How much does Step 1 Mania cost medical schools?

At the University of North Carolina School of Medicine, it’s $495,000 a year. The figure comes from this recent paper in Medical Science Educator. If you want to get a surprisingly frank, behind-the-scenes look at how Step 1 Mania affects the medical school curriculum, I’d highly encourage you to read the whole paper. But for […]

Why can’t I re-take USMLE Step 1?

Every few weeks, someone contacts me to ask some variation of this question: Dear Sheriff, I want to match in a competitive specialty – and my Step 1 score may be the difference between achieving my dream or having a second choice career for the rest of my life. That’s a lot of pressure for […]

Applying Smarter, Part II: How to Give Students the Information They Really Need

To fix Application Fever – the steadily-rising number of residency applications submitted by medical students – some say we don’t need caps. Instead, they claim that students just need more information. Give them better data about how many applications to submit, and they’ll stop overapplying. Or so the logic goes. I’m on record as supporting […]

Applying Smarter, Part I: Breaking Down the AAMC’s Apply Smart Campaign

“Your likelihood of securing residency training depends on many factors – including the number of residency programs you apply to.” So begins the introduction to Apply Smart: Data to Consider When Applying to Residency – a informational campaign from the Association of American Medical Colleges (AAMC) designed to help medical students “anchor [their] initial thinking […]

InCUS: The Conversation Continues

I was a college student home for Christmas break when the Y2K panic reached fever pitch. For the benefit of readers who may be too young to vividly remember, as the turn of the millennium approached, there was growing alarm about what would happen to computer systems when dates in the MM/DD/YY format ticked over […]

Application Fever: The Movie

Okay, so maybe it’s not exactly a movie. It’s more like a podcast. Or a video of me talking over a PowerPoint. But whatever. If you want to learn more about what I call “Application Fever” – the steady inflation in the number of residency applications submitted by medical students – then this is for […]

A Field Guide to USMLE Step 1 Apologists

In discussing whether USMLE Step 1 results should be reported pass/fail, I’ve gotten to take part in some lively debates. I’ve heard from many who – for one reason or another – want to maintain the status quo. The “save the scored Step 1” is a varied coalition. But you know what’s weird? I never […]