Unfortunate MD Journey And Seeking Advice

[nshah17]

Hello everyone. I will respect any suggestion or advice i can get here. I need a reality check.

I have had enough struggles in life. I wont go into details. One of the struggles includes the following stats of mine:
US IMG (went to caribbean school)
STEP 1: 195
STEP 2 CK: 222
STEP 2 CS: FAILED TWICE, Thinking to go for 3rd attempt.

Is there any chance for me to continue this route? Can i match into Family Medicine? I have applied for this year's match but after receiving a FAIL on 2nd CS again, i have given up. Chances of being a physician have become 0.001% for me. What can i do with an MD once i pass on my 3rd Attempt for Step 2 CS. Any other routes i should consider Or still give it a try to match into family medicine? Any feedback will be appreciated. Whether its positive or negative. Thank You very much

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[bananafish94]

Are you going to have to spend any more money/get into more debt to get your MD or are you free and clear if you pass CS and complete the remainder of your school requirements?

 

[studentdocftw]

Any other feasible options for a career? How much debt? Do you really want to practice medicine or were you forced into it?

 

[nshah17]

Are you going to have to spend any more money/get into more debt to get your MD or are you free and clear if you pass CS and complete the remainder of your school requirements?

Hello, thanks for your feedback on this.
Yes I will be clear once i pass CS as i have finished all the required rotations.

 

[nshah17]

Any other feasible options for a career? How much debt? Do you really want to practice medicine or were you forced into it?

Hello, thanks for your feedback on this.
I wasnt forced into it. I havent explored any other options as of yet. I'm not sure what else i can do for a career with an MD. I havent had the courage to look how much debt i already have but i believe it would be around 300K for sure.

 

[Philosopher Jagger]

Someone with your experiences could make a great guidance counselor for graduate students, if you ever feel comfortable doing that some day. Don't take that the wrong way. I'm not up on who can match what with what stats. It just seems like you would have a perspective to offer struggling grad students. Could be a career somewhere in that

 

[Goro]

Hello everyone. I will respect any suggestion or advice i can get here. I need a reality check.

I have had enough struggles in life. I wont go into details. One of the struggles includes the following stats of mine:
US IMG (went to caribbean school)
STEP 1: 195
STEP 2 CK: 222
STEP 2 CS: FAILED TWICE, Thinking to go for 3rd attempt.

Is there any chance for me to continue this route? Can i match into Family Medicine? I have applied for this year's match but after receiving a FAIL on 2nd CS again, i have given up. Chances of being a physician have become 0.001% for me. What can i do with an MD once i pass on my 3rd Attempt for Step 2 CS. Any other routes i should consider Or still give it a try to match into family medicine? Any feedback will be appreciated. Whether its positive or negative. Thank You very much

Can you enlighten us as to why you went to the Carib?

 

[bananafish94]

Hello, thanks for your feedback on this.
Yes I will be clear once i pass CS as i have finished all the required rotations.

Well, I suppose that if you don’t have to sink any more money into it, your best option will be to apply extraordinarily broadly to the least competitive family medicine programs in the country and hope for something. Beyond that, you could look into non-physician jobs that an MD could help you with. But I don’t know much about those.

 

[MedicineN'Jazz]

Hello, thanks for your feedback on this.
I wasnt forced into it. I havent explored any other options as of yet. I'm not sure what else i can do for a career with an MD. I havent had the courage to look how much debt i already have but i believe it would be around 300K for sure.

I find it hard to believe that you wouldn’t be able to match at a family med residency. There are literally dozens of open spots each year, and hospitals lose money with each unfilled spot. Perhaps hire a Kaplan tutor to help you with CS, and then apply broadly. You can do this! Don’t give up

 

[nimbus]

Also consider nursing school. I know a couple of IMG’s (from the Philippines and Vietnam) who took that route and now have rewarding careers.

 

[Philosopher Jagger]

Also consider nursing school. I know a couple of IMG’s (from the Philippines and Vietnam) who took that route and now have rewarding careers.

That's true. You can get an RN on the cheap from a community college, start at a job where they offer tuition reimbursement, work toward that BSN, and keep going from there. Make an easy $40k starting. Not doctor money, but also not doctor schedule. Most new nurses work 3 12-hr shifts a week

EDIT: and let's be honest...the nurses spend lots of time with patients

 

[Lucky Day]

That's true. You can get an RN on the cheap from a community college, start at a job where they offer tuition reimbursement, work toward that BSN, and keep going from there. Make an easy $40k starting. Not doctor money, but also not doctor schedule. Most new nurses work 3 12-hr shifts a week

EDIT: and let's be honest...the nurses spend lots of time with patients

There are also accelerated NP programs usually intended for IMGs. I have a friend in an NP program at Florida International University who has cohort interactions with the program and she says they seem chill.

