How to spend a year off until the next match?

[R Sterling]

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So, I didn't make the cut this year....

I found a job as a medical writer, and they are very interested in hiring. I spoke to the clinical coordinator at my school, and she said that even though I do need to eat, it may not be the best choice. She said that I should look for something more "hands-on" in a medical facility.

Any program directors out there care to share their opinion?

The job entails writing CME products, pamphlets for doctors, and executive summaries of medical conferences for the pharm industry, among other things.

Don't tell me to take Step 3 to boost my application...I took it last year, and did really well. It confirmed my nagging suspicion that Step 3 doesn't help you rake in interviews or match!

How and where does one find research positions? What sort of positions are considered acceptable? Do observerships count?

Thanks!

 

[atsai3]

So, I didn't make the cut this year....

I found a job as a medical writer, and they are very interested in hiring. I spoke to the clinical coordinator at my school, and she said that even though I do need to eat, it may not be the best choice. She said that I should look for something more "hands-on" in a medical facility.

Any program directors out there care to share their opinion?

The job entails writing CME products, pamphlets for doctors, and executive summaries of medical conferences for the pharm industry, among other things.

Don't tell me to take Step 3 to boost my application...I took it last year, and did really well. It confirmed my nagging suspicion that Step 3 doesn't help you rake in interviews or match!

How and where does one find research positions? What sort of positions are considered acceptable? Do observerships count?

Thanks!

If your goal is to eat, then you should do what's best for you and your family.

If your goal is to remedy the flaws in your application so that you can apply with more success next year, then I would agree that a job as a medical writer will not elevate your application. Carl Elliott has written compellingly about the drudgery of such work in his book, White Coat, Black Hat (excerpt here).

Without knowing more about your application, it is unclear whether you would be better off finding a research position.

RA jobs are often posted on web sites maintained by the office of career services at your university.

If you're out of school and/or don't have access to anything like that (ie, because many are limited to student use only), then your best bet is to look up faculty web pages to see who is working on something you are interested in, and ask them directly to see if they have a RA position available.

 

[R Sterling]

If your goal is to eat, then you should do what's best for you and your family.

If your goal is to remedy the flaws in your application so that you can apply with more success next year, then I would agree that a job as a medical writer will not elevate your application. Carl Elliott has written compellingly about the drudgery of such work in his book, White Coat, Black Hat (excerpt here).

Without knowing more about your application, it is unclear whether you would be better off finding a research position.

RA jobs are often posted on web sites maintained by the office of career services at your university.

If you're out of school and/or don't have access to anything like that (ie, because many are limited to student use only), then your best bet is to look up faculty web pages to see who is working on something you are interested in, and ask them directly to see if they have a RA position available.

Thanks for your help atsai3!

Here's a little about my background. I went to a not so fancy, but decent medical school in the Caribbean (Strike 1!!). I'm Canadian (Strike 2!!). This is the second cycle that I have not matched (Strike 3!!).

My school told me that the flaw is needing a visa, preferably an H-1B. I heard it's a coveted prize, and it only goes to a lucky few. I passed all of the Steps the first time. Really high 80s for Steps 1 and 2, and a mid 90 for Step 3. I had more interviews this season, and thought I was going to match for sure. It didn't happen. I am going for FM, IM and Psych. Next cycle it's going to be exclusively FM.

I'm not hungry or anything. My parents are kind enough to keep on picking up the tab for my shenanigans, but I feel really bad about it. I guess I'll keep on the grind and look for RA spots. Does it have to be clinical research or does lab work in basic medical sciences count? Any advice on observerships? What about starting an MPH program?

 

[turquoiseblue]

Thanks for your help atsai3!

Here's a little about my background. I went to a not so fancy, but decent medical school in the Caribbean (Strike 1!!). I'm Canadian (Strike 2!!). This is the second cycle that I have not matched (Strike 3!!).

My school told me that the flaw is needing a visa, preferably an H-1B. I heard it's a coveted prize, and it only goes to a lucky few. I passed all of the Steps the first time. Really high 80s for Steps 1 and 2, and a mid 90 for Step 3. I had more interviews this season, and thought I was going to match for sure. It didn't happen. I am going for FM, IM and Psych. Next cycle it's going to be exclusively FM.

I'm not hungry or anything. My parents are kind enough to keep on picking up the tab for my shenanigans, but I feel really bad about it. I guess I'll keep on the grind and look for RA spots. Does it have to be clinical research or does lab work in basic medical sciences count? Any advice on observerships? What about starting an MPH program?

i did a year of clinical research at hopkins and first authored 3 papers and it did not help one bit. I've done an mba and that hasn't improved me any either, so i doubt mph will help you unless you are going into FM. but yes doing these things may help your application, but there is no guarantee...you just have to try and see. observerships may help you get an LOR or two to use, but programs like hands on experience better.
when you're an fmg it is mostly luck more than anything else, but yes try to look good on paper because it makes you feel like you're getting somewhere, you can get a job off your MPH if all else fails.

good luck

 

[R Sterling]

Any program directors out there care to help me out?

 

[billybob22]

Something is missing here. You have high 80's on I and II, 90's in III all first attempt?! You must have gotten a decent number of interviews. I can only see 3 possible problems.......

1) Too picky about where to apply, location, interview, rank
2) Bad LOR or other red flag
3) Poor interviewing skills

You should get a position with those numbers if you play your cards right......

 

[billybob22]

I looked over your previous posts, I think your problem is #1.

You need to apply WIDELY. You are an IMG and can't insist on a university or great community program in a desirable location. I'm sure many community programs would love to have you.

 

[NotAProgDirector]

I agree you should probably focus on one specialty. FM is the least competitive.

Medical writing will not help your application at all.

