What do program directors (PDs) think about the pass/fail policy for Step1? What should applicants do after the implementation of the new policy?
In this article from the New England Journal of Medicine (NEJM), the authors surveyed over 4000 PDs from 30 specialities.
Only 15% of PDs agree with changing Step 1 to pass/fail, and 77% expect this change to make objective comparison of applicants more difficult.
Nearly half of program directors (44%) believe that IMGs will be at a disadvantage, and only 14% expect the change to reduce socioeconomic disparities in acceptance to residency
In internal medicine, 84% of programs will now require applicants to submit Step 2 CK scores with their applications; in surgical fields, as many as 90% of programs will do so. Overall, 81% of program directors believe that Step 2 CK scores will be of greater importance than they are now.
Only 9% of respondents thought that Step 2 CK should also be made pass/fail, further highlighting the value of standardized test scores to program directors.
Although it remains to be seen how medical students will respond, only 25% of program directors believe that student well-being will improve as a result of the scoring change.