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If only money grew on trees I’d apply to every program in America that has a criteria that matches my credentials . *sigh*
IMG Family Medicine Applicants- Match 2019
- Thread starter Guyton&Hall
- Start date
That's how I feel. And this waiting and hoping process lasts till March. That's grueling. I've been calling programs and sending Letters of Interest, but I suspect I might be a bit late in that regard.
I'm still hopeful though, it's a required pre-existing condition for any IMG trying to match.
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I like your positive attitude. Although easier said than done, I believe a positive attitude is what keeps up forward.
For those still waiting for interviews, let’s gather up and support each other.
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Hopefully, something good comes before December 1...
Guys !!! I'm literally fed up with this season already. I think it's because of the delays in getting my ECFMG certification. My best bet would be preparing for step 3 and applying next year which will be tougher than this year match. Lol !!! Please share me your insights on Step 3 and matching.
Guys, do we have to apply for the ECFMG certification?????!!!! I passed step 1, 2CK/CS already and will graduate this upcoming May from a Carib school. USIMG. I went to the website multiple times and did not see where I need to apply for the ECFMG certification...I thought it was automatic but it takes time. I'm freaking out now!
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You need to have your diploma before you can be certified. It's actually a very simple process. Just download the ECFMG app, take a picture of your diploma using the app and it will automatically upload it to their office. They then verify with your school and issue the certificate. If you graduate in May it depends on how quick your school responds and how fast ECFMG works since it's the busiest time of the year, but I had mine uploaded on October 16th, my certificate was issued on October 22nd and in my hand by October 24th.
Yes you do have to apply. I downloaded the ECFMG app on my phone and it makes it a little quicker. If you go to the ECFMG website then they will outline the steps. I called themas well about the parts I was confused about. The phone number is on the website.
There are a few different perspectives. You can read the Match A Resident blog and see if you agree with anything they suggest. There are a few other sources on the internet as well. Personally, I am also preparing for Step 3 with UWORLD, but I won't take the exam until I'm absolutely ready. Good luck!
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Hello guys, just want to ask any news from United Health Services and/or SUNY upstate
Nothing so far.
Rejection 26th/11:
Munson Family Center, Michigan & Community Health Network, Indiana
same here im sitting at 0 interviews... I applied to 70 FM programs and ive gotten 5-6 rejections all together so im really wondering what happened to the rest of the programs i applied too
we shall see i guess, my hope is slowly fading away
same here, was hoping for something in November but seems like that isn't happening. Well, all the best and hope something comes up in December/January. I read some people matched after getting and IV in January. So anything is possible.
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So, after 12 weeks of waiting and applying heavily to IMG friendly states my count is still 3 Rejections, 0 IV invites. So, I do not know what is happening. I guess I have to wait and see until January.
I'm sorry you've had such a rough time of it. Yes, I'm also hoping there will be a slow trickle of invites in January. I suspect the IMG friendly states are overwhelmed with applications. I haven't heard anything from a single one of my New Jersey, Michigan or New York programs.
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Hang in there everyone! I've reached my target number of interviews and will be declining any future interviews or accepting the new offer and cancelling one I've already scheduled.
Won't be posting here often and possibly not until after match as I'm incredibly busy so I apologize if you have any questions I don't answer. Just some quick observations from this season based on reading this thread.
1) US Citizenship is incredibly important
2) Genuine interest in the field is equally or more important.
3) Apply as broadly as you can afford
4) If you have gaps, or graduated, make them accounted for. It's only a negative if you don't have a legitimate reason or interesting story to talk about what you did during that time. Take a chance to pursue unique opportunities. Research isn't valued greatly unless you want to go into academic medicine. Most people scribe or become an EMT, try to find fields beyond those that use your medical knowledge.
5) Scores are important for some programs but there are many that don't care as long you pass on the first attempt and over the most common filter I've heard of (200 and 220 for step 1 and 2CK, respectively).
Half of my interviews are in my home state. Geographical location is incredibly important and if you have no ties to the area, make sure you address why you want to go to that specific program, either in the personal statement or a carefully crafted email early in the season to the PD/PC. I've been lucky to receive interviews from many regions (Philadelphia, Los Angeles, Alabama, Texas, North Carolina, Michigan, Ohio and Indiana) so it's possible, but you've got to apply broadly.
