Taking a Rotation Off for Step?

[ItchyPlacenta]

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[AmoryBlaine]

Ok I am in a bit of a bind. My Step I date right now is 18 days away. I am not even halfway done studying as all I have completed is a relatively cursory review over path, pharm, and phys. I think I will be able to pass the Step I if I take it on my scheduled date, but I won't do well.

So, I am contemplating taking a rotation off for more time to study. I think this will give me a much better score because then I will be able to read things more in depth and actually retain things. However, I'm scared as to exactly what consequences I would face if I took a rotation off? Will it look bad for my residency apps? Will it screw me over in 3d year? Is this a good/bad idea? Please give advice/opinions.

At least at my school this is a fairly simple thing to pull off. M3/4 tends to be a lot more fluid than M1/2.

I would think hard about doing this though. Are you going to be able to push through? 3+ weeks of studying is alot to look forward to, will you be able to maintain momentum?

Whatever rotation you skip will be moved into your 4th year. This isn't THAT big of deal but keep in mind that 4th year can be a pretty busy/stressful time if you are applying for a competitive specialty.

Another factor to consider is which rotation you will be moving. If it is something like Medicine or Surgery this could seriously throw off your 4th year. I am doing 2 away rotations in the summer/early fall for EM and neither would have let me come had I not finished Surg/Med/Ob/Peds.

Best of luck,

AB

 

[Plead the Fifth]

Ok I am in a bit of a bind. My Step I date right now is 18 days away. I am not even halfway done studying as all I have completed is a relatively cursory review over path, pharm, and phys. I think I will be able to pass the Step I if I take it on my scheduled date, but I won't do well.

So, I am contemplating taking a rotation off for more time to study. I think this will give me a much better score because then I will be able to read things more in depth and actually retain things. However, I'm scared as to exactly what consequences I would face if I took a rotation off? Will it look bad for my residency apps? Will it screw me over in 3d year? Is this a good/bad idea? Please give advice/opinions.

I agree with the post from AmoryBlaine above. All I can offer is an example. One good friend of mine took a rotation off to study for Step 1. He and I were both just average medical students during the first two years. He made out pretty good with a 236.

 

[Long Dong]

This is what I wrote to someone who asked me a similiar question. I'll cut and paste my reply to them here:

This is something you have to decide for yourself. How will it affect 4th year and applying for residency. I would think there is a draw back being in the begining of 4th year most students do away rotations in the field they are going into. These help their apps cause these other programs get to know you and write letters of rec for you. LORs are very important for matching and you might also need to do a rotation at your home program to get a letter as well. Doing a 3rd year rotation in the beging of 4th year might make you a little late. You should discuss the pros/cons with facualty at your school.

After having said that, if it was me I'd would want to get threw at least one question bank before the exam. So I would push the test back to get that extra time to finish UW or Qbank.

I myself actually did a 4th year research elective in 3rd year. So at the begining of 4th year I had to do peds (a core 3rd rotation at my school) and was late doing rotations in derm. Lucky my research elective people wrote my LORs. So you have to weight the options if you choose to take more time to study. Pro being bigger board score, con being late on getting letters for residency. Again i'd talk to a counciler at your school for more advice then some radom guy like me on the internet.

 

[personal]

I'm kind of in the same situation, I've barely started studying. My test date is at the end of June and I'm worried that there isn't enough time to study and get a good score. I'm shooting for a 220-230. Anybody get a good score like that with only 4 weeks of study?

Also has anybody taken the step while still doing a rotation. I don't want to have to push a rotation back and even though I know it is hard to do a rotation and study for step I was wondering if anyone had done this?