just want to go to the best place possible so I have a better shot at cards. Thank you so much for your insight!

Yes you will be able to do cards. Just focus on going to a place that has an in house cards fellowship and any other focus that you are interested in (interventional, HF, EP).