Sub I scheduling question

[Voodoo Chile]

Hey everybody,

1st off-congrats to all the recently matched 4th years. I'm in the process of planning my 4th year schedule, and could use some advice since I'm at a school with no Rad Onc department. As of right now, I am planning on doing 4 SubIs that start in August and will end in the middle of November. I'd prefer to take step 2s before starting subIs so I can get them out of the way, but I'm worried about having enough time to gather LORs. Will this schedule be too late to generate a sufficient number of LORs by the time applications are reviewed by program directors? I'll also have 1 letter from my research PI. Thanks.

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[Ray D. Ayshun]

You should be able to get them from your August and September clerkships, October is pushing, and the best you could hope for from November is a phone call. You may be able to get 3 more letters from your first two, but if possible, I'd move my first clerkship up to July and get rid of the November away, as you should need November for interviewing. If you can't change things, don't worry about it, though 4 rad onc clerkships might be one too many anyway. Get CS out of the way early, but if it comes down to choosing to do an away in July, or study for CK, do the away and take CK in Jan or Feb.

 

[Mr RADical]

One good thing going for you is that ASTRO is later this year, meaning most programs won't even be looking at applications until late October. Totally agree with moving CK to Jan or Feb.

 

[evilbooyaa]

Depends on your Step 1 score and if you can push back CK to after interview season.

Agree with doing 4 rotations, but agree that starting them in July to maximize time for LoRs is beneficial.

 

[Voodoo Chile]

Thanks to all for your input. I'll start the SubIs in July. evilbooyaa- My step 1 score is OK (high 230s), and at this point, I'm not sure if theres much to gain from an astronomically high step 2CK score.

 

[evilbooyaa]

How'd you do on your shelf exams as a third year? If you were consistently getting in the 80s or 90s across specialties, I'd imagine getting a 250ish Step 2 would be attainable after 2 weeks of studying (if you have any downtime between 3rd and 4th year). However, Step 2 CK won't benefit you significantly with a decent Step 1 like that.

 

[Voodoo Chile]

My shelf exams have all been in the 80-90 range. There's room in my schedule to take 2 weeks off to study before the SubIs start in July. I've been pretty good about studying in 3rd year, so 2 weeks should be more than enough time to get a decent score.