 

[nshah17]

Someone with your experiences could make a great guidance counselor for graduate students, if you ever feel comfortable doing that some day. Don't take that the wrong way. I'm not up on who can match what with what stats. It just seems like you would have a perspective to offer struggling grad students. Could be a career somewhere in that

Thank You very much. I'll keep that in mind

 

[nshah17]

I find it hard to believe that you wouldn’t be able to match at a family med residency. There are literally dozens of open spots each year, and hospitals lose money with each unfilled spot. Perhaps hire a Kaplan tutor to help you with CS, and then apply broadly. You can do this! Don’t give up

Hello, Thank You very much. I will hire a tutor to prepare well for CS as i have failed ICE components both times. I felt a lil positive abt still having a chance to be FM physician.

 

[nshah17]

Also consider nursing school. I know a couple of IMG’s (from the Philippines and Vietnam) who took that route and now have rewarding careers.

Thank You for your feedback

 

[nshah17]

There are also accelerated NP programs usually intended for IMGs. I have a friend in an NP program at Florida International University who has cohort interactions with the program and she says they seem chill.

Thank You for your feedback. I'll look more into it

 

[nshah17]

Well, I suppose that if you don’t have to sink any more money into it, your best option will be to apply extraordinarily broadly to the least competitive family medicine programs in the country and hope for something. Beyond that, you could look into non-physician jobs that an MD could help you with. But I don’t know much about those.

Thank You very much. Yes i am planning to apply to FM programs broadly to see if my luck hits any spot. I also wanted to know more abt non-physician MD jobs that would be a good career for me however i cant find much info on it

 

[nshah17]

Applying FM this year in a region that is pretty non-competitive, mostly community hospitals, in some areas that most applicants would consider undesirable (smaller cities, rural areas, etc.). Most programs I looked at require that you pass CS on the first attempt, and those that don't want it within 2. That said, I'm a US MD so was able to consider some programs that were a little more competitive in spite of the location. So honestly before you make a decision, I would look at FM programs and see how many there are that will even consider applicants with 3 CS attempts.

Thank You for your feedback. I will certainly give it a try by applying to least desirable locations where i would be lucky enough to get an interview call. Having to FAIL 2 times have given me dark nights lately but i must try to reach my goal. thanks again

 

[nimbus]

That's true. You can get an RN on the cheap from a community college, start at a job where they offer tuition reimbursement, work toward that BSN, and keep going from there. Make an easy $40k starting. Not doctor money, but also not doctor schedule. Most new nurses work 3 12-hr shifts a week

EDIT: and let's be honest...the nurses spend lots of time with patients

I am in California and it is not uncommon for nurses to make over 100k and NPs to make 150k. It’s a great job. Probably better than many “non-physician MD jobs”.

 

[nshah17]

Hello,

Quick update:
Passed step 2 CS with stars in all sections. Couldnt believe it at first however my overall application is still damaged with 2 previous failures on CS
I am applying for this upcoming cycle.

1) what should i do till september to strengthen my CV? Would working as a Medical Scribe be fine or i would need to do a little more?
2) Should i think about taking Step 3? Bcz of my 2 attempts on CS, i'm a little scared if i end of screwing this one as well
3) Should i ask my LOC writers to update current dates on them?
4) any suggestions/advice?

I really appreciate for any input on this. I wish nothing but happiness and success for you all. Thank You

 

[MEN2C]

Find someone to make calls on your behalf too! Apply everywhere - look up the places that didn't fill and apply to all of them as well. Also look into any other noncompetitive specialties that also didn't match and see if you can apply to those as well. I probably wouldn't take Step 3 unless you think you're gonna definitely pass it.

What was the reasoning behind going to the Caribbean?

 

[enalli]

Obviously your first priority should be to get into an FM residency, so apply to as many programs as you can. This is not the time to save money.

If for some reason that falls through, your priority is to get anything on the SOAP (I'm talking the most malignant surgical prelim spot out there) so that you can start the GME clock to get licensed. You'll need at least 2 years of GME training as an IMG to get licensed in most states, but I think a couple of states are ok with one year of training (read more here: FSMB | State-Specific Requirements for Initial Medical Licensure).

Once you're licensed, you start to have a few more options: wound care, insurance physicals. You can also look into the military. I unfortunately don't know much about this route, but I think you just need to have completed an internship to be a GMO (General Medical Officer).

Hopefully all of this is a moot point and you land a great FM residency. Best of luck!