Step 1 P/F: Decision

[lj_99]

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[Frogger27]

Home | United States Medical Licensing Examination

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"The USMLE program will change score reporting for Step 1from a three-digit numeric score to reporting only a pass/fail outcome. A numeric score will continue to be reported for Step 2 Clinical Knowledge (CK) and Step 3. Step 2 Clinical Skills (CS) will continue to be reported as Pass/Fail. This policy will take effect no earlier than January 1, 2022 with further details to follow later this year"

Discuss

 

[bananafish94]

Wow, I did not expect them to actually do that. Interesting!

 

[ChopinLiszt]

I feel like I've won the bad timing awards. Back to studying for step..

 

[Scrubs101]

Gunners gonna be cracking FA step 2 CK open in MS1 now

 

[slowthai]

Thank God I made it in before this travesty.

Welp, future M1s time to start maining step 2 decks from day 1 of M1.

 

[Frogger27]

What do we think this means for all of us applying to competitive specialties in next 1-2 years? Any differences? Do we expect a more "holistic" look? Higher emphasis on Step 2?

 

[Newyawk]

Future gunners gonna be donating kidneys

 

[Lawpy]

Now how do @efle @Lucca @Goro @Med Ed @AnatomyGrey12 respond to this?

 

[johnnytest]

Im shocked they did this

 

[efle]

It was inevitable, not only because of the damage Step 1 Mania was causing to preclinical education, but because the theoretical and statistical validity for the use of Step 1 in this way simply wasn't there. It was built from the ground up to be a test of minimum knowledge for licensure, with good discrimination around the 65-70% pass mark, and should have been Pass/Fail to begin with like the bar exam. Treating it like an aptitude test to favor 250s over 230s for residency placement was a bastardization that sparked a pointless arms race.

I have to say though, I don't like the immediate implications here. Keeping Step 2 CK as a triple digit score is just going to lead to all residency programs requiring a Step 2 CK to apply and treating it exactly the same way.

Also going to be curious to see how people handle the relatively imminent potential implementation (January 2022). That's close enough that anyone who wanted a competitive surgical specialty, and did poorly on Step 1, could consider a couple of research years to have a brand new shot...

 

[Chelsea FC]

Yeah I wonder if this change will affect current Med-students in which programs started to look at other things.

 

[Lawpy]

Home | United States Medical Licensing Examination

www.usmle.org

Discuss

"The USMLE program will change score reporting for Step 1from a three-digit numeric score to reporting only a pass/fail outcome. A numeric score will continue to be reported for Step 2 Clinical Knowledge (CK) and Step 3. Step 2 Clinical Skills (CS) will continue to be reported as Pass/Fail. This policy will take effect no earlier than January 1, 2022 with further details to follow later this year."

I'm glad Step 2 CS remains pass/fail. Some idiots thought making that test a scored exam was a good idea.

 

[cybermed2424]

So it seems that at least M2's will be safe. I guess the question is whether or not they will retroactively change scores to P/F after 2022. This may impact peoples decisions on whether or not to take a gap year if that is the case...

 

[Hippocrates II]

I actually agree with this change. Step 1 has become a dumb competition of memorizing minutiae that is long forgotten after the test. The next step needs to be reducing the number of residencies students can apply to so that programs don't become overwhelmed with apps and require some new step 1-like metric to stratify applicants and can instead focus on the bigger picture of the applicant. My $0.02.

 

[Lawpy]

It was inevitable, not only because of the damage Step 1 Mania was causing to preclinical education, but because the theoretical and statistical validity for the use of Step 1 in this way simply wasn't there. It was built from the ground up to be a test of minimum knowledge for licensure, with good discrimination around the 65-70% pass mark, and should have been Pass/Fail to begin with like the bar exam. Treating it like an aptitude test to favor 250s over 230s for residency placement was a bastardization that sparked a pointless arms race.

I have to say though, I don't like the immediate implications here. Keeping Step 2 CK as a triple digit score is just going to lead to all residency programs requiring a Step 2 CK to apply and treating it exactly the same way.

