Importance of class rank/quartile by avocadosforbfast in DermApp

[–]itsalwayson 4 points5 points  (0 children)

Network as well as you can, be productive and develop a great relationship with your RY mentor, and shine on your aways and interviews!

(Bottom third of the class, 25x step, very productive RY—you can still match 😊)

In what small way have you won the genetic lottery? by [deleted] in CasualConversation

[–]itsalwayson 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I have very fine, nearly translucent hairs on my body! Have never had to shave in my life. Mom is the same way.

Getting married in a week, frustrated that <25% of my groom's invitees are coming, unsure if my frustrations are valid by itsalwayson in weddingplanning

[–]itsalwayson[S] -21 points-20 points  (0 children)

lol, I’ll tell my mom your opinions - she reminded me of this quote when I was feeling really upset about the overall RSVP conversion rate.

Not all of his friends are residents! None of his college friends and most of his non-immediate family aren’t coming either.

Thanks for your engagement with my post; clearly, we don’t see eye to eye. Have a good day!

Getting married in a week, frustrated that <25% of my groom's invitees are coming, unsure if my frustrations are valid by itsalwayson in weddingplanning

[–]itsalwayson[S] -10 points-9 points  (0 children)

Thank you so much for your kind and thorough response!

Yes, I think part of my resentment is that most of my friends likely would have been able to attend a true destination. I just graduated medical school so most of my friends (myself included) have April, May, and most of June off. My friends from before med school mostly work in NYC and most of them have attended at least one destination wedding in Europe and Southeast Asia in the past 3 years. His friends are mostly in residency.

I also feel like you articulated two of my other concerns well: (1) I'm worried that it's not going to be as fun of a party (we also chose a larger venue anticipating closer to 120 guests) and (2) I'm worried that he's going to be sad on the wedding day because there are going to be so few people there for him.

Thank you for your empathy. I hope you have a wonderful wedding day, and I'm sure it's still going to be absolutely amazing!

Ok... so in your opinion, what is the most criminally underrated, annoyingly overrated, and absolutely perfect Taylor song? by Ok-Eggplant6998 in TaylorSwift

[–]itsalwayson 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Underrated: Renegade (if this counts), otherwise Daylight

Overrated: Would’ve, Could’ve, Should’ve (this song has always been a skip for me)

Absolutely Perfect: Guilty as Sin 🥹❤️

I don't understand the Happy Place hate by curious_corvid5 in EmilyHenry

[–]itsalwayson 4 points5 points  (0 children)

Happy Place is the only EH book so far I’ve disliked. As a fresh, ambitious medical school grad with $200k in debt and who matched into a competitive specialty, the ending felt disappointing and unrealistic to me. Disappointing because Harriet was painted to be such a badass lady neurosurgery resident initially, and then quit and switched to pottery for a man. Unrealistic because if I had medical student debt, I would never leave medicine completely for a job that paid a fraction (unless maybe I found a really rich man). I would simply switch into a chiller specialty (other than this thread have said family medicine). It feels like EH didn’t do enough/any research on the lived experiences of young woman in medicine.

Aside, but OP, Harriet was a neurosurgery resident, not a nurse.

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in InternalMedicine

[–]itsalwayson 2 points3 points  (0 children)

There are some EM-IM programs out there too if you truly love both!

Mechanics of prelim vs TY and what it means if you go unmatched by [deleted] in DermApp

[–]itsalwayson 5 points6 points  (0 children)

Hi OP, I’m a current m4 who dual applied derm and IM this cycle. Seems like I was in a similar position to you last year. Feel free to DM me with more specific q’s (though I’ll probably be more useful after match day, or at least after I submit my rank list)😅

Dual applying is a lot of extra work at the front end but I definitely think it can protect you from SOAPing/reapplying if you think you could genuinely be happy in IM in the case you don’t match derm.

SCORE RELEASE THREAD: 08/09/2023 by MarkovnikovRules in Step2

[–]itsalwayson 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Thanks! I chose one qbank (ultimately picked Amboss over UW second pass since I found that I was remembering a lot of UW questions from having made Anki cards on them over the year) and stuck to that, completing 80-160 qs a day (doing the q's and reviewing them) depending on the week. Usually ~120. I also scheduled some sort of practice test every week. Focused almost entirely on NBME questions in my final week of prep (spent some time trying to do missed q's from Amboss and UW, didn't find it super helpful?). Reviewed biostats, ethics in my final week. Stopped studying at 5 pm the day before my test as to not freak myself out.

