USMLE scores

[grayfish]

I am just curious how important the step 1 and step 2 scores are for residency application. Most people at my school do not even take step 2 until Feb of their senior year. Does it mean that the residency programs are mostly interested in your step 1 score? Will the step 2 score have any impact on the future job application after the residency program? I appreciate any comments.

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[fourthyr]

Place your self in the committee's shoes.

How can you legitmately differentiate applicant's?

A national standardized test is a very good way. Therefore, USMLE Part I scores are very important and are used as cutoff scores, just like they have been for the past applications you have submitted (ie. SAT, MCAT). Step I is undoubtedly a super important part of your application to any residency program.

Now, about part II. Some applicants have taken it, and some haven't. It's generally true that people score within +/- 15 points of their USMLE Part I score, but it's not the rule. Also, many programs don't use the Part II score, because there is no national "law" about the timing to take it. But, step into the committee's shoes again. If you have 2 equally weighted applicants, from the same school, solid interviews, etc. EXCEPT one took part II and did reasonably well/passed.... then wouldn't you choose that applicant? It's essentially data collection, and the more data they have on you, the better they can make an informed decision on you.

But, it's up to you to present the data in a positive light, and to make the data as outstanding as possible. Some of you may need this extra data point (Step II), for others, it may just confirm already known facts, and for a rare minority, it may hurt you.

Therefore, the generally accepted advice is to kick so much ass on your Step I, that you will not EVER have to worry about part II, until ... it doesn't matter to anyone.

Take that last bit with a grain of salt, as well. Because, some fellowship determinations, especially in the surgical fields, use Step II. Also, if you decide to jump ship in the middle of your specialty training and train in a different residency field, then again, step II may come back and haunt you. So, prepare for step II, at least a little, whenever you decide to take it.

My Summary: Crush Step I; Take Step II at YOUR whim, but prepare for it.

 

[Jim Picotte]

Yeah I agree Step I is certainly the most important of the two in regards to residency. A little anecdotal evidence coming from a hopeful future radiologist. I took Step 2 on December 4, didn't have scored until the first week of January. During a couple interviews in December I was asked by the PD if I had taken Step 2 or was planning to and they followed with the comment that "it might be hard to match here without that score" or "It will certainly make you stand out if you do well on Step II".

After my scores were back and I went to my January interviews, I got a couple strong compliments on my Step II scores with one program director saying, "Really good Step 2 score, we like to see that in our applicants as it tests your clinical knowledge which is useful and not your basic science knowledge which is useless."

Passing Step II is a graduation requirement at my school so I was encouraged to take it earlier so that the programs could see that I wouldn't have any problems with graduation. I bet the real answer is that every program and PD has a different view on this. Some might not even consider the Step II scores because all the applicants haven't taken it and some may look at it even higher than the Step I score.

It's also nice just to get the test out of the way.

 

[WSU02]

I took II in Oct...had my results back in late Nov. Therefore all but 1 of my interviews had Step II results in front of them.

I did well in Step I & better on II. PDs liked that. I'm sure it even got me interviews at a couple of my "reach" places. Every PD commented on it.

Bottom line, it's one additional piece of info on you, use it to your advantage.
Kristi