Hi y’all,
I need someone to lay it to me straight. I am a USMD current PGY1 at a community hospital interested in community/private-practice heme onc. I went to a mid-tier med school. My current program has good ties to local university programs including my med school but it has no in-house HO fellowship.
I know the biggest factors in landing a spot are the interview, LORs, word of mouth and research. However, I’ve been reading a lot about how a lot of programs screen out applications based on USMLE scores. I’m fairly certain that’s what happened to me for residency match and I’m terrified of it continuously affecting my career. My current program thankfully viewed my application holistically and from what I can tell are very pleased with my performance so far… but I didn’t have the opportunity to sell myself in an interview for any other program for resident match, including my home program, which definitely stung.
I got a 196 on step 1 and a 216 for step 2. No other red flags, just an bland CV thus far minus a few HO case reports under my belt. Based on these scores, is it futile for me to pursue a fellowship in HO? Would any amount of research or improvement on step 3 get my foot in the door?
I appreciate any advice.
I need someone to lay it to me straight. I am a USMD current PGY1 at a community hospital interested in community/private-practice heme onc. I went to a mid-tier med school. My current program has good ties to local university programs including my med school but it has no in-house HO fellowship.
I know the biggest factors in landing a spot are the interview, LORs, word of mouth and research. However, I’ve been reading a lot about how a lot of programs screen out applications based on USMLE scores. I’m fairly certain that’s what happened to me for residency match and I’m terrified of it continuously affecting my career. My current program thankfully viewed my application holistically and from what I can tell are very pleased with my performance so far… but I didn’t have the opportunity to sell myself in an interview for any other program for resident match, including my home program, which definitely stung.
I got a 196 on step 1 and a 216 for step 2. No other red flags, just an bland CV thus far minus a few HO case reports under my belt. Based on these scores, is it futile for me to pursue a fellowship in HO? Would any amount of research or improvement on step 3 get my foot in the door?
I appreciate any advice.