Also going to be curious to see how people handle the relatively imminent potential implementation (January 2022). That's close enough that anyone who wanted a competitive surgical specialty, and did poorly on Step 1, could consider a couple of research years to have a brand new shot...

I'm glad this was announced right after i was freaking out about that absurd NBME 18 score creep...

 

[efle]

So it seems that at least M2's will be safe. I guess the question is whether or not they will retroactively change scores to P/F after 2022. This may impact peoples decisions on whether or not to take a gap year if that is the case...

I suspect they'd have to implement the change retroactively. Otherwise, there would be potential for unfair advantage of older test takers to distinguish themselves (for example, any MSTP applicant would have a Step 1 score to show while their competition could only display a Pass).

In the interest of keeping it a level playing field for the match, they'd have to hide the MSTP's score and show them both as Pass.

 

[Lawpy]

I hate to say this since i feel this will further overemphasize prestige and Step 2 mania but this was unavoidable. Step 1 mania is a horrible, horrible thing that forced this change

 

[Lawpy]

@Neuronix @Fencer how does this change affect MSTP?

 

[Lawpy]

Guys real talk. Is this change going to force a 1 year preclinical model now that Step 2 is way more important?

 

[Chelsea FC]

Wondering if this will change the current M22 grades to just a pass retroactively

 

[Lawpy]

Also we need @aProgDirector here because his insights are absolutely critical

 

[Osteosaur]

Does this mean pre-clinical education is going to be weighted higher or what? I imagine nothing changes for M2s?

Probably gonna do better on boards than I did in my school's curriculum where volunteer faculty read off old slides...

 

[sgw97]

How is this going to affect incoming M1s this fall?

 

[ChopinLiszt]

I don't think they can change scores retroactively, because it's generally done by percentile, and that changes according to exam and cohort year-to-year. So current MS2's and MS1's are still subject to the mania.

 

[cybermed2424]

Wondering if this will change the current M22 grades to just a pass retroactively

why m2? theyd have reported results to residencies by then

 

[CJE24]

Why not make the MCAT pass/no pass now too using the same justification?

Sent from my SM-G950U1 using SDN mobile

 

[ExcitatorySynapse]

I'm MD/PhD and wonder how reporting will work if say, I apply for the match in 2025. I guess this will incentivize me even more to work hard and publish as much as possible.

 

[narla_hotep]

I'm MD/PhD and wonder how reporting will work if say, I apply for the match in 2025. I guess this will incentivize me even more to work hard and publish as much as possible.

Yeah, same... MSTP with a score I'm not proud of. so will we be at a disadvantage because we still have old scores? Or do you think they may try to retroactively change our scores to pass

 

[deleted854547]

The competition during clinical rotations and the shelf exams will be even more fierce and cutthroat.

How much of a benefit will this provide to those in top 10 med schools?

What does delineating between schools with tough Honors cutoffs (Michigan) and schools with generous grade distributions (Harvard, several Florida schools) look like?

I have so many questions as a current student.

 

[someday...8181]

wow.. getting a research position/project will be a bloodbath now
Also M3 year

 

[9blade]

as a premed, should this affect how you decide which school to attend? I figure now that if one has a chance to go to Stanford/Harvard/Hopkins vs staying at the local state university for free tuition, they SHOULD choose the former? with no step1 scores, and no step2ck taken by the time you apply, how are people going to determine if you deserve to match in Neurosurg/Derm/Ortho/RadOnc?

 

[DokterMom]

Given the residency application process where hundreds or even thousands of applicants apply for a handful of spots, there will still be a need to stratify applicants for some sort of 'quick-winnow' -- What are the other options?

1. Step 2
2. School prestige
3. Research
4. Connections
5. Away rotations
6. Class rank

There are certainly downsides to each of these also. Curious to see how this will shake out...

 

[bceagle411]

Future gunners gonna be donating kidneys

I wish I was joking but I know someone who is donating part of his/her liver to a kid because they want to match peds (i dont think its the real reason but they are donating and they do want to do peds)

 

[ak427]

So current M1s taking Step1 in 2021 should be safe from these changes, right?