Spend some time on the personal statement. Many of my interviewers so far have commented on specifics in my statement. Being able to convincingly articulate why you want Family Medicine is mandatory. It's still a field viewed as a backup and has been for years. They are smart enough to see through the lies. Make it real, make it honest and make it interesting.
LORs are also incredibly important. What matters most is the quality of the content. No one cares that it's from a big shot at an Ivy League school unless they know them personally or the content of the letter is stellar. Most of my LORs were commented on positively and they were long and detailed. Two of my letters were a page and a half, one letter was two pages and my shortest LOR was a full page. You should have at a minimum 2 LORs from family physicians, ideally 3 or 4.
How do you show interest in FM? Join AAFP, attend conferences, be involved with a community health project. Most importantly, commit to your specialty of interest by your third year of med school and make sure your electives are tailored to FM. My electives my senior year were EM, Occupational Medicine, Urgent Care, FM Sub-I, PM&R, Addiction Medicine and a few others. It was clear I wanted to do FM and I think that's why I got my interviews.
For reference, I have low scores, multiple gaps, graduated from a non Big 4 Caribbean school and manged to get 18 interviews so far. A few programs I've received interviews from don't have any IMGs and I had no connection to them. Despite my red flags, they found something they liked and there in lies the rub. We've all got something against us (visa/scores/gaps/etc) but if you can show you're committed to the field and make your application unique, you've got a better shot than you think! Good luck
Won't be posting here often and possibly not until after match as I'm incredibly busy so I apologize if you have any questions I don't answer. Just some quick observations from this season based on reading this thread.
1) US Citizenship is incredibly important
2) Genuine interest in the field is equally or more important.
3) Apply as broadly as you can afford
4) If you have gaps, or graduated, make them accounted for. It's only a negative if you don't have a legitimate reason or interesting story to talk about what you did during that time. Take a chance to pursue unique opportunities. Research isn't valued greatly unless you want to go into academic medicine. Most people scribe or become an EMT, try to find fields beyond those that use your medical knowledge.
5) Scores are important for some programs but there are many that don't care as long you pass on the first attempt and over the most common filter I've heard of (200 and 220 for step 1 and 2CK, respectively).
Half of my interviews are in my home state. Geographical location is incredibly important and if you have no ties to the area, make sure you address why you want to go to that specific program, either in the personal statement or a carefully crafted email early in the season to the PD/PC. I've been lucky to receive interviews from many regions (Philadelphia, Los Angeles, Alabama, Texas, North Carolina, Michigan, Ohio and Indiana) so it's possible, but you've got to apply broadly.
Spend some time on the personal statement. Many of my interviewers so far have commented on specifics in my statement. Being able to convincingly articulate why you want Family Medicine is mandatory. It's still a field viewed as a backup and has been for years. They are smart enough to see through the lies. Make it real, make it honest and make it interesting.
LORs are also incredibly important. What matters most is the quality of the content. No one cares that it's from a big shot at an Ivy League school unless they know them personally or the content of the letter is stellar. Most of my LORs were commented on positively and they were long and detailed. Two of my letters were a page and a half, one letter was two pages and my shortest LOR was a full page. You should have at a minimum 2 LORs from family physicians, ideally 3 or 4.
How do you show interest in FM? Join AAFP, attend conferences, be involved with a community health project. Most importantly, commit to your specialty of interest by your third year of med school and make sure your electives are tailored to FM. My electives my senior year were EM, Occupational Medicine, Urgent Care, FM Sub-I, PM&R, Addiction Medicine and a few others. It was clear I wanted to do FM and I think that's why I got my interviews.
For reference, I have low scores, multiple gaps, graduated from a non Big 4 Caribbean school and manged to get 18 interviews so far. A few programs I've received interviews from don't have any IMGs and I had no connection to them. Despite my red flags, they found something they liked and there in lies the rub. We've all got something against us (visa/scores/gaps/etc) but if you can show you're committed to the field and make your application unique, you've got a better shot than you think! Good luck
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Don't freak out. As long as programs are aware you passed all your steps (ie. you made sure to upload your updated scores) that's all they really care about. They know you are eligible to be certified.
