Matched ? Advantages of Step 3 Before Residency
Irrespective of your need for a H1b visa, taking the step 3 prior to the start of residency might offer some good advantages to residents-to-be :
1. There is both, a real and a perceived lack of time during residency in busy specialties like internal medicine, general surgery, etc. and enough stress already - why add more ?
2. For non-medicine heavy specialties, where one gradually loses touch with clinical general medicine, (such as pathology, surgical specialties, etc,) taking the step 3 later during residency becomes even more onerous. It's probably better to finish it off while you still have clinical vibes left after your step 2 CK ;-)
3. Aiming for building a resume for fellowships ? Then that time for Step 3 prep during residency could rather be used for some research / publications. ... the time for applying for fellowships will come around faster than you would like it to ..;-)
4. Getting Step 3 opens up Moonlighting possibilities faster in some programs since some states / programs need to have step 3 done and have a state license before one can moonlight, and delaying that will only delay yourself making extra bucks in such programs ;-)
Well..life is imperfect and there are not many things that have ONLY advantages..hehe...a disadvantage of taking the step 3 prior to residency would be that you would lose the opportunity to be have your step 3 fees covered by the residency prgrams as part of the benefits ;-), but then again, that's not something offered by all programs.
There are some that I could think of, comments / corrections / questions r welcome.
Also read:
- Step 3 and H1b visa: Wuts the Connection ?
- Perks and Benefits offered during Residency
1. There is both, a real and a perceived lack of time during residency in busy specialties like internal medicine, general surgery, etc. and enough stress already - why add more ?
2. For non-medicine heavy specialties, where one gradually loses touch with clinical general medicine, (such as pathology, surgical specialties, etc,) taking the step 3 later during residency becomes even more onerous. It's probably better to finish it off while you still have clinical vibes left after your step 2 CK ;-)
3. Aiming for building a resume for fellowships ? Then that time for Step 3 prep during residency could rather be used for some research / publications. ... the time for applying for fellowships will come around faster than you would like it to ..;-)
4. Getting Step 3 opens up Moonlighting possibilities faster in some programs since some states / programs need to have step 3 done and have a state license before one can moonlight, and delaying that will only delay yourself making extra bucks in such programs ;-)
Well..life is imperfect and there are not many things that have ONLY advantages..hehe...a disadvantage of taking the step 3 prior to residency would be that you would lose the opportunity to be have your step 3 fees covered by the residency prgrams as part of the benefits ;-), but then again, that's not something offered by all programs.
There are some that I could think of, comments / corrections / questions r welcome.
Also read:
- Step 3 and H1b visa: Wuts the Connection ?
- Perks and Benefits offered during Residency
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posted by Digitaldoc, MD at 4/05/2008 07:33:00 AM
Comments on "Matched ? Advantages of Step 3 Before Residency"
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tanpgi said ... (April 7, 2008 2:32 AM) :
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Deo said ... (April 11, 2008 6:33 PM) :
Post Your Comment !Hi DigitalDoc,
Another disadvantage of an early Step 3 is getting a low score (most get scores in 80's). Almost all Americans/permanent residents / J1 visa holders take it during their residency when they know most of the intricacies of the US health system, which is so important in getting a good score. I feel a low score in step 3 hampers your profile during fellowship applications to some extent. Any fellowship PD would be impressed by a good (99) score in step 3, which is extremely difficult to get if we take the exam before the residency. But we IMG's have no choice I suppose!
Hi Digitacdoc,
I agree w/ tanpgi..my question for you DD is will it be advantagiuos for those w/ Greencard/permanent residents to take step 3 before residency making the matching application much better..I know one's application would be better if the step 3 scores arevr good in the 90's..but how about if it is low 80's?