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msa786
10-02-2006, 03:27 PM
anyone know what happens if you get a mediocre score on the USMLE from the Caribbean?
JforJimmy
10-02-2006, 03:59 PM
haha, I think that's going to be a common nightmare for me for the next couple years. to be honest, I've been wondering the same thing. can someone please shed some light?
anencephalic
10-02-2006, 04:25 PM
Obviously, you can kiss derm, ortho, ophtho, rads, ER, neurosurg, rad onc, and other ultra-competitive fields goodbye, as well as a majority of the top-tiered medicine programs.
RussianJoo
10-02-2006, 07:44 PM
yeah, if you have a bad score you're only real options are Internal medicine or General practice.
JokerABC
10-02-2006, 08:31 PM
yeah, if you have a bad score you're only real options are Internal medicine or General practice.

i think there might be some other good fields that you are forgetting about that people with a low or medium score can get into. Don't mess up on Step 2 either!
stephew
10-02-2006, 09:16 PM
yeah, if you have a bad score you're only real options are Internal medicine or General practice.

not true. there are many other fields that are open too.
jaywalk81
10-02-2006, 09:19 PM
if step 1 score is avg, then whatever field you want to go for, you need rock that part of the rotation and get an awesome rec letter from someone in the field and of course, do really well step 2

but dont necessary kill off all hopes. but then if the score is like 190, then it would be really a long shot to get derm, ortho even if you have an awesome rec letter and good step 2 score
jameslynton
10-02-2006, 09:30 PM
Yo - A pass is a pass is a pass - do you know what you call the person with the lowest scores in your class who graduates? Answer - A Doctor. A 240 may mean the world is your oyster - a 184 means you will most likely not be in heart transplant surgery. Fact is 70% or so of US Medical grads wind up in primary care - Fact is more Island school grads wind up in primary care - reason - trick or treason - dude that's where the jobs are! You can have a good life as a family practice - ER - ob/gyn - peds - etc.

So if your idea of medicine is a life of glamor - TV interviews - and procedures like separting co-joined twins or accepting your Nobel award in Sweden - well the reality is in medicine you will see stuff that would make a billly goat puke for starters. What till you do forms for insurance over and over again....
RussianJoo
10-03-2006, 12:14 AM
i think there might be some other good fields that you are forgetting about that people with a low or medium score can get into. Don't mess up on Step 2 either!

not true. there are many other fields that are open too.


What are those other fields?? And I am asuming this guy means he just passed his step 1... What else is out there with such low scores??
RussianJoo
10-03-2006, 12:19 AM
on another note, i know a few people who have tried passing their boards for years. So in away many people would love to be in your shoes right now...
medic
10-03-2006, 01:27 AM
Please remember that with low scores you can still get, for example, Internal Medicine. And then, get a GI fellowship, or a Cardio Fellowship, and still be successful and cool...! You do not need a 250 in order to be successful...

If you want ophthalmology or Derm, you shoud aim for 250, though...:shock: