Pathology IMG applicants.

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harisjameel

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Hi, I hope everyone is doing really well. I am applying for this year's residency match and wanted to have some insight from fellow members. Just a brief background I am non US IMG, graduated in 2013, USMLE STEP 1 (223), USMLE STEP 2 CK (227-second attempt really bad day), CS (Pass) and USMLE STEP 3 (211), 7 Months of USCE, and 4 months of Virtual Pathology experience, 3 months of US volunteer experience in University hospitals, 2 publications and 7 poster and oral presentations, currently working as a Lecturer in Pathology at a medical college in my home country. In your opinion what are my chances for this season. Any input would be valuable .

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Hi, I hope everyone is doing really well. I am applying for this year's residency match and wanted to have some insight from fellow members. Just a brief background I am non US IMG, graduated in 2013, USMLE STEP 1 (223), USMLE STEP 2 CK (227-second attempt really bad day), CS (Pass) and USMLE STEP 3 (211), 7 Months of USCE, and 4 months of Virtual Pathology experience, 3 months of US volunteer experience in University hospitals, 2 publications and 7 poster and oral presentations, currently working as a Lecturer in Pathology at a medical college in my home country. In your opinion what are my chances for this season. Any input would be valuable .

Based on your scores you should have no issues matching but tell me more about your virtual pathology experience.

Programs want to make sure applicants know what they are getting themselves into and not looking for a job in the USA. So showing that you have hands on actual pathology rotations under your belt is the best bet to show that.

I’ve seen applicants who apply just to get a spot or apply to Pathology as a backup to another specialty. The bar is set low In Pathology which allows this to happen sadly. So that’s why programs have to make sure to screen applicants well so they don’t get burned.
 
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Hi, I hope everyone is doing really well. I am applying for this year's residency match and wanted to have some insight from fellow members. Just a brief background I am non US IMG, graduated in 2013, USMLE STEP 1 (223), USMLE STEP 2 CK (227-second attempt really bad day), CS (Pass) and USMLE STEP 3 (211), 7 Months of USCE, and 4 months of Virtual Pathology experience, 3 months of US volunteer experience in University hospitals, 2 publications and 7 poster and oral presentations, currently working as a Lecturer in Pathology at a medical college in my home country. In your opinion what are my chances for this season. Any input would be valuable .

Apply broadly (80-100 programs). They might overlook the CK attempt due to your previous pathology experience. Are you a pathologist? This would help further as programs with no pathology assistants like to hire people who can gross from day 1.
 
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See Trojan reply, apply broadly with a realistic goal of getting 10-15 interviews at middle-lower tier programs. Go to the best program you can match with by academic reputation.

Honest assessment: you will probably match somewhere, but you will need to work at it. It is good that you chose pathology, bottom 5 specialty in terms of competitiveness. Most other mid-more competitive specialties (I am NOT talking plastics, optho, derm here), you'd have virtuallly no chance to match (<5%). Your USMLE scores are mediocre (below average, with a fail), your medical school being outside the US is an unknown quantity at best, maybe a negative (unless your school was one of a handful of well-known medical programs in Europe or Australia; really a handful, less than 10-15). So apply widely, practice your interview skills so you can speak well of your pathology experience and research aptitude without overselling it. Are you a US citizen, native speaker in English and generally personable/likable person (can look people in the eye, answer questions clearly & succinctly, and maybe with a "pinch" of self-deprecating humor?) All of those would help.
 
Hi, I hope everyone is doing really well. I am applying for this year's residency match and wanted to have some insight from fellow members. Just a brief background I am non US IMG, graduated in 2013, USMLE STEP 1 (223), USMLE STEP 2 CK (227-second attempt really bad day), CS (Pass) and USMLE STEP 3 (211), 7 Months of USCE, and 4 months of Virtual Pathology experience, 3 months of US volunteer experience in University hospitals, 2 publications and 7 poster and oral presentations, currently working as a Lecturer in Pathology at a medical college in my home country. In your opinion what are my chances for this season. Any input would be valuable .


It's certainly worth mentioning if you have experience/interest, but I wouldn't dwell exclusively on it considering the bulk of your residency experience will not be in forensics. Also keep in mind that likely most academic program pathologists hate performing autopsies.
 
Based on your scores you should have no issues matching but tell me more about your virtual pathology experience.

Programs want to make sure applicants know what they are getting themselves into and not looking for a job in the USA. So showing that you have hands on actual pathology rotations under your belt is the best bet to show that.

I’ve seen applicants who apply just to get a spot or apply to Pathology as a backup to another specialty. The bar is set low In Pathology which allows this to happen sadly. So that’s why programs have to make sure to screen applicants well so they don’t get burned.
Do pathology community programs find it hard to fill their slots as people usually rank academic programs over community programs? Do applicants ranked between 30-50 also have a chance to match with community programs? Talking about mid to low tier community programs.
 
Do pathology community programs find it hard to fill their slots as people usually rank academic programs over community programs? Do applicants ranked between 30-50 also have a chance to match with community programs? Talking about mid to low tier community programs.
What kind of %$%#$%#^ questions are these? Come on now you are getting ridiculous with these broad hypothetical questions. Like we understand you are nervous about matching but damn.... If you believe you belong between 30 and 50 rank at a mid to low tier community program then I don't think you should match to begin with. In all honesty, what kind of miserable, pessimistic, low confidence stance is this?!
 
