Taking Step 3 ahead of applying to residency

[sideshow bob]

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I've been out of medical school for a few years, applying to the match in psychiatry for 2010.
Wondering if taking the USMLE step 3 now would be of benefit in my application.
Would a decent score on the Step 3 reassure residency directors that my clinical knowledge is up to date? Is there another or even additional test out there that would fit this requirement (i.e. showing programs that I can handle the internal medicine/peds, neurology and other parts of the residency) ?

Thanks for any info you can offer up.

 

[whopper]

IT would help, and passing it would make you look like a better candidate, though its not going put you way ahead of your competitors.
This is based on the following...


From my own experience as a Chief, and seeing faculty tier applicants during the Match, the fact that someone passed USMLE step 3 was only seen as means of separating 2 candidates we equally liked, but could only choose 1. That actually surprirsed me because several residents in our own program were not focusing much on psychiatry due to pressure to study for the USMLE 3--so I figured the faculty would've wanted more that passed Step 3, which wasn't seeming to happen.

If anyone was making a stink about using the USMLE more as an indicator of who we should take, it was me. Ironically, I hate that exam & do not think its a good indicator of medical knowledge. Reason why is because (and I do think my reasoning is sound on this), someone failing step 1 or 2 multiple times is often times an indicator that they'll fail step 3. A resident failing step 3 multiple times creates a situation where that resident has to focus on passing it instead of starting to study psychiatry. I found myself ironically pushing Step 3 scores more than the faculty during the meeting where we ranked applicants for the MATCH. Though I also was not caring if the person passed without too many failures (no more than 1-2) vs the other applicants.

(This could of course vary per program.)

I also have a friend who failed Step 1&2 a few times, and did pass Step 3, and he attempted to get into psychiatry through the Match 2x and did not succeed either time into getting into any program. I do honestly think he could've gotten in his first attempt, but he only applied to a few programs. HE applied again during the last Match, and unfortunately for him, the competition just went up a few notches.