- Joined
- Mar 31, 2014
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I have got a lot of good advice on this website and I had promised myself that if I ever do find a spot, I would write about how I got there in an attempt to give back in a small way. But lo and behold, when the time did come, I got busy and kept procrastinating. Selfish eh! I may have also put it off because there can be backlash here sometimes. Now I am finally getting to it and sharing my journey from IMG to intern in hopes of helping someone. I hope it is taken in the right spirit. I won’t be giving specifics because I don’t want to be identified.
I was a good student in a good medical school, top 25% of my class, which I got into after ranking high in a competitive entrance exam. I failed step 1 and didn’t get a great score upon passing. The reasons were many, I was studying MPH (which I got into after scoring well on the GRE), lonely in a new country, got into a bad relationship, then started working full time, etc. Bottom line is I SHOULD NOT HAVE TAKEN THE EXAM AT THAT TIME. I should have waited till things had settled. I was being in a rush, trying to time the exam and getting into residency with the expiration of my student/OPT visa. It just ended up a mess. I passed step 2 CK in the first attempt but the score was low again and I passed CS in the first attempt. I got a good score in step 3 and I think that was helpful. In between all of this my student visa did end up expiring and I had to go back home for a while and come back on a business/visitor visa.
To help my resume I signed up for externships with a company called Americlerkships. I am not sure if I can mention them here or not. I wouldn’t recommend them though. I was lucky and they sent me to some good spots but most other people were not. Plus they are very expensive. They just call physicians with private practices and ask them if they would allow observerships/shadowing. One can do that by cold calling physicians themselves. Plus there are several programs that offer observerships and a simple google search will pull up the list. SO DON’T WASTE MONEY ON THEM. Whatever observership you do get into, make sure you do a good job, make a good impression and get a good letter of recommendation.
I have forgotten how many times I applied. But it was at least three. I had a smattering of interviews here and there each time but I never found a spot. I was aiming for IM and a few other specialties as backup. The last time, I got a call towards the end of the season from one of the backup specialties and immediately my instinct told me that this was going to be it. That is the place where I pre-matched. Yes you read it right, I pre-matched. Now a 2nd year, I am doing well and actually loving the specialty. A lot of people who do badly in USMLE want programs to just know that their application doesn’t define them as opposed to someone who has done well and would like programs to solely focus on their application. Each time I didn’t match, I kept feeling like maybe my getting into medical school was a fluke and that my application was accurate. Now that I am in a program and doing well, I feel confident enough again to say that me failing step 1 was the fluke. It was my fault in the end and I don’t ever want to forget that so that I don’t mess up like that again.
I would like my story to be a cautionary tale rather than an inspirational one. I had a lot of support from friends and family and that was what kept me going. The main thing I would like to say to others trying to get into residency is:
1. DO NOT SCREW UP THE USMLE EXAMS! It will take a superhuman effort to overcome that. You have to do well, at least 230! This is a must especially for step 1.
2. Get some experience. Even observerships should count. You don’t have to be specific in your resume, just call it clinical experience. If you are asked to elaborate in an interview then be honest but you don’t have to be detailed in your resume.
3. At any rotation/observership etc, be enthusiastic, professional and respectful. Don’t show up on day one expecting an LOR, work towards it. Remember, you are leaving behind a trail and you want it to be a good one. Try to learn as much as you can so that even if you don’t get an LOR, the experience will help you.
4. Don’t act desperate. Nobody likes that. I know how desperate it can feel but don’t let others see it, especially where you rotate. Always be professional and project some amount of confidence.
5. Don’t be discouraged or feel bitter when people who promised they would help don’t. They may have their reasons. Just move on.
6. Be flexible about your choice of specialty and remember backups are there for a reason so if you do match into a backup, it’s not the end of the world.
7. Prematches are not totally non-existent. They are just very few and far between and programs either prematch completely or fill completely in the match. Most programs that even consider prematch are smaller. No program that takes 22 residents a year is going to prematch, the match is way easier for a large program. But programs that take say 9 candidates can sometimes forgo the match. Do your research and find this information by contacting the programs.