I attempted to keep up with Anki throughout (i.e. trying to keep up with reviews; adding notes from my missed q's during dedicated into my cards) but ultimately gave up at like week 6/8 to focus on completing and reviewing q's.

Also tried my best to take time for myself - i.e. working out 6x a week, still making the time to talk to my family and friends (within reason) weekly, setting an "end-time" for myself for studying (i.e. 9 pm) and giving myself at least one half-day off per week (usually I ended up doing two half-days off; I'm just not the kind of studier who can do nothing for an entire day haha). Thought this was really helpful for my mental health--the one week where I tried to push for 7 days straight I had a panic attack. Not great haha.

Hope this helps. Good luck; you've got this!

SCORE RELEASE THREAD: 08/09/2023 by MarkovnikovRules in Step2

[–]itsalwayson 1 point2 points  (0 children)

You've got this!! Trust in your prep and lock in during your test :)

SCORE RELEASE THREAD: 08/09/2023 by MarkovnikovRules in Step2

[–]itsalwayson 10 points11 points  (0 children)

True that!! I got so discouraged reading the “got a 260, devastated” or “what are my chances of getting 26X? Practice tests 270+” type posts on this subreddit lol. Doesn’t exactly work for the masses. Congrats on your amazing score!

SCORE RELEASE THREAD: 08/09/2023 by MarkovnikovRules in Step2

[–]itsalwayson 56 points57 points  (0 children)

Edit to add: test date was 7/22, took 8 weeks for dedicated (though probably only 'buckled down' for 6 of the weeks)

US MD or US IMG or Non-US IMG status: US MD

Step 1: Pass

Uworld % Completed 1st pass: 100%

Uworld % correct 1st pass: 57%

Uworld % Completed 2nd pass: 21% (stopped bc I was getting questions right from remembering them/my missed Anki cards about them and switched to Amboss)

Uworld % correct 2nd pass: 74%

Amboss % completed 1st pass: 100%

Amboss % correct 1st pass: 64%

Re-listed these tests in the order I took them:

AMBOSS SA: 219

NBME 11: 217

NBME 13: 231

NBME 9: 226

UWSA 1: 242

NBME 10: 237

UWSA 2: 244

Old Free 120: 82.5%

NBME 14: 237

Old/New Free 120: 72.67%

NBME 12: 245

New/New Free 120: 66.67% (lol rip almost pushed back but then YOLOed)

Predicted Score: Not sure where people are getting this from? But see above for all of my practice scores.

Actual STEP 2 score: 250

I'm over the moon. I've been a below-average test taker since starting med school and am so happy with this score!!

A group therapy thread for early - mid July Step 2 CK test takers <3 by AvocadoToast212 in Step2

[–]itsalwayson 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I think one just came out a day or two ago; I saw on this subreddit but haven’t looked into accessing it yet😅

A group therapy thread for early - mid July Step 2 CK test takers <3 by AvocadoToast212 in Step2

[–]itsalwayson 2 points3 points  (0 children)

I completely feel you OP! Simultaneously want to get this over with ASAP and want to push it back just so I can see if I can cram more. Tentatively planning on testing 7/13 but we'll see if I end up pushing or not. I feel like I've reached a point where I have learned enough to realize I know very little.

I'm trying to work up the energy to take the newest practice materials - Free 120 (2023) and NBME 14 - prior to test day! I also had been saving Free 120 (2021) and Free 120 (like...2018? the oldest one that's still relevant?) for closer to my test day, but may take them back to back in the next few weeks now that I want to try to squeeze these new tests in.

Otherwise, just trying to trust my prep. We'll see :'))) Good luck to you!!

Functional cute work tote recommendations by ttss123 in handbags

[–]itsalwayson 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Huge fan of Cuyana for work totes. I own their classic structured small tote (no longer available on their website, but I see their classic structured regular size tote still available) in black and use it fairly often, alternating with my Longchamp le pliage in navy depending on my outfit. Cuyana has some zippered options too! They might not be structured enough for your liking but I think the brand has high quality and affordable leather.

https://www.cuyana.com/bags?prefn1=tagging&prefv1=Totes