 

[theA1doctor]

Not a good idea.

 

[Schwifty]

So current M1s taking Step1 in 2021 should be safe from these changes, right?

I hope

 

[Ozilcr7]

So current M1s taking Step1 in 2021 should be safe from these changes, right?

They could retroactivately change all Step 1 scores to P/F starting Jan 2022, but it is not clear what they intend to do.

 

[slowthai]

How will this affect people doing PhDs/research years? These people with both scored steps will be competing against the classes after them with just a scored step 2. That has to give you an advantage automatically unless they retroactively make every class's step 1 P/F from Jan 2022 onwards.

 

[fldoctorgirl]

I think this is good in theory but realistically, unless they modify the residency application process (limiting amount of programs people can apply to, etc) this changes nothing because PDs will still get way more apps than they can look through "holistically" and will just use another filter. I am happy this isn't affecting me..as a DO student I feel that Step is the one thing that makes me equal in the eyes of most PDs. I've busted my butt the last year and a half on Anki and although I wish we lived in a world where I didn't feel the need to do that, I'd be really pissed if it all went down the toilet.

 

[Shotapp]

How is this going to affect DO students?

 

[Type2Fiber]

It was inevitable, not only because of the damage Step 1 Mania was causing to preclinical education, but because the theoretical and statistical validity for the use of Step 1 in this way simply wasn't there. It was built from the ground up to be a test of minimum knowledge for licensure, with good discrimination around the 65-70% pass mark, and should have been Pass/Fail to begin with like the bar exam. Treating it like an aptitude test to favor 250s over 230s for residency placement was a bastardization that sparked a pointless arms race.

I have to say though, I don't like the immediate implications here. Keeping Step 2 CK as a triple digit score is just going to lead to all residency programs requiring a Step 2 CK to apply and treating it exactly the same way.

Also going to be curious to see how people handle the relatively imminent potential implementation (January 2022). That's close enough that anyone who wanted a competitive surgical specialty, and did poorly on Step 1, could consider a couple of research years to have a brand new shot...

My initial reaction was that this change is not a good thing, but for M2s, the bolded might actually work out for some of us. Want to do ortho with a poor step score? Take a year off, do research and network, then apply with a P on the transcript. Not a bad option

But overall, this thing is a complete dumpster fire

 

[Cornfed101]

So is this just going to hose DOs even more? Also, will COMLEX follow suit?

 

[ChymeofPassion]

How is this going to affect DO students?

Oof, I didn't even think of that.

 

[scoopdaboop]

It's kind of ironic how 80 percent of students who actually take the exam didn't want it to be P/F, but some random ***** who already took it wanted it to be.

 

[Lawpy]

How is this going to affect DO students?

So is this just going to hose DOs even more? Also, will COMLEX follow suit?

Yeah it's not going to be pretty but @Goro would know more

 

[attitudeofgratitude]

eh w/es

 

[Lawpy]

Guys, Step 1 should've been changed to quartiles at least as a compromise of sorts. But oh man, MS3 and Step 2 mania are going to be a disaster.

But hey, at least the T5 guys are happy!

 

[Konigstiger]

So the MCAT, which plays a huge role in deciding whether you go to an MD or DO school and what the prestige of that school will be, is now effectively more important than STEP 1 for your career...?

 

[AnatomyGrey12]

Gunners gonna be cracking FA step 2 CK open in MS1 now

Lmao exactly. If anyone thinks anything is going to change at all then they have another thing coming. “Step 1 mania” will now become “Step 2 mania”. Oh and add on the stress of ever more important clinical grades, which are extremely subjective, and the fact that Step 2 is taken right before residency apps and you have the recipe for a complete disaster lol.

What do we think this means for all of us applying to competitive specialties in next 1-2 years? Any differences? Do we expect a more "holistic" look? Higher emphasis on Step 2?

Probably nothing at all honestly.

I have made many statements about this and my opinion has not changed. This only benefits the top schools and completely shafts all DO and low tier MD students.

Good luck.