What now?

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ATGSNAT

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Trying to get back into medicine. Left a surgery program because it wasn't what I wanted to do and was affecting my academic performance.

Step 1: 220
Step 2CK: 202
Step 2CS: Pass
Step 3: Fail x 2*, 201 recent retake
*Failed once, panicked and retook immediately without more prep

Yea, I got red flags out the wazoo and I know it. I was aiming for low-tier community IM programs, just to get my foot in the door. Applied to a few FM programs a bit later in the cycle too. Zero interviews. How ****ed am I? What do I do? I'm not at a residency or Med school so I have very little career advice support. Should I just aim to SOAP for FM positions?
 
Trying to get back into medicine. Left a surgery program because it wasn't what I wanted to do and was affecting my academic performance.

Step 1: 220
Step 2CK: 202
Step 2CS: Pass
Step 3: Fail x 2*, 201 recent retake
*Failed once, panicked and retook immediately without more prep

Yea, I got red flags out the wazoo and I know it. I was aiming for low-tier community IM programs, just to get my foot in the door. Applied to a few FM programs a bit later in the cycle too. Zero interviews. How ****ed am I? What do I do? I'm not at a residency or Med school so I have very little career advice support. Should I just aim to SOAP for FM positions?
No residency program, in the SOAP or otherwise, is going to touch you with multiple Step 3 failures and still no passing score. You should concentrate on passing Step 3 before the next residency cycle, and then apply to every FM program in the country (not counting top tier ones that will obviously not consider you) . You also need to volunteer at a FM clinic and get some new LORs from the field. Your chances at any IM program, especially now with the emphasis on board pass rates, is basically zero.
 
No residency program, in the SOAP or otherwise, is going to touch you with multiple Step 3 failures and still no passing score. You should concentrate on passing Step 3 before the next residency cycle, and then apply to every FM program in the country (not counting top tier ones that will obviously not consider you) . You also need to volunteer at a FM clinic and get some new LORs from the field. Your chances at any IM program, especially now with the emphasis on board pass rates, is basically zero.
201 is a pass on Step 3
 
Trying to get back into medicine. Left a surgery program because it wasn't what I wanted to do and was affecting my academic performance.

Step 1: 220
Step 2CK: 202
Step 2CS: Pass
Step 3: Fail x 2*, 201 recent retake
*Failed once, panicked and retook immediately without more prep

Yea, I got red flags out the wazoo and I know it. I was aiming for low-tier community IM programs, just to get my foot in the door. Applied to a few FM programs a bit later in the cycle too. Zero interviews. How ****ed am I? What do I do? I'm not at a residency or Med school so I have very little career advice support. Should I just aim to SOAP for FM positions?

How long have you been out of residency? Did you complete any full years successfully? What have you been doing since leaving your surgery residency?

I suppose that you really don't have anything to lose by attempting to SOAP into FM this spring. One thing you may want to look at is licensure rules for the states where programs you are considering are and make sure you would be eligible. In some cases failures on steps can impede the licensure process. [Also I presume that you took Step 2CK before the passing score was raised--but if you somehow haven't passed Step 2CK then obviously that needs to happen quickly.]
 
Left a surgery program because it wasn't what I wanted to do and was affecting my academic performance.

If I might ask, how did you get into a surgery program in the first place? Also, the critical factor is if you completed your first year. That is important because in some states only one year of GME is needed for a full license. If you did not complete the year, that just might be the biggest red flag on your application.

The biggest concern an employer cares about when hiring a physician is if this guys is going to get us sued or investigated by the government. A close second, is this person going to leave us in the lurch? That also applies to a residency program. A resident leaving mid-year leaves everyone in a very bad situation. Unfortunately, the biggest predictor of future performance is past performance.

SO IMHO this is what you need to do:

1) You need to pass Step 3 with a pretty good score. Board certification pass rates are everything to a residency program. Well, for lower tier residency program.s You might be a brilliant physician, but if you can't pass the test you are going to bring their statistics down and it is going to look bad for them. And unless you offer something spectacular to counteract that, it will be a deal-breaker.

2) Find some sort of employment/volunteer/research position associated with healthcare. And then get them to testify that you are the most dedicated, reliable worker they have ever seen. "Wow, this guy showed up to work with two broken legs and a kidney stone!"

3) Now for a bit of good news. Program directors can get nervous as the process moves forwards and they have uncovered rotations. But then again, you REALLY need to prove you can pass the tests.
 
There's some confusion on this thread, and I think we're missing some details in your post.

You've passed Step 3 with a low score, but at least all the steps are done.

Your CK score is "below the minimum pass of 209" but you took the exam before the minimum pass was raised. Problem is, in 2014 the min pass was increased from 203 to 209. So presumably you took it when the minimum pass was 197 (or so), before they raised it to 203. This suggests that you completed medical school quite some time ago.

You mention being in a surgery program. I am wondering if you were in a prelim surgery program. And sounds like you did not complete the year.

We're missing whether you're an IMG or USMG. I assume you're not a DO, or you would have likely taken the COMLEX instead.

So, I'm assuming you graduated from medical school a good number of years ago, started in a prelim GS program, dropped out (or failed out), failed Step 3 twice, passed with a low score on your third try. And I'm wondering if you've taken a break after your surgery training also. As you stated yourself, red flags out the wazoo.

SOAPing into Prelim GS again sounds like a bad plan. Didn't go well last time, and if you drop out of another program your career is almost certainly over.

If you have a full year of credit (or close), then SOAPing into Neuro might be an option. A surgery year will not count for neuro completely, but you might get some credit and only have to make up some of the PGY-1 year. Or, if a neuro categorical spot is in SOAP, that's an option.

Pathology and Psych are also less competitive fields, and are significantly different from surgery that one could argue that your performance would be completely different.

In order to SOAP successfully, you'll need to show that you've experienced the field and know it's a good fit for you. No Path/Psych program is going to take you seriously if you apply because "they have an open spot and I'll take anything". So I think the best strategy at this point is to review the match results for last year to get a sense of how many spots in each field are open, and decide what you want to do. Then, try to get some experience in that field -- even if it's just shadowing an FP/Psych/Path doc, and get a letter or two to add to your ERAS application for SOAP. Then you'll apply carefully in SOAP. You only get a limited number of applications in the first round (and you can't purchase more), and almost all spots are gone by the time the second round of applications opens up.

And then, you need a plan B and a plan C. Plan B is to try to get more clinical experience in one of the fields mentioned, and apply again next year. Plan C is not being a clinician, and doing something else. If SOAP doesn't go well, you need to start working on both.
 
Thank you for the advice. More info:

I graduated in 2011, went to a prelim surgery internship and completed the year, was kept on as categorical, but suffered from burnout. Didn't affect my clinical performance, but it badly hurt my academics (depressed, wasn't studying). After failing step 3 twice, I left my residency after pgy-2, did 1.5yrs of lab research, but it wasn't for me. Now doing medical insurance review. I have now passed all Steps, currently working on licensure in CA, where I was living. I am USMG. Should I talk to my med school dean? I find myself kind of adrift since I'm not really part of an academic or training program now.

What specialties would work best? Path and Psych have already been mentioned, would prelim IM be doable? It's probably getting swamped by derm people looking for internships. Any shot at something like anesthesia, I hear it's suffering a downturn.
 
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I'm sorry but realistically, you have NO chance at any anesthesia program with your track record.

You might be better off applying to rads over anesthesia at this point, though I highly doubt you'll be even looked at.

Your better chances are psych, fm, prelim IM, or occupational medicine.
 
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