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My best advice is to take it into your own hands and start emailing program coordinators. From being involved in recruitment at my current program, there is a sea of thousands of IMG applications. They don't prioritize reviewing all of them, mostly because programs don't have the manpower to do so. Give them a reason to look you up and open your application - send an email saying you read their website, you heard about them at a conference, whatever. Tell them why you are interested and they may pull you up in ERAS and read your application.
Also, everyone applying should go to the AAFP med student conference in Kansas City, its a recruitment hot spot. When I was interviewing I got about 50% of my interviews from that conference.
Thanks for the advice. I sent out emails to about 200 programs a week ago. Heard from 3-4 saying they have filled their slots, but nothing else. Im really worred that my emails go straight to their spam maybe because i am emailing from canada or something??? who knows, sometimes i feel like eras or my email is broken because of my disbelief that i have no interviews, but then again i still receive some replies and rejections as well.
I just hope i get at least 1 interview at this point and promised myself i will do the best i possibly can to ensure that it goes well, but hopefully some of these programs have read my email and atleast consider me..
I have no red flags unless needing a J1 is considered a red flag ... so i just cant understand how i havent even received 1 interview. I am starting to realize just how compeetitive the match is
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Attending the AAFP Medical Student and Resident conference is one of the things I am planning to attend next year.. Thanks.
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I haven’t heard anything from these states either, especially Michigan where I applied to 10+ program in this state. Not even a rejection.
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I only heard from 1 Michigan program, and that is Beaumont - Gross point, which was a rejection mail. So, at this point as per what other people have been posting there is around 15% of IVs that have not been sent. So, I think other applicants still have a chance. Still hoping and praying for something even at this point in time for this season.
The J-1 seems to be a bigger issue than I had thought. I really hope, though, that we all get that chance to fully maximize at least one interview opportunity. It just takes one, and some people get their only invite in December.
Good luck guys!
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Programs either give out J1s or they don't. They have to have someone trained to do it, so they either have that person or they don't. If you are applying to programs that give out J1s then that's not the issue. The bigger issue is programs receive thousands of IMG applications and don't have the resources to review them all - give the program a reason to pull your application.
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1) Quality is more important than quantity. Are you emailing with specific details about the program that you like (ie. that you may have researched from their website)? A generic email is not going to make them want to look at your application. Your emails are not filtered out because you are Canadian, but its possible that some organization's emails filter out outside emails in general.
2) Needing a J1 is not a red flag. Programs either have someone trained to do that process and are willing to, or they are not. Of course, that means it is up to the applicant to apply to programs that sponsor J1s (ie Frieda search or matcharesident.com)
3) If you are not successful this year and don't have obvious "red flags" start to think of the ones that might not be so obvious to you, but are in your control. From having reviewed hundreds of applications, the biggest ones I see are:
- Weak letters - letter mentions another speciality, no FM letter, short or "generic" letter
- Weak personal statement - more subjective of course, but this needs to be written well, not include any "sob stories" of x or y family member was sick so now I want to do FM and should show concrete evidence of why you have the skills you have (ie. I am good team player because I played basketball with the same team for 4 years or I gained leadership skills while organizing a health fair for my community)
Nania Mania
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Guys, I’m a desperate newbie. I have IV at Mc Laren Flint program and it is extremely important for me ( area and number of invites wise
(((
I read somewhere that they ask medical questions. Maybe someone would be so kind and share experience? Or maybe you have any ideas how to prepare? I’m scared and don’t **** my only chance. My scores aren’t great too.
199, 212, cs , 2013 , gc , 4 FM LORs
(((I read somewhere that they ask medical questions. Maybe someone would be so kind and share experience? Or maybe you have any ideas how to prepare? I’m scared and don’t **** my only chance. My scores aren’t great too.
199, 212, cs , 2013 , gc , 4 FM LORs
Guys, I’m a desperate newbie. I have IV at Mc Laren Flint program and it is extremely important for me ( area and number of invites wise
I read somewhere that they ask medical questions. Maybe someone would be so kind and share experience? Or maybe you have any ideas how to prepare? I’m scared and don’t **** my only chance. My scores aren’t great too.