Consider a J visa. After finishing your residency, you'd need to return to canada for 2 years (or find a J waiver position). being more flexible with a visa might help.

Apply very broadly. Interview at every program where you get an invite.

Program malignancy is somewhat in the eye of the beholder. People graduate from "malignant" programs all the time. Check them out for yourself.

Continued clinical experience is good. Volunteer if you have to.

 

[R Sterling]

Thank you everyone!!

I applied to 110 IM program and got 4 interviews
30 Psych programs and got 3 interviews
45 Family programs and surprisingly got 1 interview.

All of my apps were sent on Sept 1st. I did apply broadly. I had interviews in Ohio, Connecticut, Louisiana, New York, Pennsylvania, Michigan and Florida. I worked with someone beforehand on my interviewing skills. I guess I will just apply to every possible program that I can for FM next time and hope for the best.

 

[DrJosephKim]

Medical writing can be a great career. There are folks out there working as freelance writers and they're charging over $150/hr. It's also a nice hobby and works well to generate supplemental income. It can give you the skills to publish in peer-reviewed journals and if you offer to spend time working on publications during residency, that will improve your chances to getting accepted.

 

[J-Rad]

...
Medical writing will not help your application at all.

Medical writing can be a great career. There are folks out there working as freelance writers and they're charging over $150/hr. It's also a nice hobby and works well to generate supplemental income. It can give you the skills to publish in peer-reviewed journals and if you offer to spend time working on publications during residency, that will improve your chances to getting accepted.

Choose those from whom you take advice wisely.

 

[R Sterling]

So, I was put in contact with a doctor that is the associate director of the cardio fellowship at an Ivy League medical school, and he will allow an observership with him during his private clinic hours, outside of the hospital. He knows my situation and is willing to write a LOR for me. How much will this help? I haven't started yet, so I can't say how much hands-on he will allow me. Since it is an observership, I'm guessing very little, but being in a private setting, anything goes???? I don't know...

It looks like I can't take the writer job because this observership will take up my time. It's too bad, because it would be great to actually earn some money after all those years in school. Also, would volunteering with my local Alzheimer's Association as a helpline volunteer help my application? The job entails answering phone calls from patients with alzheimer's or their family that calls in and provide them with information about the disease and answer any question they ahve about it. The observership will be flexible enough to accomodate the volunteer work, but not a full time job.

Thanks for your help everyone!

 

[typhoonegator]

Could you use your observership as a foothold to ask this cardiologist about research opportunities with him or another member of the cards staff? Research hours can be flexible and it would certainly help to round out your year. He may be sitting on some projects that he needs someone to do the grunt work for, which could be great for you. Fellows tend not to want to do mundane things to put research projects together, but you have nothing to lose.

The Alzheimer thing sounds kind of meh.

 

[R Sterling]

Could you use your observership as a foothold to ask this cardiologist about research opportunities with him or another member of the cards staff? Research hours can be flexible and it would certainly help to round out your year. He may be sitting on some projects that he needs someone to do the grunt work for, which could be great for you. Fellows tend not to want to do mundane things to put research projects together, but you have nothing to lose.

The Alzheimer thing sounds kind of meh.

He actually forwarded my resume to the research dept! He said research is another thing that will help. I didn't know research hours are flexible. I thought it was a 9-5 gig. Hopefully I hear from them soon!

 

[gutonc]

He actually forwarded my resume to the research dept! He said research is another thing that will help. I didn't know research hours are flexible. I thought it was a 9-5 gig. Hopefully I hear from them soon!

Depends on the kind of research.

If it's clinical research (especially the chart review/statistics part) it's usually very flexible and, depending on the hospital system and EMR use, can often be done sitting on your deck with a computer in your lap and a beer in your hand.

Basic science/bench research OTOH is more like 5-9 (5a-9p). But there's enough downtime that you can do your medical writing on the side.

 

[mig26x]

I did a 1 year MPH in epidemiology, I remembering taking my last class 1 week before residency orientation began. I presented my "end of MPH project" while i was in residency, I had to fly the morning of the presentation from MA to FL, drive two hours to the town (gainesville), present, then drive two hours to the airport and fly that same day to MA again, and I was on call the next day. Did it help me match? I think so. The PD of the program said that he liked the idea of me pursuing a MPH.

I dont regret ever taking the desicion to do the MPH, it helped me in so many ways that Im very glad of doing it.

 

[R Sterling]

I'm grateful for the different point of views and advice on here.

Hopefully I can work out something were I can work as a medical writer (which is actually a full time 9-5 job) and do the observership on tuesdays.

 

[Law2Doc]

... I didn't know research hours are flexible. I thought it was a 9-5 gig...

A lot of residents in every specialty do research throughout residency and they hardly have the time for a 9-5 gig so obviously that's not the case. Research can consist of chart review/data mining based on a hypothesis and publishing your results. If it's interesting, someone will publish it. You can sometimes be effective on 10-20 hours/week, squeezed into an otherwise busy schedule.

IMHO the medical writing would be minimally beneficial for your CV, but not really open many doors. The Alzheimer volunteer thing would be a waste of time for residency purposes - volunteering is meaningless once you get past the med school applications. Also, stop using 2 digit numbers to describe your step scores, or you highlight being an IMG. US grads and faculty refer exclusively to the 3 digit scores.

You may want to take a look at the last few year's scramble lists if you can get them and make sure those programs which regularly have trouble filling are high on your list for applications for next year. And focus heavy on community based, out of the way places. The big universities in the major cities are going to have plenty of folks to choose from with no black marks like a Caribbean education, visa issues, or coming up short in the match multiple times. Some small community hospital in the sticks that has trouble in the match is far higher yield for you.