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Can you match into a good residency if you fail the first time and do well the second time?
If you fail step 1, are you screwed?
- Thread starter Ontology
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You pretty much can not match into some competitive specialties, and others you will be relegated to only the lowest tier programs, with a high chance of failing to match. For primary care type specialties, you have a bit more leeway, but you're still at a severe disadvantage.
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Don't try and find out.
Failing Step 1 is catastrophic frankly. I'm not trying to scare you but it truly is a match killer. It may also depend on being IMG or AMG. If English isn't your first language it is understandable that Step 1 would be more challenging for you than if it were in your native language but as a US grad failing step 1 is an abomination.
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It's not an absolute kiss of death, no. You can still get into a residency program. However it does limit the options available, and students who fail the first time need to prove they aren't just scraping by on the second attempt.
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Dude, come on! Aren't you like in high school or something? Step 1 is graded on a standardized curve. I think a quick SDN search for old threads or a google search may be very beneficial to you. I know you are curious and want to be informed, but you are too occupied with failure. When the time comes for you to take Step 1 it would be more beneficial to work hard and worry about passing.
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Not so much. If you are an IMG your only prayer of matching is to far exceed the scores of your US counterparts. There is no excuse for not speaking English well. That is actually more damning in terms if getting a residency.
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It is statistically unlikely you will do significantly better on the second attempt. I'm sure somebody can provide some cute little anecdote about a friend that failed and then studied really really hard and got a 250 the second try. For most people, there is a fairly significant knowledge deficit that is hard to make up for with a few extra weeks studying.
Don't listen to nay sayers. Seriously do you want to just give up? You only get what you put into something. If you have worked hard your whole life and sacrificed, then well this should be nothing but a minor hiccup.
Give it a shot. People fail in life. Big deal. I've seen Ivy league MDs screw up with their patient big time. And it leaves you wondering if all the hype was even worth it, when they make ridiculous mistakes.
Idk but there is a huge ego complex with certain segements in the medical community. To them, please get off your damn high horse.
Where are the people, who are supposed to show compassion? I swear I'd hate to be your patient. Damn uppity, sarcastic know-it-alls. You know who you are. "Statistically speaking..." "There is NO way anyone can recover from that." You sound so bitter and cold. Just please go nerd away somewhere else.
Failure happens. Jerks exist. Life moves on. Everyone forgets.
Give it a shot. People fail in life. Big deal. I've seen Ivy league MDs screw up with their patient big time. And it leaves you wondering if all the hype was even worth it, when they make ridiculous mistakes.
Idk but there is a huge ego complex with certain segements in the medical community. To them, please get off your damn high horse.
Where are the people, who are supposed to show compassion? I swear I'd hate to be your patient. Damn uppity, sarcastic know-it-alls. You know who you are. "Statistically speaking..." "There is NO way anyone can recover from that." You sound so bitter and cold. Just please go nerd away somewhere else.
Failure happens. Jerks exist. Life moves on. Everyone forgets.
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In my INTERNAL MEDICINE residency if you have a fail on your Step 1, we do not look at your application. Period. Im not at a name brand (Harvard, Hopkins, UCSF, yale) and Im at one of the easiest to match in specialties. If there is a fail, we DO NOT LOOK AT THE APPLICATION.
People have had it right so far. If you fail, you are not doomed. You won't be doing ROAD (where O is ortho and optho, urology included) anywhere, and you will have a hard time matching. YOu will have to do three things: (1) Apply broadly and to places you wouldn't normally think of applying, going for the "lower" end places that don't have big research names attached to them, (2) Do incredibly well in clerkships and rape Step 2, (3) Talk about your failue in your personal statement in ERAS, use it to discuss your emotional and intellectual maturation... basically, tell us why you failed and what you learned from it.
Also, and this is the most important advice I have for you, get a mentor. Now. Whether its your Dean of Academic Affairs or an attending in the field you want to go into, get connected. Ask them what you need to do. Do everything they say. Everything. Period.
you are not doomed, but you will have a significant barrier to overcome.
NBME holds your score for life. ERAS reminds. Reality is stronger than fairy tales and make believe.
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Mr. Brain has it right. There's a difference between encouragement and blithely ignoring reality, and the post 2 above is definitely the latter.You've got to have some significant upside on the rest of your application if you've failed Step 1 and want to match into anything other than a rural peds or family practice program. Even so, you will likely be required to make significant concessions in your residency options and will definitely have to apply broadly, because as mentioned, there are a lot of programs that will simply trash your application if you've failed Step 1, regardless of how awesome everything else is.
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Moving to hSDN.
Also, as others have said, it depends on your goals. If you're aiming for a ROAD residency, then yeah, you're screwed. If you just want to get *a* residency in a less competitive field, then you can come back from it. But no matter what, if you have a fail on your transcript some doors will have been closed to you.
Also, as others have said, it depends on your goals. If you're aiming for a ROAD residency, then yeah, you're screwed. If you just want to get *a* residency in a less competitive field, then you can come back from it. But no matter what, if you have a fail on your transcript some doors will have been closed to you.
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