199, 212, cs , 2013 , gc , 4 FM LORs
Guys, I’m a desperate newbie. I have IV at Mc Laren Flint program and it is extremely important for me ( area and number of invites wise
I read somewhere that they ask medical questions. Maybe someone would be so kind and share experience? Or maybe you have any ideas how to prepare? I’m scared and don’t **** my only chance. My scores aren’t great too.
199, 212, cs , 2013 , gc , 4 FM LORs
Firstly, congrats! That's awesome. I applied to that program and I'm very happy to hear that you're going to interview there.
Secondly, I have no experience so I'm not the best to advise you.
Lastly, though, scores or not, they want to meet you and they think that you can potentially be entrusted with their patients.
I can't say anything specifically useful but I can say that an entire residency program thinks you could be a good resident. Forget the scores and prove Flint right. If anything, your scores just show that you are tenacious, patient and optimistic; awesome traits for a family doctor!
P.S: Maybe the reddit medical school forum will have some examples. The U.S MDs go on alot of interviews and post stuff pretty freely on there. Or maybe you can look for examples of free ABFM/Step 3 questions.
I'm betting on you to ace that interview!!
When you do please share your experience if you can.
Hopefully someone else will reply shortly.
Nania Mania
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Tha m you for you supportive reply and some qlues.Firstly, congrats! That's awesome. I applied to that program and I'm very happy to hear that you're going to interview there.
Secondly, I have no experience so I'm not the best to advise you.
Lastly, though, scores or not, they want to meet you and they think that you can potentially be entrusted with their patients.
I can't say anything specifically useful but I can say that an entire residency program thinks you could be a good resident. Forget the scores and prove Flint right. If anything, your scores just show that you are tenacious, patient and optimistic; awesome traits for a family doctor!
P.S: Maybe the reddit medical school forum will have some examples. The U.S MDs go on alot of interviews and post stuff pretty freely on there. Or maybe you can look for examples of free ABFM/Step 3 questions.
I'm betting on you to ace that interview!!
When you do please share your experience if you can.
Hopefully someone else will reply shortly.
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How was the month of November for most people? Any news?
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Ok. 0 everything for me. Been silent for the 2nd straight month.
I've been calling and emailing programs quite a bit. So that might have helped me a little. I'm hoping December will finally trickle in.
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Already emailed them. and still no response.
But hey Silence is over. Rejection from Morehouse Atlanta program
Sorry to hear that. Same Morehouse rejection last night.
Same here. 1 fake waitlist from alabama couple of days back that almost everyone got.
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Fake waitlist? what do you mean?
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anyone tried a virtual interview with any program????
Guys, I’m a desperate newbie. I have IV at Mc Laren Flint program and it is extremely important for me ( area and number of invites wise
I read somewhere that they ask medical questions. Maybe someone would be so kind and share experience? Or maybe you have any ideas how to prepare? I’m scared and don’t **** my only chance. My scores aren’t great too.
199, 212, cs , 2013 , gc , 4 FM LORs
Sorry, I have no idea. Have you tried to just google and see? Sometimes it is helpful. Also, do you mind sharing when you got the invite? and if they have any slots left?
Guys, I’m a desperate newbie. I have IV at Mc Laren Flint program and it is extremely important for me ( area and number of invites wise
I read somewhere that they ask medical questions. Maybe someone would be so kind and share experience? Or maybe you have any ideas how to prepare? I’m scared and don’t **** my only chance. My scores aren’t great too.
199, 212, cs , 2013 , gc , 4 FM LORs
oh, and all the best. Try and not put too much pressure on yourself. You got an interview, they want to meet you, that is a good thing. Be yourself and be confident, you got this!
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I applied to Upenn but never got anything.. waiting in vain for any news from other programs.
Nania Mania
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Thank you for your kind words.
I got IV in the middle of October. They sent me some dates to choose in the message, so I cannot say if they have any spots left. I had like 6 dates to choose from.
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Hey guys, just wondering if being invited for a second look after submission of a video interview is a good sign, or is this usually just a formality?
Enjoy it and try not to worry. It seems a much better sign than no follow up at all.
Congrats!
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Thank you for your response!
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Anyone have any news from SUNY UPState? not ST Joseph
They are apparently done with sending invites. All the slots filled up fast. Someone said on one of the whatsapp groups.
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thank you for your response.
