Usmle Step 1 Scores How To Say Anything

Because, beyond a certain score thresholdwhich is likely lower than youre allowing yourself to believe at the momentit is the story of who you are that will one day earn you a position in residency.

I have been putting off the writing of this post for a while.

Usmle Step 1 Scores How To Say Anything

Im not sure why. I guess I wasnt sure how to say anything genuine that would convince you guys that you shouldnt be hard on yourself for falling short of the lofty goals that you set for yourself before beginning the arduous process of studying for the USMLE Step 1.

Perhaps its because I was in your shoes once, and no amount of reason could penetrate my longing for that perfect score, the one that I believed would either complete my application to dermatology residency (and therefore complete me), or dash my chances at my dream job against the harsh rocky shores of reality.

Im currently on the residency interview trail, and I am gratefully tired from having not been home to New York for five weeks.

At a chicken and waffles brunch in Dallas, Texas, yesterday (NOMS), I was reunited with one of my best friends from medical school.

He and I spoke more frequently during the USMLE Step 1 period than I spoke with anyone else.

I remember visiting his room periodically to mutually vent about the ridiculous nature of the beast that left us sitting in chairs inside small, quiet rooms for 12 hours a day.

He would complain about the hours and remark with surprised candor about how poorly he was performing on his USMLE World question blocks.

His numbers were frequently in the 30 range in those early days, and with acknowledged futility he asked me fortune-telling questions such as, Do you think Im going to be okay and What does it mean that Im getting two thirds of these questions wrong I was never sure what to say.

I would usually smile and say something supportive about how students scores typically grew exponentially in the final weeks before the exam.

It was true, but I couldnt be certain that it applied to him any more than I could be certain about anything else.

Three years later and more than 1500 miles to the southwest, there we were, sitting at an outdoor brunch table shoving deep-fried everything into our faces.

In thinking aloud about my list of things to do, I remarked to him, Im writing a blog post about how unrealistic it is to aim to score in the 260s on the USMLE Step 1.

All I could do was laugh at my silly past self, who, as an external processor, totally would have done that And who totally was bitter when he eventually scored a point higher than me (a 255) on the real deal.

The structure with which we surround ourselves is one of the many ways weve learned to succeed in The Game of Life, so we continue to construct the world around us in order to perpetuate the myth that self-actualization is inevitable if we can only sacrifice and work just a little bit harder.

A lot of medical students, many of whom are, in my experience, more type A than theyre able to openly admit, are particularly good at playing The Game.

I think this is because the process of getting into medical school self-selects for this.

Part of playing the Game well involves setting arbitrary goals for ourselves and seeing them through, day after day, week by week, year to year.

I dont mean to wax philosophical here okay, actually, yes I do but, I think that accepting our lack of complete control over this process is one of the best ways to move forward toward a meaningful and productive study period.

None of us want to close the doors to our dream careers by scoring lower than the averages illustrated above.

This means that many people scored higher, yes, but also that plenty of people scored well below these values.

I encourage all of you to work meaningfully and productively throughout this study period, while rooting yourselves in the truth of who you are and what your story is.