Great video! I'm taking Step 1 in a month after deferring from my school's prescribed timeline by two months for the reasons you mentioned. I appreciate the time and detail you put into this video
Loved the framing of how 0 percent ('never' event) comes at a certain cost. Non-zero events allow for reflection & continuous process improvement...just got to balance the stakes.
Crazy coincidence that this comes out at the same time UCLA admissions is getting hammered in the news for having record-level shelf failures and step deferment.
Great video, Sheriff. Can’t argue with the numbers and they definitely shed some light on the facts of the situation. I would be interested in knowing whether or not there are more underlying issues at play here to explain the continued decline in scores. I just graduated med school this spring and my school (and several others in the area) have changed their curriculum significantly (partially in response to COVID). Many of my class failed their exams and had similar sentiments in the video (blaming COVID, increasing pass rates, deemphasis on scoring well after Step 1 moving to pass/fail). But with more schools moving away from the classroom didactic sessions and towards online flipped classroom techniques (students teach themselves through online materials like Boards and Beyond or Pathoma and Anki), I wonder if there is more to the story…
I think it depends on what you mean by defer. I would totally agree that 25-50% are not ready to take the exam after dedicated, and therefore defer 2/3 months. Also a 0% failure rate is fine if the test is still objectively measuring minimum competency. Stop raising the minimum!!
Very good point about "deferral" I deferred mine in 2012 by a couple weeks, no disruption of timeline overall. Would I count as a deferral? Is that deferral worth counting?
@@sheriffofsodium oh of course! Thanks for the content. It hits home in a lot of ways. I had a high pass % probability heading into my exam according to practice exams. Got terrible sleep the night before in a weird air bnb, then failed by just a few questions. Several years later I'm studying again and planning to return. Good reminder of how fickle things can be if you don't take them seriously enough.
Oh good luck! Remember that it's important to study, but it's almost equally important to not burn yourself out before test day. Try take a day off each week during your dedicated period!
Heard “failing to fail” esp. in internal-assessment school systems? Certainly there are students whom I would not choose to take care of my family or friends.
It’s definitely real - and a function of the incentives involved. On the one hand, you can keep a paying customer and have less work; on the other, you can have a lengthy and acrimonious administrative process that at best will result in an outcome that attracts negative attention from accrediting bodies, and at worst results in a lawsuit, reputational damage or personal attacks? Hmmmm…. Most schools have a very high tolerance for “bad” medical students - so long as those students don’t repeatedly violate policies. But if you violate policies - no matter how trivial - then the incentives for the school change. Now, failing to act puts school officials in jeopardy (with accreditors, administrative higher-ups, courts, etc.) for not following their own policies. (That’s why my single biggest piece of advice for ANY students for students who are facing any kind of adverse action from their school is to mind your p’s and q’s.)
Fact: if you’re predominantly known for making a Step 1 prep resource, you have a bit of a conflict of interest when talking about the importance of Step 1 and you personally benefit from statements like “25-50% of med students are having to defer Step 1”
Disagree with 19:16 that 100% pass rate is inherently useless. If one is confident in the ability of the passing score to be representative of what is necessary then I don't see why a test *must* have people fail.
It’s not that anyone MUST fail. It’s that the cost of a 100% pass rate exceeds the benefit. Like I said, the ideal rate of lots of bad things is not zero.
Can't make it fellas. Sheriff just dropped.
Babe wake up new sheriff
Omg babe am I dreaming
Chris Beat up Rihanna like 14 years ago. It was crazy.
Great video! I'm taking Step 1 in a month after deferring from my school's prescribed timeline by two months for the reasons you mentioned. I appreciate the time and detail you put into this video
Loved the framing of how 0 percent ('never' event) comes at a certain cost. Non-zero events allow for reflection & continuous process improvement...just got to balance the stakes.
Thanks for your videos on medical education data. I really enjoy. Keep up the great work
Thank you for watching.
Crazy coincidence that this comes out at the same time UCLA admissions is getting hammered in the news for having record-level shelf failures and step deferment.
Great video, Sheriff. Can’t argue with the numbers and they definitely shed some light on the facts of the situation. I would be interested in knowing whether or not there are more underlying issues at play here to explain the continued decline in scores. I just graduated med school this spring and my school (and several others in the area) have changed their curriculum significantly (partially in response to COVID). Many of my class failed their exams and had similar sentiments in the video (blaming COVID, increasing pass rates, deemphasis on scoring well after Step 1 moving to pass/fail). But with more schools moving away from the classroom didactic sessions and towards online flipped classroom techniques (students teach themselves through online materials like Boards and Beyond or Pathoma and Anki), I wonder if there is more to the story…
I think it depends on what you mean by defer. I would totally agree that 25-50% are not ready to take the exam after dedicated, and therefore defer 2/3 months. Also a 0% failure rate is fine if the test is still objectively measuring minimum competency. Stop raising the minimum!!
