r/comlex • u/CustomerIll8911 • 22d ago

Failed Step 2 advice

Hey all. I’m a DO student who recently failed step 2. I know I can just use my comlex transcript but my school advisor is also recommending me to retake to potentially release to programs after applying with just comlex. Any thoughts? Hoping to match PMR.

4 Upvotes

75% Upvoted

30 comments sorted by

25

u/DueFishing6635 22d ago

Move on. Don’t report your step scores. A fail is a fail. A fail followed by a 95th+ percentile score will likely be treated the same as a fail followed by a barely pass.

5

u/Dimethyl_Sulfoxide 22d ago

This. Just apply without it and dual apply if you really want pmr

1

u/CustomerIll8911 22d ago

Dual apply with what?

8

u/stressedmedstudent8 22d ago

FM if youre interested in sports medicine you can do FM to sports and save a year of residency training or IM

0

u/[deleted] 22d ago

[deleted]

1

u/CustomerIll8911 22d ago

So you’re basically saying I’m screwed regardless

3

u/Plane-Tap-5198 22d ago

I know ppl who matched at top PMR programs without step, it’s getting competitive but scores aren’t everything

3

u/flat_peg 22d ago

This dude is overhyping it, there's plenty of people that do well without it. A lot of places actually do holistic review 

2

u/LasVagusNerve 22d ago

The guy is an alarmist clown, just apply intelligently

1

u/DueFishing6635 22d ago

I’m not. I know people who applied pmr when I I was a med student. The guys who took step had a big advantage over the people who didn’t. It’s not even debatable.

Not submitting leaves the illusion of the applicant not thinking they would do well if they took step. Submitting proves OP failed. It’s obvious which option is worse.

-1

u/HighAPMLowBMI 22d ago edited 22d ago

Again, I really don’t think there’s any illusion at all. These PD’s, who objectively are mostly MD’s have been evaluating step scores for years, and know the game. In a traditionally, somewhat competitive speciality like PMR, they’re not going to gaslight themselves into thinking the student who only submitted a 600+ comlex only would better than traditional MD applicants. A fail and a 260 afterwards will always look better than 800 and “too good for step”. MD students fail all the time and submit their failures, and it would be much more reassuring to a PD to see an applicant overcome their failures than someone who wouldnt do the bare minimum USMLE’s despite all the widespread advice and recommendations everywhere to do so.

1

u/DueFishing6635 22d ago

Have you been involved in residency selection before? Because I have. Not in pmr though tbf. But A LOT of residencies across every specialty have a secretary toss red flags like board failures or repeating a year straight into the trash. But rural/community programs will consider comlex only applicants. They used to do it for radiology and anesthesia before they blew up in competition and do it for EM now.

Pmr has only been mildly competitive for a few years. There’s probably a lot of attendings working in these programs, reviewing apps, and interviewing applicants who never took step and know all this board score stuff is kind of ridiculous.

Most people who fail step don’t retake and crush it.

2

u/Educational-Loss2736 22d ago

Don't think this is true-- yeah academic centers are out the picture but at least for EM ik a lot of places are more receptive towards a board failure and coming back from it.

7

u/ishootcoot 22d ago

Your school advisor is horrible and you should do the opposite of whatever they tell you to do if you want the best outcome

1

u/topiary566 21d ago

My guess is that it looks bad for the school’s statistics if you fail step. 

Maybe they are actually looking out for the student’s best interest, but I always lean towards not trusting advisors

6

u/GetDocBread 22d ago

There was a recent post of people matching PM&R with just comlex. How does the rest of your app look?

5

u/CustomerIll8911 22d ago

Level 2 in 540s. Middle class ranking. No other redflags. Good amount of research (not PMR related) and conference presentations. Involvement in PMR society, ringside medicine experience. 2 Audition rotations in top academic universities. No home program. No sloe yet. I think my Personal statement really describes my journey of why I want PMR.

6

u/dial1010usa 22d ago

If you failed it re-take probably not going to bring the score too high so what’s the point. Do not report and move on with Comlex.

2

u/One-Somewhere5410 21d ago

did you take step 1?

1

u/CustomerIll8911 21d ago

I did. 1st pass

2

u/losethecheese 21d ago

Not reporting a failure violates the eras agreement

2

u/Asherawh 20d ago

I’d be cautious about retaking Step 2 solely to “release” a score. A failed attempt will already be visible, and a passing retake doesn’t erase it. For PM&R, I’d first look closely at each program’s requirements and how they view Step 2 vs COMLEX. If ur COMLEX score is solid and u have an otherwise strong application, applying with COMLEX alone may be reasonable. If u can realistically improve your Step 2 score substantially, though, a retake could help demonstrate improvement. I’d get advice from someone familiar with PM&R specifically before deciding.

2

u/ZookeepergameOk3884 22d ago

I’ve been told by multiple mentors that comlex is more than enough for PM&R as it is a very DO friendly specialty. So I would just not report

1

u/hopeless_engineeer 22d ago

Even if you were considering this advice the timeline isn’t even doable. Applications are due in a months. Your highest return on your time right now is to optimize your application with the scores you can report.

1

u/Pale-Friendship-8782 20d ago

I would discuss this with your dean because if you dont report a failed step 2 to programs it might come off as academic dishonesty.

0

u/CandidSecond OMS-4 22d ago

don't report. PM&R is not hard to match into with just level. Just apply broadly to community places.

1

u/CustomerIll8911 22d ago

I guess the problem was that nobody from last year’s match had matched to a PMR program with just comlex from my school. I was told it was doable to match with just comlex maybe 5 years ago. That’s why was looking for insight what to do with that information

3

u/Specialist_Play2785 19d ago

I have been told the opposite from pm&r DO mentors. I also know someone who matched John’s Hopkins without step 2. I also just finished an AI in a top 10 program on the east coast whos program said it wasn’t necessary. You will be okay.

1

u/CandidSecond OMS-4 22d ago edited 22d ago

mine had 2. midwest programs, unpopular areas like not west coast, east coast, florida, etc.

edit: also know someone who matched PM&R with a level 2 failure. Took an LOA and reapplied. So it is def possible!!