BOTH How much could STEP 2 help me?

[doing_all_the_things]

I'm a 3rd year DO student. My USMLE STEP 1 was 219, and my COMLEX was 606. The reasons why I scored low on the USMLE are unimportant (related to bad timing) but it should be noted that I was expecting a >230 based on practice exams from UWorld and NBME so I think I should have done better. My question is this: How much would doing well on STEP 2 help me land the residencies that I want. I don't care about prestige but I do care about location and lifestyle for residency. Going to an ACGME program would be better because AOA programs will be few and far between by the time I apply in 2019 so I'm told. The specialties I am interested in, in no particular order are EM, General Surgery, Neurology, IM - Infectious Disease, and Psychiatry. What should be my strategy moving forward as far as what to do and when to do it? Any help would be appreciated.

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[MedNation907]

Skipping USMLE step 2?
Skipping USMLE step 2?


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[MedNation907]

That's not very helpful but it's more of a bump because I'm also interested in this answer. I ended up with an average-ish step 1 (didn't get level 1 back yet) and am not sure if I should be taking step 2. They're so expensive!


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[Eagles6389]

I'm a 3rd year DO student. My USMLE STEP 1 was 219, and my COMLEX was 606. The reasons why I scored low on the USMLE are unimportant (related to bad timing) but it should be noted that I was expecting a >230 based on practice exams from UWorld and NBME so I think I should have done better. My question is this: How much would doing well on STEP 2 help me land the residencies that I want. I don't care about prestige but I do care about location and lifestyle for residency. Going to an ACGME program would be better because AOA programs will be few and far between by the time I apply in 2019 so I'm told. The specialties I am interested in, in no particular order are EM, General Surgery, Neurology, IM - Infectious Disease, and Psychiatry. What should be my strategy moving forward as far as what to do and when to do it? Any help would be appreciated.

I don't have much to contribute to this as I'm also a 3rd year student at a D.O. school just starting rotations. From what I've seen on VSAS, its very vague at many residency programs on what the cutoff is for a minimum step 1 score, so I'm guessing you will have to e-mail or call them to find out when it comes time to start applying. Some residencies on VSAS do list minimum step 1 requirements. Some residencies have cutoffs at 210, others at 220 for the IM/EM/General Surgery residencies I've seen. Your step 1 score isn't great but it could definitely help you at some of the ACGME residencies that don't accept COMLEX scores at all, not to mention that 219 is still about 33rd percentile, and some of the less competitive residency programs out of EM/IM/General Surgery could be ok with it. On the other hand, a 606 on COMLEX is really good (that's around the 85th percentile?) and could help a lot at the D.O. programs that are merging into the ACGME that will still likely favor DO students.

About Step 2, I really don't know how much it could help. I'm planning on taking it but it's almost a year until that test, so things could change. For reference, I got a 223 on Step 1 and am interested in some of the same specialties that you are (haven't got my COMLEX score back but not expecting too much from it). So I would also be interested in knowing the pros/cons of Step 2

 

[saif65]

I'm a 2nd year resident. When I applied to residency they cared a lot about step 2. I would take it. It's a chance to show that your step 1 was just a fluke. I specifically remember at least 3-4 interviews that emphasized step 2

 

[Dr.Jekyll75]

I'm in the same boat. Did 228 on the step but 659 on comlex . Some of my third year say do it some say don't it's the biggest tossup right now considering the merger for the 2019 class


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[Eagles6389]

I'm in the same boat. Did 228 on the step but 659 on comlex . Some of my third year say do it some say don't it's the biggest tossup right now considering the merger for the 2019 class


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Yeah, I'm 223/589 and think that with the merger, it's probably the best bet to play it safe and take Step 2. My fear is that a residency might look for any excuse to slim down its application pool, in which they might say "well you didn't take Step 2, so no interview" or rank a DO student with a decent Step 2 higher than a DO student w/o one.

 

[Dr.Jekyll75]

Yeah, I'm 223/589 and think that with the merger, it's probably the best bet to play it safe and take Step 2. My fear is that a residency might look for any excuse to slim down its application pool, in which they might say "well you didn't take Step 2, so no interview" or rank a DO student with a decent Step 2 higher than a DO student w/o one.

The DME at my hospital still has no idea what's going to happen , this is across the board which is the scary part. How do they not plan anything .


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[surfguy84]

Curious about my situation...

Step 1 low 240s/Comlex 660s

Intrested in PMR, psych, anesthesia.

Take step 2 or will I be good?

 

[Postictal Raiden]

Curious about my situation...

Step 1 low 240s/Comlex 660s

Intrested in PMR, psych, anesthesia.

Take step 2 or will I be good?

Looking at the NRMP PD survey report, psych PDs seem to highly value step2. They gave step2 a score of 3.9 on the importance scale as opposed to 3.7 for step1. The other two still value step1 more.

 

[Dr.Jekyll75]

Curious about my situation...

Step 1 low 240s/Comlex 660s

Intrested in PMR, psych, anesthesia.

Take step 2 or will I be good?

I think the general idea is to take both now considering the merger . Unless you are doing FM.


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[jw3600]

Every DO who wants to match ACGME should take step 2. I don't normally like absolutes but unless you have a 270+ step 1, take step 2.

 

[Dr.Jekyll75]

Every DO who wants to match ACGME should take step 2. I don't normally like absolutes but unless you have a 270+ step 1, take step 2.

this gonna be basically every 2019 and on