Very good point about "deferral" I deferred mine in 2012 by a couple weeks, no disruption of timeline overall. Would I count as a deferral? Is that deferral worth counting?
Thank you for balancing the intro music volume
oh, he did! That always bothered me
Amazing video man. I’m a German student taking step 1 next year so it’s useful to know
The Eminem reference 😂
THANK YOU! I was hoping at least one viewer would appreciate that.
@@sheriffofsodium oh of course!
Thanks for the content. It hits home in a lot of ways. I had a high pass % probability heading into my exam according to practice exams. Got terrible sleep the night before in a weird air bnb, then failed by just a few questions. Several years later I'm studying again and planning to return. Good reminder of how fickle things can be if you don't take them seriously enough.
@@sheriffofsodiumit’s time to grab a big bowl of mom’s spaghetti and settle in for a new Sheriff of Sodium video
I immediately got it and ran to the comments. It caught me so offguard. 😂
@@rr.studios wait where lol
Watch out! The Sheriffs in town!
I'm taking the step 1 next year and 8:02 was a reminder to study 💀
Oh good luck! Remember that it's important to study, but it's almost equally important to not burn yourself out before test day. Try take a day off each week during your dedicated period!
@@evangroneman5408Thank you
25-50% is also a massive range. So, either it's very close to baseline deferral rate or hugely increased? Useful stuff /s
Another video!!! My weekend is great again!
Has the increased focus on basic sciences impacted the pass rate?
Heard “failing to fail” esp. in internal-assessment school systems? Certainly there are students whom I would not choose to take care of my family or friends.
It’s definitely real - and a function of the incentives involved. On the one hand, you can keep a paying customer and have less work; on the other, you can have a lengthy and acrimonious administrative process that at best will result in an outcome that attracts negative attention from accrediting bodies, and at worst results in a lawsuit, reputational damage or personal attacks? Hmmmm….
Most schools have a very high tolerance for “bad” medical students - so long as those students don’t repeatedly violate policies. But if you violate policies - no matter how trivial - then the incentives for the school change. Now, failing to act puts school officials in jeopardy (with accreditors, administrative higher-ups, courts, etc.) for not following their own policies. (That’s why my single biggest piece of advice for ANY students for students who are facing any kind of adverse action from their school is to mind your p’s and q’s.)
Here’s a video on that topic for anyone interested:
Mailbag: Help! I’m Getting Kicked out of Medical School
ua-cam.com/video/scDJECi6bLY/v-deo.html
I wonder if everyone 2xs the speed in this since we gotta b efficient in our studying
I watch and listen to everything except music at 1.5x-2x speed because of med school
Fact: if you’re predominantly known for making a Step 1 prep resource, you have a bit of a conflict of interest when talking about the importance of Step 1 and you personally benefit from statements like “25-50% of med students are having to defer Step 1”
True+facts
I am an IMG, and I knew from the beginning of the pass of fail step 1 that this was going to happen
Failed step 1 and this video is actually helpful
Same here
how long did you study for and what do you think you did wrong? DId you take practice test? how did you do on practice test?
I come to this channel for knowledge/advice gigabombs like "Failiing Step 1 is bad and I highly recommend against it"
Glad to have you, brother.
Any similar podcasts that peeps here like to listen to/watch
Do the years when the USMLE increases the passing threshold coincide with subsequent decreases in the first-time pass rate in the following years?
is this because it's P/F now?
Disagree with 19:16 that 100% pass rate is inherently useless. If one is confident in the ability of the passing score to be representative of what is necessary then I don't see why a test *must* have people fail.
It’s not that anyone MUST fail. It’s that the cost of a 100% pass rate exceeds the benefit. Like I said, the ideal rate of lots of bad things is not zero.
@@sheriffofsodium yeah I should have kept listening before commenting
Thank you for watching (and commenting)!
Bwah! You said "TPS reports!" I see what you did there.
yesssss sheriff of sodium!!!!
Best breakfast 😋
9.28
I tip thee hat to thou.
TPS reports 😂
Glad someone noticed that