What are my chances?

[doctormom18]

I am applying to pediatric neurology, which requires applying for two years in peds in addition to applying to peds neurology. This however, is not the problem.

My Step score is low-really low- 197. I had a baby the summer after second year and thought I could pull it all off, I was wrong. I felt I had a good reason though and the rest of my application was ok- I am a Teach for America alum, I have research and publications, leadership positions, some honors in the first 2 years and all HP the 3rd year rotations(not awesome, but good enough)and good LOR set up. Maybe wouldn't get me into the best residencies, but something I wouldn't be ashamed of.

UNTIL>>>>>I just found out I failed my Surgery shelf!! I will need to retake the test and will only receive a Conditional pass. I was one point off, and only1 SD below the mean, geez!

I feel like one bad mark on my app is a bad day, but two bad marks is a habit. What are my chances of getting into a decent residency program now? I'm limited in my options because of my husbands job, and really don't want to apply all over the country. Do you think I'll be ok applying to just 18-20 programs?

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[twilightdoc]

I am applying to pediatric neurology, which requires applying for two years in peds in addition to applying to peds neurology. This however, is not the problem. My Step score is low-really low- 197. I had a baby the summer after second year and thought I could pull it all off, I was wrong. I felt I had a good reason though and the rest of my application was ok- I am a Teach for America alum, I have research and publications, leadership positions, some honors in the first 2 years and all HP the 3rd year rotations(not awesome, but good enough)and good LOR set up. Maybe wouldn't get me into the best residencies, but something I wouldn't be ashamed of. UNTIL>>>>>I just found out I failed my Surgery shelf!! I will need to retake the test and will only receive a Conditional pass. I was one point off, and only1 SD below the mean, geez! I feel like one bad mark on my app is a bad day, but two bad marks is a habit. What are my chances of getting into a decent residency program now? I'm limited in my options because of my husbands job, and really don't want to apply all over the country. Do you think I'll be ok applying to just 18-20 programs?

Are you talking about getting into a "decent" Peds residency program, a "decent" Peds Neurology program, or one of the combinations? I am not usually hung up on numbers of programs to which a student should apply- depends on the student and the programs. And, unfortunately, some programs will automatically screen you out because of your Step 1 score and/or your surgery grade. If your husband has limited mobility because of the nature of his job, my advice would be to apply to every Peds program in the geographic areas that are open to him. And this would include some lesser-known programs. "Decent" is in the eye of the beholder. You obviously want a Peds program that is accredited. And you may not be invited to interview at some of the upper-tier programs. I don't know how competitive Child Neurology is. I looked at Freida and noted that some of the child neurology programs are at hospitals where the peds residencies do not seem to be super-competitive. A career option you might want to consider would be developmental pediatrics- there is an overlap between that subspecialty and child neurology, and your peds residency would be the first step in that path.

 

[oldbearprofessor]

My Step score is low-really low- 197.

UNTIL>>>>>I just found out I failed my Surgery shelf!! I will need to retake the test and will only receive a Conditional pass. I was one point off, and only1 SD below the mean, geez!

1. Take Step 2 and try to get an average score at least.
2. Focus on applying to categorical pediatric programs without saying much about the pedi neuro plans. There are tons of good programs that would allow you to get a pedi neuro match.
3. Do well on Step 2, demonstrate that you did well clinically and in your pedi shelf and MOST places will sort of laugh at the Surgery shelf score. The ones that won't are ones that wouldn't consider you based on your STEP 1 score.

You will find a good program and 18-20 is a lot of places that meet your criteria.

Good luck.

 

[JMMH]

I had a similar issue with my surgery shelf that dropped my grade. My step scores were right around average and the rest of my grades were fine.

I applied to 10 peds programs and ended up interviewing at 7 (never heard from 1 and turned down 2 at the end of the cycle). Of the 7 places with all the multiple people who interviewed me, only one mentioned the surgery grade and asked basically why it was an anomaly on my record. I told them I guess that I was not cut out to be a surgeon and explained the shelf situation. They were fine with it. Had I ranked that program higher, I imagine I would have had a chance to match there.

