my poor low board score

[mnms]

hi all,

i just got my step 1 score and it was horrible. what type of specialties might be suitable for? my score was a 192 (1 std dev below mean).

i am interested in psychiatry. i have 3 publications and a grad degree from an ivy league school. i'm in the middle 1/3 of my class.

thanks for your help

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[kinetic]

hi all,

i just got my step 1 score and it was horrible. what type of specialties might be suitable for? my score was a 192 (1 std dev below mean).

i am interested in psychiatry. i have 3 publications and a grad degree from an ivy league school. i'm in the middle 1/3 of my class.

thanks for your help

It doesn't disqualify you from anything. It just makes it harder for more competitive specialties. Everyone on this board acts like "everyone scores above the mean" (yes, I realize the impossibility of the statement). Psychiatry is not a competitive specialty, so you certainly are not out of the running. And with publications and good letters I think you will still be a decent candidate (research and letters trump almost everything at academic centers). To be safe, however, apply to programs at all levels and tiers -- not just "the top residencies because I want a great program" or "the suckiest residencies because that's all I can hope for."

Good luck.

 

[axm397]

agree with above - and in addition, I would suggest you consider taking step 2 early to make up for your step 1 score.

It's really not the end of the world You sound like a very good candidate for psychiatry to me - 2 publications, wow!

Just do well during your 3rd year and get good letters of recommendations too.

 

[mnms]

thanks you guys,

it's a relief. i know i'm borderline, but i'll do my best this next year. i really suck at the basic sciences, but i love people, so i'm hoping that will help and show up on step 2 and the LORs.

 

[dlbruch]

My step 1 was only slightly better (less than 200) and I applied to peds in CA. I got plenty of interviews and landed my 1st choice residency. I would expect psych to be similarly competetive. So, don't sweat it much- everyone gets a residency somewhere!

 

[mnms]

i guess you guys are right. i do think i will land SOME residency, but it may not be the yale or stanford i've always dreamed of. but maybe if i work my tail off this year and rock step 2, i might have a chance at least????? i really hope to land something in an academic med center and not a community setting. i really want to do forensic psych and would love to teach if possible.

maybe less sdn for me and more study after i get back from from clinic.

 

[njbmd]

i guess you guys are right. i do think i will land SOME residency, but it may not be the yale or stanford i've always dreamed of. but maybe if i work my tail off this year and rock step 2, i might have a chance at least????? i really hope to land something in an academic med center and not a community setting. i really want to do forensic psych and would love to teach if possible.

maybe less sdn for me and more study after i get back from from clinic.

Hi there,
Your Step I score is not going to knock you out of academic programs for psychiatry nor will training at a good community program end your career in forensic psychiatry. You need to do some residency research before you apply. As others have said, psych is just not that competitive. A name program is a great thing but you haven't shut the door on good solid programs that may be better for you in the long run. You can also do an audition rotation at your "dream" program and rock.

The important thing is that you PASSED and that you have an opportunity to put in excellence from here on out. A good letter from your department chair is not a bad idea either along with some strategic phone calls.

Good luck!
njbmd

 

[kem]

Hi,

I did about the same as you on Step 1 last year, and got really depressed about it. But I worked really hard third year and my grades were A LOT better. Don't let yourself get down about your Step 1 score. Third year, where your letters of recommendation and most important grades come from, does not correlate to Step 1 board score. Several people in my class who got amazing scores didn't do so well this past year because they didn't want to work or be in the hospital and just weren't interested, and that shows. Other students who weren't as great the first 2 years have great people personalities and are willing and motivated.

I just started clinicals so sad last year about my future career, and I just want you to know things can get better.

kem

 

[lowbudget]

Don't worry. You passed Step 1 and that's the important part. That said, you know what you have to do in the next 12 months to really crank it out. Psych to my understanding is easy to get into, but as always with the lesser competitive programs, the question isn't if you'll get a spot as much as it is where do you want to be. I'd recommend the following:

1) Do well during 3rd year: which means helping out on the floor, trying to take the brunt of the job off the intern's shoulder, and read up on your patients. It also means studying for your clerkship exams and doing well. I would recommend that you get a Step 2 review book (like Secrets or Boards and Wards) and read the pertinent chapters the first day of your new clerkship, then follow it up with more extensive reading in some clerkship review book (Blueprints, HY, FA for example) and specific reading for your patients.
2) Start laying ground work for Step 2: which means seeing as many patients as possible and talk about the diagnostic criteria and work up for that patient as well as H&P. This will help you build intuition to do well on Step 2.
3) Look into where you would want to do away rotations and see whether or not that's where you would like to go.

Often times, good showing in clerkship grades, Step 2's early, and doing a couple of audition rotations can offset 1 bad day of testing.

 

[bustbones26]

Kick ass on rotations! I was upset about my step I score too, but just recently, I did a kick a$$ job on one of my rotations that resulted in my attending calling up his former attending up a very prestigious program to recommend me to their program, he also wrote me a great LOR! I am not braggin, just pointing out that if you kick a$$ on rotations and show them what you're made of, then PD's and attending are more than happy to look beyond low scores, they just assume that you are one of the lucky people that are bad at taking standardized exams. So don't get too down, hang in there!

 

[Seaglass]

I guess it's time to give this mind reading thing a rest.

Oops, wrong thread. How did I get here again?

 

[mnms]

thanks guys

i'm always amazed at how supportive the 99.9% of people on these forums are. i'm on surgery now and i love it, just like i'm thinking i'll love each rotation i'm on. i think i just like the clinical stuff in medicine more and like seeing patients rather than books.

hopefully my luck in med school will turn around this year.

thanks again,

mnms