The "I'm not gonna do anything till I get my Step Score Approach" to med school

[VincentAdultman]

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This is what I am most worried about when it comes to reaching out to the department of the field I am interested in at my school and getting involved as an M1. I would hate to become involved in the department, then all of a sudden be like "Well, all of that was for nothing since I got a 220 Step." Would it be better to just keep my head down and hit the books and then be one of the students who "comes out of the woodworks M3"? Any advice on balancing this?

If it's what's your interested in, why would you just give up because you scored a 220?

I understand as much as anyone that step one is so crucial for competetitive fields but we're also talking about what you're going to do with the rest of your life.

It seems to me that if it's what you live then it's worth it to fight for it pretty damn hard low score or not.

 

[Foot Fetish]

I agree that life is more than just board scores....but as someone in a competitive field, whenever a M1-2 asks me what to do to get into my field the answer is always the same: kill step 1. I've seen amazing freshman medical students get strongly involved in our department because they are interested in our specialty from Day 1. They are well known and well liked, become authors on multiple research papers and run the interest group, but their chances go down the toilet instantly when they come up with a 205. Then some other kid comes out of the woodworks in M3 with a 250 and is like, "hmm, I guess your specialty is cool" and they match.

This is what I am most worried about when it comes to reaching out to the department of the field I am interested in at my school and getting involved as an M1. I would hate to become involved in the department, then all of a sudden be like "Well, all of that was for nothing since I got a 220 Step." Would it be better to just keep my head down and hit the books and then be one of the students who "comes out of the woodworks M3"? Any advice on balancing this?

The key is to be well-known in the department AND crush Step 1. Step 1 is obviously far and away the most important factor, but I think it would be foolish to neglect research / early involvement with the department. Personally, I make it a point to be heavily involved in research and to show up to grand round whenever I can. Even if my projects end up going nowhere, the department will know my face and how hard-working I am. When I'm not doing that, I basically spend every waking moment studying for boards. Anyone can crush boards if all they do is study. Likewise, anyone can get a bunch of pubs if all they focus on is research. It's really hard to do both, and that's why applicants who have the complete package are so highly prized. Those kids who myopically study for boards for 2 years and then "come out of the woodwork" when they get a 250 will be a dime a dozen. When it comes down to it, they'll lose to the kid who has a 250 AND showed his face in the department since M1. You gotta pay the cost to be the boss.

 

[Stagg737]

There's no formula. Bottom line is you do have to do well on step 1 to be competitive. All the ECs and being a nice person don't make up for it. It's not like everyone who has hobbies does poorly on step. As many have stated, keeping your sanity can help your mental prowess. The most important time for step studying is the ~6 months leading up to it (and especially the several weeks of dedicated).

Completely agree. Everyone I know that killed boards (other than maybe 1 or 2 people) had social lives for most of med school, but really kicked it into gear around boards. I'd say most of them started really putting in extra work 4-5 months in advance and then became antisocial in the 6-8 weeks of dedicated. They were efficient and knew how to have a solid balance most of the time to prevent burnout, then were ready to turn it up during dedicated and had the mental energy/focus to do the 12-16 hours a day during dedicated and actually get something out of most of it. Unless you're one of those people whose passion is legitimately sitting and studying for hours on end, I'd say people are better off not being miserable for 2 years and making sure they're ready to crush it during dedicated time and trying to push themselves to study without enough breaks and burning out too early.

 

[evilbooyaa]

I'd like to bring everyone's focus back to the point that the person OP was referencing was not going to be a hermit and study all day every day (meaning it seemed like they were still going to have a social life) but that they weren't going to do volunteering, interest group non-sense, etc, which I think all med students and residents can agree is a reasonable plan, if mental/social/physical health can be maintained.

 

[AnatomyGrey12]

I'd like to bring everyone's focus back to the point that the person OP was referencing was not going to be a hermit and study all day every day (meaning it seemed like they were still going to have a social life) but that they weren't going to do volunteering, interest group non-sense, etc, which I think all med students and residents can agree is a reasonable plan, if mental/social/physical health can be maintained.

I remember club day when all my classmates were joining all the clubs because it “would look good on a CV to be a member of multiple.” The pre-med mindset is hard to get rid of.

 

[ortnakas]

I remember club day when all my classmates were joining all the clubs because it “would look good on a CV to be a member of multiple.” The pre-med mindset is hard to get rid of.

True. I think it’s good to join clubs if it’s something you’re truly interested in for learning or networking or even just would have fun with, but it’s not necessary as a CV builder.

 

[JamesPotterMS-3]

Completely agree. Everyone I know that killed boards (other than maybe 1 or 2 people) had social lives for most of med school, but really kicked it into gear around boards. I'd say most of them started really putting in extra work 4-5 months in advance and then became antisocial in the 6-8 weeks of dedicated. They were efficient and knew how to have a solid balance most of the time to prevent burnout, then were ready to turn it up during dedicated and had the mental energy/focus to do the 12-16 hours a day during dedicated and actually get something out of most of it. Unless you're one of those people whose passion is legitimately sitting and studying for hours on end, I'd say people are better off not being miserable for 2 years and making sure they're ready to crush it during dedicated time and trying to push themselves to study without enough breaks and burning out too early.

I agree with this. I was average during years 1-2 but worked my ass off from April-June and was able to score better than some of the top students in the class. I think a big part of it was because starting earlier than dedicated (in April), allowed me to go through Robbins and I was able to score some points on weird path that was not in FA.

 

[GonefromTX]

Thats pretty much what I did. In fact second year I didnt even follow lectures at school. Just Uworld, First Aid, Pathoma and SketchyMicro+Pharm.

I did clinical research during M2 for about 3-4 hours/day for a month which resulted in 4 pubs so I'm pretty lucky to not need to do a research year.