Suggestions please

[Medstudentquest]

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So I have been unable to find a PGY 1 position for this upcoming year. I was wondering if anyone could give me suggestions as to what would be the best course of action?

I am planning on taking step 2 shortly, but otherwise all my requirements for graduation have been completed for several months.

-Do I delay graduation until next year? Keep in mind that I'm a 5th year student as I'm also enrolled in an MPH program. Will this look bad?
-Do I just graduate and hope something opens ups?
-Do I graduate and enter this upcoming match?

I'm really lost as to what to do. I have not received much help/advice from my school so I am hoping for other people's thoughts/opinions. Thanks.

 

[Doctor Grim]

So I have been unable to find a PGY 1 position for this upcoming year. I was wondering if anyone could give me suggestions as to what would be the best course of action?

I am planning on taking step 2 shortly, but otherwise all my requirements for graduation have been completed for several months.

-Do I delay graduation until next year? Keep in mind that I'm a 5th year student as I'm also enrolled in an MPH program. Will this look bad?
-Do I just graduate and hope something opens ups?
-Do I graduate and enter this upcoming match?

I'm really lost as to what to do. I have not received much help/advice from my school so I am hoping for other people's thoughts/opinions. Thanks.

You mean delaying your MD or MPH graduation or both?

It is hard to match w/o your Step 2 scores especially if you are looking for a more competitive specialty. Did you take your Step 2 before?

If Step 2 is not a requirement to graduate, I would just graduate with the MD and complete the MPH asap. At the same time, planning on taking the Step 2 and enter the upcoming match.

 

[Medstudentquest]

You mean delaying your MD or MPH graduation or both?

It is hard to match w/o your Step 2 scores especially if you are looking for a more competitive specialty. Did you take your Step 2 before?

If Step 2 is not a requirement to graduate, I would just graduate with the MD and complete the MPH asap. At the same time, planning on taking the Step 2 and enter the upcoming match.

I am still working on the MPH, not yet completed. I meant delaying my MD graduation even though I delayed last year because of the MPH, but I am thinking that that may not be the best thing, since it would look like it took me 6 years to complete the MD, which is certainly not the case.

I have not yet taken step 2 and it is a req to graduate though for my school.

 

[Doctor Grim]

I am still working on the MPH, not yet completed. I meant delaying my MD graduation even though I delayed last year because of the MPH, but I am thinking that that may not be the best thing, since it would look like it took me 6 years to complete the MD, which is certainly not the case.

I have not yet taken step 2 and it is a req to graduate though for my school.

Then I would recom you to prepare and take Step 2 asap. Once you pass you will receive your MD degree. But I would still try to enter this upcoming match so that you don't waste another year provided you will finish your MPH next summer.

 

[Medstudentquest]

Then I would recom you to prepare and take Step 2 asap. Once you pass you will receive your MD degree. But I would still try to enter this upcoming match so that you don't waste another year provided you will finish your MPH next summer.

Yep, I have been preparing for some time now. Well I definitely would apply for this year's match if i can't find anything, but do you think I should hold out to see if anything opens up? MPH will likely be finished by Dec.

 

[Doctor Grim]

Yep, I have been preparing for some time now. Well I definitely would apply for this year's match if i can't find anything, but do you think I should hold out to see if anything opens up? MPH will likely be finished by Dec.

First, if there are any open positions that come up, they'd expect you to be able to work right away, which means that you will have to have a passing Step 2 scores and the M.D. granted by your school.

So it depends on when you will take your Step 2 and you'll prob get your scores back within 6-8 weeks.

Do you have to take both CK and CS?

And also, if you cannot relocate because you're still completing your MPH, then you may not have much choice in terms of joining a program. In addition, it may be hard to balance between work as an intern and completing a degree at the same time.

Like I've suggested, pass your Step 2 and get your MD asap. Then get your MPH this Dec. Go for the up coming match. You will have more options this way in choosing specialty and programs.

 

[dragonfly99]

I'm kind of confused about why you haven't already taken the Step 2, but be that as it may, I would work on completing that ASAP and then graduating with your MD ASAP. I agree it might look strange to take longer to complete your MD, and I don't see an advantage to doing so in this case. The only advantage was if you already had a research year lined up, and didn't have the MPH that was already under way, and wanted to keep some benefits of being a student, such as health insurance or other student benefits (if there are any). I would assume since you are a recent grad, that your med school dean's office will still offer some help with the Match process...but there are a lot of students so be proactive in trying to secure that. Make sure they keep your dean's letter on file, etc. for this match cycle.

I would work on finishing the MPH, too. Having that under your belt cannot hurt you, and can only help.

Think about what you will do after finishing the MPH. Can you perhaps get a job doing research for 6-9 months? If so, what kind of research? Do you want to do public health type research or something else, potentially related to whatever specialty or specialties you are considering.

 

[Medstudentquest]

I'm kind of confused about why you haven't already taken the Step 2, but be that as it may, I would work on completing that ASAP and then graduating with your MD ASAP. I agree it might look strange to take longer to complete your MD, and I don't see an advantage to doing so in this case. The only advantage was if you already had a research year lined up, and didn't have the MPH that was already under way, and wanted to keep some benefits of being a student, such as health insurance or other student benefits (if there are any). I would assume since you are a recent grad, that your med school dean's office will still offer some help with the Match process...but there are a lot of students so be proactive in trying to secure that. Make sure they keep your dean's letter on file, etc. for this match cycle.

I would work on finishing the MPH, too. Having that under your belt cannot hurt you, and can only help.

Think about what you will do after finishing the MPH. Can you perhaps get a job doing research for 6-9 months? If so, what kind of research? Do you want to do public health type research or something else, potentially related to whatever specialty or specialties you are considering.

Haven't taken step 2 yet because the original plan was to take it around march but with the whole non match type with the rank list i got really down and was not sure if i would even continue.

also i have some learning issues so it takes me a while to study for standardized tests. i have to read and re-read things multiple times, etc.

so i guess i will plan to take it in order to be a summer grad. problem is that with not matching into a prelim which was not planned, should i even bother trying to apply to derm again this year? my application unfortunately obviously cannot really change much in a few months.

not sure if i should just apply for a prelim or to try again for derm.

 

[KluverB]

Paging Dr. John Deere Gree! 😉

 

[NotAProgDirector]

not sure if i should just apply for a prelim or to try again for derm.

I think the best answer is "both", assuming you have the time, energy, and money.

Some depends on how things went this year. If you got a bunch of derm interviews, then it might be worth applying again. be prepared to do worse the second time around -- that's just life, especially if your application won't be any "better" than last time. This also depends on how important derm is to you.

I think you also need to decide what you want to do, if it's not derm. If it's IM or a subspecialty in IM, then your backup plan can be a prelim -- you can always bridge that into a categorical IM spot, although you could also apply for some categorical IM spots also this cycle.

If you would rather have something else (anesthesia, ED, psych, path, etc) then I'd skip the whole prelim IM plan and apply to these as a backup. If you get lots of derm interviews, then of course you'll look at prelims, if not then focus on these other programs.

 

[DrJosephKim]

Complete step 2 ASAP so that you can graduate and also get a medical license. In the meanwhile, you should fill your time with "meaningful" things so that you can boost your ability to get into a solid program.