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What kind of %$%#$%#^ questions are these? Come on now you are getting ridiculous with these broad hypothetical questions. Like we understand you are nervous about matching but damn.... If you believe you belong between 30 and 50 rank at a mid to low tier community program then I don't think you should match to begin with. In all honesty, what kind of miserable, pessimistic, low confidence stance is this?!
Dude, I agree that I am not a strong candidate but I did get positive feedback from the programs that I have interviewed with in the form of follow-up emails. But I don't know how they are going to rank me I am just exploring my options as I am new to the process.
 
I get the uncertainty, but the time to worry about prospects of matching at all was before entering the match process when you made the irreversible investment of your time and money. The outcome is outside of your control at this point, so the best you can do is finalize your rank list and then shelve the neuroticism for a month. Take up a hobby, learn a new skill, save up some money, vegetate.
 
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Dude, I agree that I am not a strong candidate but I did get positive feedback from the programs that I have interviewed with in the form of follow-up emails. But I don't know how they are going to rank me I am just exploring my options as I am new to the process.
Well why do you think you are between 30-50 rank! Believe in yourself.
Also, nobody is going to know how you are going to get ranked. It is impossible...
 
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What kind of %$%#$%#^ questions are these? Come on now you are getting ridiculous with these broad hypothetical questions. Like we understand you are nervous about matching but damn.... If you believe you belong between 30 and 50 rank at a mid to low tier community program then I don't think you should match to begin with. In all honesty, what kind of miserable, pessimistic, low confidence stance is this?!
Thats the thing. I’ve been in programs where most >80% of interviewees are IMGs some of whom are just trying to land a spot in the US. They are anxious about the match. No offense to jameel but I’ve seen applicants like this.

This is why I am so outspoken when it comes to the Pathology job market in general and the candidates that come through during interview season.

I will continue to believe the BAR IS SET LOW in Pathology allowing random IMGs to apply in hopes of securing a job. Not all IMGs are bad but I’m just saying the number of programs and the lack of interest from US grads will allow this void to be filled by international grads.

After having been through the job search there are limited job opportunities moreso in larger bigger cities. This after working your arse off for 6 years.

Too many programs pumping out too many grads leads to degradation of Pathology as a field in general at both the job market level and at the quality of the graduating trainee level.

Ive brought up derm many times. They protect their field from degradation. That’s why it’s so highly freaking competitive to match. How many IMGs match into derm every year? That’s why the field has continued to flourish for years and years.
 
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Dude, I agree that I am not a strong candidate but I did get positive feedback from the programs that I have interviewed with in the form of follow-up emails. But I don't know how they are going to rank me I am just exploring my options as I am new to the process.
If you don’t match improve your application. That’s all you can do. Don’t worry about things you can’t control.
 
Well why do you think you are between 30-50 rank! Believe in yourself.
Also, nobody is going to know how you are going to get ranked. It is impossible...
Well to be fairly honest all the interviews I went to were very conversational, they hardly talk about my resume, mostly we talked about the program and the questions I had. I already had prepared a list of questions pertaining to pathology and specific to the program I was interviewing with. I believe I clicked well. But I guess everyone does that and especially on zoom, it's hard to show your interpersonal skills and all which really matter when it comes to ranking an applicant. Thatswhy I was wondering what if due to my extra attempt on CK they might rank me lower and do I still have a shot.
 
Well to be fairly honest all the interviews I went to were very conversational, they hardly talk about my resume, mostly we talked about the program and the questions I had. I already had prepared a list of questions pertaining to pathology and specific to the program I was interviewing with. I believe I clicked well. But I guess everyone does that and especially on zoom, it's hard to show your interpersonal skills and all which really matter when it comes to ranking an applicant. Thatswhy I was wondering what if due to my extra attempt on CK they might rank me lower and do I still have a shot.
Nobody is going to know the answer but the individual programs. We can just assume that by inviting you, they were already willing to overlook your attempt. Every program is different. Maybe if we knew which programs you interviewed at and it happened to have an inside, we could then provide some answers, maybe...
i could at least speak about my program.
 
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Nobody is going to know the answer but the individual programs. We can just assume that by inviting you, they were already willing to overlook your attempt. Every program is different. Maybe if we knew which programs you interviewed at and it happened to have an inside, we could then provide some answers, maybe...
i could at least speak about my program.
Hartford, UMMS Baystate, Westchester, and Danbury.
 
Put Danbury first and you would match there for sure.... The program director literally told me in person when i interviewed there to not rank them high if i don't want to be there and that they give the same advice to most candidates. Of course I put them near the end. Baystate is very lukewarm...I hated the lunch they offered but had some good faculty like Dr. Otis. Other than that I don't know how they rank. I put them near the bottom with Danbury.
 
Put Danbury first and you would match there for sure.... The program director literally told me in person when i interviewed there to not rank them high if i don't want to be there and that they give the same advice to most candidates. Of course I put them near the end. Baystate is very lukewarm...I hated the lunch they offered but had some good faculty like Dr. Otis. Other than that I don't know how they rank. I put them near the bottom with Danbury.
I am putting Baystate at the top as they are offering H1 visas. I sincerely hope I match this year. Thank you for the help and guidance.
 
I am putting Baystate at the top as they are offering H1 visas. I sincerely hope I match this year. Thank you for the help and guidance.
I thought Danbury was offering H1B as well. They were really advertising it the day of my interview even though I didn't need it.
 
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