Who here matched with the lowest Step score?

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sun_devil33 said:
I'm a third year, but one of my good friends matched into a decent surgical residency program with a 202 Step 1 and average Step 2. And they say its not who you know... Anybody beat that?
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Wouldn't be surprised if it was gen surg.
Surgery got crushed this year with unfilled positions. Something like 1 in 5 positions went unfilled, making it the least matched specialty.
 
Is this because it's viewed as so competitive that it scares people off, or do people just not like surgery as a career lately?

Does anyone know if this was the case last year? I have a very bright OMSII who is gunning for Gen Surg.

EMapplicant2017 said:
Wouldn't be surprised if it was gen surg.
Surgery got crushed this year with unfilled positions. Something like 1 in 5 positions went unfilled, making it the least matched specialty.
Click to expand...
 
EMapplicant2017 said:
Wouldn't be surprised if it was gen surg.
Surgery got crushed this year with unfilled positions. Something like 1 in 5 positions went unfilled, making it the least matched specialty.
Click to expand...

Sure this wasn't just prelim spots? Surgery Prelims usually have lots of unfilled spots. In 2015 there were 36.7% unfilled. For comparison, categorical surg went 0.2% unfilled that year.
 
OnePunchBiopsy said:
Sure this wasn't just prelim spots? Surgery Prelims usually have lots of unfilled spots. Two years ago there were 36.7% unfilled.
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Edit. Don't want to reveal too much information as I'm not sure how much of this is public (granted >40K of those that participated got the initial results).

I think it's combined categorical and PGY-1 spots.
 
EMapplicant2017 said:
Edit. Don't want to reveal too much information as I'm not sure how much of this is public (granted >40K of those that participated got the initial results).

I think it's combined categorical and PGY-1 spots.
Click to expand...

If these total unfilled positions you report are combined categorical and prelim spots for surgery, then it sounds about like every other year.
 
EMapplicant2017 said:
Edit. Don't want to reveal too much information as I'm not sure how much of this is public (granted >40K of those that participated got the initial results).

I think it's combined categorical and PGY-1 spots.
Click to expand...
Prelims don't count- they're functionally roads to nowhere for most candidates and a last resort spot for people that don't match a prelim but need one for rads or the like.
 
Mad Jack said:
Prelims don't count- they're functionally roads to nowhere for most candidates and a last resort spot for people that don't match a prelim but need one for rads or the like.
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Are 20% of all surgical residency spots listed prelims?
 
OnePunchBiopsy said:
If these total unfilled positions you report are combined categorical and prelim spots for surgery, then it sounds about like every other year.
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Yeah, I had just seen the numbers and didn't realize at the time they combined categorical with prelim. That doesn't make much sense to me why they would do that... Essentially useless information.
 
I know someone who probably matched ENT with 240. Could have been Ophthamology, don't know this person that well. I just know their Step because they were telling ppl.


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Backtothebasics8 said:
I know someone who probably matched ENT with 240. Could have been Ophthamology, don't know this person that well. I just know their Step because they were telling ppl.


Sent from my iPhone using SDN mobile
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Ok.....240 is a good enough score to match any specialty. Hell of a contribution, son.
 
Backtothebasics8 said:
210s EM at an Ivy. Did an away there and got good evals during every rotation.


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Not to be the prestige police but not all "ivy" schools are nearly equivalent in terms of medical school.

Harvard>Penn>Yale~Columbia>Cornell>>>>>Dartmouth~Brown>>>>>Princeton (lol)

Edit: IDK ish about residency tho cause I'm still a medical student so somebody correct me if I'm wrong about relative prestige of these programs in regards to residency. (Also, I know that EM is a specialty where the prestige is often in big community hospitals and not university hospitals, but I'm talking in general).
 
MSTP18 said:
OP is right: it's not "who you know;" it's "whom you know."
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No it's not.

People are weird with fairly easy grammar rules. I feel like many people during school were frightened into thinking that "whom" had to be used instead of "who" in most situations.

"Whom" is misused/overused very often in daily use.
 
EMapplicant2017 said:
Wouldn't be surprised if it was gen surg.
Surgery got crushed this year with unfilled positions. Something like 1 in 5 positions went unfilled, making it the least matched specialty.
Click to expand...
There were about half as many categorical gen surg spots available in SOAP as ENT had. So I wouldn't say gen surg got crushed with unfilled spots.
 
libertyyne said:
It is a memorable heuristic to use when applying to residency.
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Huh?

This is the kind of thing that makes people overconfident in the match, and now 1 week post-match the Gen Res and NRMP forums are full of people who regret their match because "they thought they'd match higher." Nothing is guaranteed.
 
Ismet said:
Huh?

This is the kind of thing that makes people overconfident in the match, and now 1 week post-match the Gen Res and NRMP forums are full of people who regret their match because "they thought they'd match higher." Nothing is guaranteed.
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I agree, you should treat the match like you are not going to match regardless of your scores and try your best to match.
 
Med school, I know about. The intricacies of residencies....I'm still learning about. I asked because very few of my grads go into Gen Surg...about 5%.

Even among MDs, it's only about 10-15% of grads.

