Hi y'all, please help me out! I'm seriously thinking of pursuing a residency in the US and so, will be taking the boards. My question is, when should I take Step 1? I know the general advice is to take it after the basic sciences (i.e. June of M2 for US students) but my situation is little unique. If there are any Aussie IMGs doing a residency in the States please hmu!
I'm in a six year BS/MD program (3 year BS, 3 year MD). Currently in my final year of UG and will jump straight into M2 next year, so basically UG is watered down M1 spread across 3 years. Caveat: My school literally did not cover medical biochemistry, genetics & psychology (at least all these things look absolutely foreign in FA). This year (final year undergrad) for example, we jumped straight into systems (i.e, MSK, Renal, Neuro, Head and Neck, GI, Endocrine, Pulm, Cardio). You can then guess how much was crammed into one year. Oh, and I'm in the pioneer batch of this program, so we don't have much structure and organization. It's an absolute nightmare despite saving 2 years off the traditional 8 year path. My freshman and sophomore years were basically doing general college level science units (anatomy, cell biology, a little micro and heme/onc).
High-key freaking out because unlike US schools, we start clinicals in second semester of M2 (i.e. from June to Nov). The first semester will be used to finish up whatever remaining systems we didn't do this year. Our school year also runs from January to November, which is different from the US. I was also given the general advice to do all my boards in a six-month span. Do I therefore take Step 1 at the end of M2 (December 2019) or all at once in M3/M4? I would also need to spend my breaks doing clerkships and research in the US, which are from end Nov-Jan and 3 weeks in July, so the former option is looking more likely.
Any help and advice navigating this Strayan labyrinth will be appreciated.
Cheers
I'm in a six year BS/MD program (3 year BS, 3 year MD). Currently in my final year of UG and will jump straight into M2 next year, so basically UG is watered down M1 spread across 3 years. Caveat: My school literally did not cover medical biochemistry, genetics & psychology (at least all these things look absolutely foreign in FA). This year (final year undergrad) for example, we jumped straight into systems (i.e, MSK, Renal, Neuro, Head and Neck, GI, Endocrine, Pulm, Cardio). You can then guess how much was crammed into one year. Oh, and I'm in the pioneer batch of this program, so we don't have much structure and organization. It's an absolute nightmare despite saving 2 years off the traditional 8 year path. My freshman and sophomore years were basically doing general college level science units (anatomy, cell biology, a little micro and heme/onc).
High-key freaking out because unlike US schools, we start clinicals in second semester of M2 (i.e. from June to Nov). The first semester will be used to finish up whatever remaining systems we didn't do this year. Our school year also runs from January to November, which is different from the US. I was also given the general advice to do all my boards in a six-month span. Do I therefore take Step 1 at the end of M2 (December 2019) or all at once in M3/M4? I would also need to spend my breaks doing clerkships and research in the US, which are from end Nov-Jan and 3 weeks in July, so the former option is looking more likely.
Any help and advice navigating this Strayan labyrinth will be appreciated.
Cheers
