Surgery Shelf Exam

[sparklystu]

I just found out I failed my surgery NBME shelf in third year. I'm so ashamed, disappointed, embarassed, you name it. I'd been scoring low on all my shelfs thus far and finally my school recognized my cries for help as real. Hopefully I will be able to get some study help and do better on the remediation.

I was wondering, has anyone else experienced something similar? I am pursuing pediatrics and am worried how this will affect my MSPE, could anyone offer words of advice for how to get over this?

---

Members don't see this ad.

 

[twospadz]

Just curious, did you do any Nbme exams? If so, what were your scores? And what was passing for your school?

 

[sparklystu]

Just curious, did you do any Nbme exams? If so, what were your scores? And what was passing for your school?

I did, I did the form 1 and scored an 18 (65) and the new form 3 and got a 16 (59). Passing for my school is based on the percentile. We needed 5th percentile to pass and I got 2nd.

 

[twospadz]

I did, I did the form 1 and scored an 18 (65) and the new form 3 and got a 16 (59). Passing for my school is based on the percentile. We needed 5th percentile to pass and I got 2nd.

So did you score a 59 or 56 on the test? 2 percentile would be like a 53. I believe 59 is 5 percentile and 56 is 4 percentile

 

[sparklystu]

So did you score a 59 or 56 on the test? 2 percentile would be like a 53. I believe 59 is 5 percentile and 56 is 4 percentile

Yeah basically, got a 50

 

[twospadz]

Yeah basically, got a 50

That makes no sense. You should have passed it. Did you feel like you failed it walking out? Were you guessing on alot of questions?

 

[sparklystu]

That makes no sense. You should have passed it. Did you feel like you failed it walking out? Were you guessing on alot of questions?

I did feel that way, but I kinda feel that way about every exam I take. I find them all hard and am not a strong test-taker. I didn't think I was guessing too much, and believe me I knew I wasn't going to ace it, but this was a bit unexpected. And now I have to deal with the repercussions, which is a scary and demoralizing thought. I did UWorld Surgery and Medicine Questions, Practice NBMEs, tried to read Pastana's twice. And I busted my ass on the rotation. But I don't want to be a surgeon, and to not even be able to pass the test when I did fine clinically is such an embarassment. So how do I overcome this? What does it mean for the future? Any advice?

 

[twospadz]

Its still possible to match in pediatrics. You won't get the top tier school but its still possible to match at lower tier. You have to address why you failed the surgery shelf, because you will have to take it again. Did you feel like you ran out of time and you were rushing at the end?