I have a good OMSII who is keen on Gen Surg, so this will be good news for him.

ChordaEpiphany said:
I'm honestly surprised Goro of all people has to ask this question. I guess you're more on the pre-med advising side? Gen surg is not particularly competitive. Step scores of those who match are generally average, maybe a bit above average, and it's a very doable match for a DO, probably even without "gunning." The only thing that really gets competitive is top residencies, which unfortunately don't even look at DOs due to the stigma.

I think also medicine tends to be selecting for individuals who are a bit less focused on money than in years past. These days, pretty much anyone accepted to medical school, particularly top medical schools, had far easier paths to money laid out for them. So naturally this is a group for whom $300K is enough or even overkill, and they'd rather focus on lifestyle (or prestige).
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Goro said:
Med school, I know about. The intricacies of residencies....I'm still learning about. I asked because very few of my grads go into Gen Surg...about 5%.

Even among MDs, it's only about 10-15% of grads.

I have a good OMSII who is keen on Gen Surg, so this will be good news for him.
Click to expand...

Goro when are you going to let me into your school?! :rage:
 
Goro said:
Is this because it's viewed as so competitive that it scares people off, or do people just not like surgery as a career lately?

Does anyone know if this was the case last year? I have a very bright OMSII who is gunning for Gen Surg.
Click to expand...
I actually think its because of the lifestyle. Even my classmates ( who are also little undergrad students) know that surgeons work crazy hours and the residency goes on for years.
 
Goro said:
Med school, I know about. The intricacies of residencies....I'm still learning about. I asked because very few of my grads go into Gen Surg...about 5%.

Even among MDs, it's only about 10-15% of grads.

I have a good OMSII who is keen on Gen Surg, so this will be good news for him.
Click to expand...
I would be careful about listening to someone give advice that is not involved in residency decision making, especially GS.

The truth is that there are still places where DOs struggle to be treated equally and allopathic GS is one of those. There are places that pride themselves on having no DOs,or limiting the number that are ranked to match. The last 15 years have seen a steady increase in the number of applications to GS, especially after work hour restrictions came about in 2003, and the number of unfilled categorical positions have remained single digits. Every year I see the DO applicants receive fewer interviews than otherwise "equivalent" MD students. The factors are complex and include fewer rotations at large academic medical centers, less contact with GS residents and lack of letters from surgical PDs and "known" faculty. I'd also add poor advice about the application process.

At any rate, please please please advise your student to take the USMLEs in addition to the COMLEX because some programs will not evaluate his application without the former.
 
mwsapphire said:
I actually think its because of the lifestyle.
Click to expand...

Perhaps.

Even my classmates ( who are also little undergrad students) know that surgeons work crazy hours
Click to expand...

#notallsurgeons

...and the residency goes on for years.
Click to expand...

Quiz:

How long is a general surgery residency?

How long does it take to be a cardiologist/gastroenterologist/medical oncologist/rheumatologist etc?
 
Winged Scapula said:
Perhaps.



#notallsurgeons



Quiz:

How long is a general surgery residency?

How long does it take to be a cardiologist/gastroenterologist/medical oncologist/rheumatologist etc?
Click to expand...

Lol even in allo mwsapphire is getting roasted
 
At my school, students treat COMLEX as a nuisance on the way to taking USMLE!

Winged Scapula said:
I would be careful about listening to someone give advice that is not involved in residency decision making, especially GS.

The truth is that there are still places where DOs struggle to be treated equally and allopathic GS is one of those. There are places that pride themselves on having no DOs,or limiting the number that are ranked to match. The last 15 years have seen a steady increase in the number of applications to GS, especially after work hour restrictions came about in 2003, and the number of unfilled categorical positions have remained single digits. Every year I see the DO applicants receive fewer interviews than otherwise "equivalent" MD students. The factors are complex and include fewer rotations at large academic medical centers, less contact with GS residents and lack of letters from surgical PDs and "known" faculty. I'd also add poor advice about the application process.

At any rate, please please please advise your student to take the USMLEs in addition to the COMLEX because some programs will not evaluate his application without the former.
Click to expand...
 
On our side of the Mississippi, there aren't as many AOA residencies, hence my students have to aim for ACGME spots. They're actually quite good at landing them, too.

ChordaEpiphany said:
Why is this? For some students, particularly those hoping for more competitive specialties, would it not be considered a good strategy to aim for DO residencies? You'd have to think staying within the DO system has its advantages given the massive bias against DOs in the MD match, especially in specialties like neurosurgery, derm, ophtho, etc... Are there simply not many spots proportionally compared to MD?
Click to expand...
 
A
ChordaEpiphany said:
Why is this? For some students, particularly those hoping for more competitive specialties, would it not be considered a good strategy to aim for DO residencies? You'd have to think staying within the DO system has its advantages given the massive bias against DOs in the MD match, especially in specialties like neurosurgery, derm, ophtho, etc... Are there simply not many spots proportionally compared to MD?
Click to expand...

And the number of AOA residencies are shrinking each year with the upcoming merger. Some lost to ACGME, some not passing muster and missing accreditation. Not to say programs historically DO still wouldn't be.
 
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