8. Hopefully you don’t have any red flags in medical school.
9. Again my story is cautionary and I had a lot of support. So start off right so that you don’t have to end up like me.
Sorry for the long post. Good Luck this season!
I was a good student in a good medical school, top 25% of my class, which I got into after ranking high in a competitive entrance exam. I failed step 1 and didn’t get a great score upon passing. The reasons were many, I was studying MPH (which I got into after scoring well on the GRE), lonely in a new country, got into a bad relationship, then started working full time, etc. Bottom line is I SHOULD NOT HAVE TAKEN THE EXAM AT THAT TIME. I should have waited till things had settled. I was being in a rush, trying to time the exam and getting into residency with the expiration of my student/OPT visa. It just ended up a mess. I passed step 2 CK in the first attempt but the score was low again and I passed CS in the first attempt. I got a good score in step 3 and I think that was helpful. In between all of this my student visa did end up expiring and I had to go back home for a while and come back on a business/visitor visa.
To help my resume I signed up for externships with a company called Americlerkships. I am not sure if I can mention them here or not. I wouldn’t recommend them though. I was lucky and they sent me to some good spots but most other people were not. Plus they are very expensive. They just call physicians with private practices and ask them if they would allow observerships/shadowing. One can do that by cold calling physicians themselves. Plus there are several programs that offer observerships and a simple google search will pull up the list. SO DON’T WASTE MONEY ON THEM. Whatever observership you do get into, make sure you do a good job, make a good impression and get a good letter of recommendation.
I have forgotten how many times I applied. But it was at least three. I had a smattering of interviews here and there each time but I never found a spot. I was aiming for IM and a few other specialties as backup. The last time, I got a call towards the end of the season from one of the backup specialties and immediately my instinct told me that this was going to be it. That is the place where I pre-matched. Yes you read it right, I pre-matched. Now a 2nd year, I am doing well and actually loving the specialty. A lot of people who do badly in USMLE want programs to just know that their application doesn’t define them as opposed to someone who has done well and would like programs to solely focus on their application. Each time I didn’t match, I kept feeling like maybe my getting into medical school was a fluke and that my application was accurate. Now that I am in a program and doing well, I feel confident enough again to say that me failing step 1 was the fluke. It was my fault in the end and I don’t ever want to forget that so that I don’t mess up like that again.
I would like my story to be a cautionary tale rather than an inspirational one. I had a lot of support from friends and family and that was what kept me going. The main thing I would like to say to others trying to get into residency is:
1. DO NOT SCREW UP THE USMLE EXAMS! It will take a superhuman effort to overcome that. You have to do well, at least 230! This is a must especially for step 1.
2. Get some experience. Even observerships should count. You don’t have to be specific in your resume, just call it clinical experience. If you are asked to elaborate in an interview then be honest but you don’t have to be detailed in your resume.
3. At any rotation/observership etc, be enthusiastic, professional and respectful. Don’t show up on day one expecting an LOR, work towards it. Remember, you are leaving behind a trail and you want it to be a good one. Try to learn as much as you can so that even if you don’t get an LOR, the experience will help you.
4. Don’t act desperate. Nobody likes that. I know how desperate it can feel but don’t let others see it, especially where you rotate. Always be professional and project some amount of confidence.
5. Don’t be discouraged or feel bitter when people who promised they would help don’t. They may have their reasons. Just move on.
6. Be flexible about your choice of specialty and remember backups are there for a reason so if you do match into a backup, it’s not the end of the world.
7. Prematches are not totally non-existent. They are just very few and far between and programs either prematch completely or fill completely in the match. Most programs that even consider prematch are smaller. No program that takes 22 residents a year is going to prematch, the match is way easier for a large program. But programs that take say 9 candidates can sometimes forgo the match. Do your research and find this information by contacting the programs.
8. Hopefully you don’t have any red flags in medical school.
9. Again my story is cautionary and I had a lot of support. So start off right so that you don’t have to end up like me.
Sorry for the long post. Good Luck this season!
