Fellowship in US- which USMLE steps needed??

[UBCstu]

Hi for someone interested in doing residency in Canada but fellowship in the US, are all USMLE steps required (for those schools that don't accept the LMCC)??

I've heard Step 1 is very impt for residency in the US, but is it also impt at the fellowship level? and Step 2? Step 3?

 

Any help would be appreciated! Thanks.

[leviathan]

If a school requires the USMLE exams, I'd imagine they would require all 3 steps.

[A-Stark]

Step 1 is the only one written prior to residency applications (I'm glad that one is behind me and that I'm not applying to the US given my mere "passable" results). Steps 2 and 3 are approximate equivalents to the LMCCs 1 & 2, so, yes, necessary for a fellowship if the USMLE is required.

[leviathan]

Step 1 is the only one written prior to residency applications (I'm glad that one is behind me and that I'm not applying to the US given my mere "passable" results). Steps 2 and 3 are approximate equivalents to the LMCCs 1 & 2, so, yes, necessary for a fellowship if the USMLE is required.

Nice..when did you write the step? How did you find the exam? I just wrote last week, so still waiting on my results.

 

By the way, Step 2 is usually written before residency applications too, although it isn't a requirement. You write it after your core medical rotations, so it's a bit different from the LMCC 1 which is written at the end of med school.

[UBCstu]

Thanks for the replies everyone! I guess what I'm confused about is Step 1 being a requirement for fellowships as well?? I realize step 2 and 3 are equivalents to the LMCCs but step 1 seems irrelevant. Would having just step 2 and 3 suffice for a US fellowship?

[leviathan]

Thanks for the replies everyone! I guess what I'm confused about is Step 1 being a requirement for fellowships as well?? I realize step 2 and 3 are equivalents to the LMCCs but step 1 seems irrelevant. Would having just step 2 and 3 suffice for a US fellowship?

Your best bet would be to look at the websites for the fellowships you are interested in to check requirements. In general I would imagine if they require step 2 and 3, they would also require step 1. To get an MD license in the US you have to pass all 3 steps of their licensing exams, unless they are a state which accepts the LMCCs as equivalent.

[A-Stark]

I wrote it toward the end of August. Generally speaking I didn't find the exam too bad, just really, really long. Which it is. I completed all the questions but there were definitely a few that I ran out of time thinking about and had to guess. I passed with a decent safety margin, but it certainly wasn't a great result - not that it much matters.

[leviathan]

I wrote it toward the end of August. Generally speaking I didn't find the exam too bad, just really, really long. Which it is. I completed all the questions but there were definitely a few that I ran out of time thinking about and had to guess. I passed with a decent safety margin, but it certainly wasn't a great result - not that it much matters.

I think as a Canadian med student they probably realize a lower score on the Step 1 doesn't reflect badly upon you since there isn't as much basic science instruction in Canadian schools, right? I personally found my step 1 was probably only 60% pure clinical scenarios, the other 40% was really basic science stuff like molecular bio, or maybe a clinically-based question that was ultimately still testing something related to genetics or biochemistry.

[moo]

If a state requires the USMLE only, then you need all three steps of the USMLE. THis includes the two parts of step 2 (CS and CK).

 

I think Step I is the most challenging step. If you've been away from basic sciences for any length of time, you need to spend a significant amount of time studying I think to do well, or even to pass relatively comfortably.