18 programs is a lot in my opinion but should give you a lot of options when you start to get interviews. Hopefully then you can be more selective about where you end up visiting.

Good luck!

 

[VanDiemen]

Teach for America? That's actually VERY impressive to anyone who knows how incredibly selective the program is. I just read this article in the NYT a few days ago, talking about how many Ivy-League graduates are getting rejected from Teach for America:

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/07/12/education/12winerip.html

You should do as well as you can on STEP 2, and just do a good job of explaining why your STEP 1 score and surgery shelf are not reflective of your actual potential.

 

[slowlybutshelly]

Is Peace Corps also looked at favorably? I was a Peace Corps volunteer before medical school in Africa. I had to repeat surgery core. In my instance it was not because I was having a baby, but because my boyfriend (who stayed in Africa) died; and I had just planned the funeral of our housemate with him in Africa 8 months before. Those deaths shook me to my core (the first I have to deal with) and set me back quite a bit emotionally over the years. I had to actually leave my medical school; and reapplied to finish elsewhere. I did well elsewhere in every rotation; but when it came to surgery, all the traumatic emotions of just being on a surgery rotation when it happened would come flooding back and I would sink. So surgery was my emotional nemesis.

I appreciate your advice about Step2; I am trying to do as well as I can on it given my background. And then I hope a residency program would look favorably on me.

 

[peppy]

Is Peace Corps also looked at favorably? I was a Peace Corps volunteer before medical school in Africa. I had to repeat surgery core. In my instance it was not because I was having a baby, but because my boyfriend (who stayed in Africa) died; and I had just planned the funeral of our housemate with him in Africa 8 months before. Those deaths shook me to my core (the first I have to deal with) and set me back quite a bit emotionally over the years. I had to actually leave my medical school; and reapplied to finish elsewhere. I did well elsewhere in every rotation; but when it came to surgery, all the traumatic emotions of just being on a surgery rotation when it happened would come flooding back and I would sink. So surgery was my emotional nemesis.
I appreciate your advice about Step2; I am trying to do as well as I can on it given my background. And then I hope a residency program would look favorably on me.

I definitely think with your unusual background that there are programs who would be willing to give you a chance if you explain the situation. Good luck to you!

 

[PediatricsRocks]

What are my changes--so far I have a 206 on Step 1 and 3rd quartile grades. Can I get into a top 50 peds residency?

P.S. I'm still on third year clinical rotations and so far I'm probably just average on those.

 

[Bitsy]

What are my changes--so far I have a 206 on Step 1 and 3rd quartile grades. Can I get into a top 50 peds residency?

P.S. I'm still on third year clinical rotations and so far I'm probably just average on those.

I'm in residency and I'm not sure what would constitute a "top 50 peds residency." There's the top 10-20 programs then I would argue residencies are more in tiers based on whether you want a community program or an academic program. Nobody is going to be able to even guess your chances until you take step 2, get LORs, and do a pediatric sub-i. Those will be crucial to your application since your step 1 score isn't great. How did you do on your third year peds rotation?

 

[PediatricsRocks]

Haven't done it yet. Any tips on how to look good?

 

[Bitsy]

Haven't done it yet. Any tips on how to look good?

-be enthusiastic but not obnoxious
-know how to present and the organization of presenting a patient (SOAP note format), especially if your peds rotation is at a place that does family-centered rounds
-work hard and don't complain
-ask thoughtful questions, don't ask something that you could easily look up yourself
-make your intern look good.....know your patients thoroughly and help them with anything that you can, they will in return make sure you are prepped for certain high yield pimp questions and put in a good word for you

As a third year medical student, we are not expecting you to know much about pediatrics but be helpful, seem interested, and show the ability to look things up yourself rather than asking any question that pops into your head without putting any effort into looking it up.