Br0wnPanth3R
Full Member
- Joined
- Mar 22, 2020
- Messages
- 15
- Reaction score
- 27
Hey all,
I'll make this short and to the point. I understand the position I am in, trust me, i've seen countless family members in the same spot as me (who are all practicing physicians now) and i've heard of all of the advice possible. I know my chances are lower and harder, but please, bear with me.
While Neuro seemed like it was right within my reach this MATCH, clearly it wasn't, so i'm preparing to apply again, this time with more IM prelims. You might be wondering why I didn't apply broadly to this as well first time? Great question, I wasn't thinking about it and it slipped my mind since I became overly focused on matching in to Neuro.
Anyways, right now I am spending time volunteering to help those affected by COVID. I genuinely love the field of medicine, and I still keep up with my clinical knowledge through the job I have. My Attending Physician is amazing, and allows me to have in depth discussions with him on all the patient's he sees (the one I work for, always asking what I think of a diagnosis and how my thought process would go). I love Neurology, I won't stop until I figure out a way to get there. Helping people is what I wake up for every day, and also why I didn't let MATCH affect me as much, because I knew I just had to work that much harder to prove myself. (Side note, even he, who knows my board scores, has attested to my work ethic/clinical knowledge and was surprised I did not match this cycle either).
Looking now for an IM prelim or even by a miracle, PGY1 neuro spot should one open between now and July. If anyone knows of anything, please let me know. I know a lot of people are posting on here these days, and i'm more likely to be overlooked based on my stats, but I know I am more than that.
In the meantime, due to COVID I already know many other options to help boost my resume are suspended i.e. observerships, shadowing, research etc. I did have another research opportunity lined up which slipped because of this situation. If you have advice on what else I can do, I love staying busy and staying focused on my end goal.
Thank you, and again please be gentle, I know what position I am in, but focused on how to get out of it.
(And I guess this wasn't short and "to the point" but thank you for reading).
EDIT: You may be wondering why I attempted MATCH a year after graduating - I did not pass Step 2 CK during this time and received my score too late/needed to do the retake so I postponed it, since as an SGU grad we were required to have this completed prior to applying for residency.
I'll make this short and to the point. I understand the position I am in, trust me, i've seen countless family members in the same spot as me (who are all practicing physicians now) and i've heard of all of the advice possible. I know my chances are lower and harder, but please, bear with me.
- June 2019 Grad
- FIRST time attempting MATCH + SOAP
- Applied Neuro this MATCH, 6 interviews (IM Prelim as back up, 1 interview)
- No MATCH, no SOAP
- Great emails from PD's all saying they'd love to have me in their program so...not sure what happened (But we all know this is a common thing I guess)
- 5 Neuro Research Publications
- Two presented at ANA and North American Neuromodulation Society (poster presentations)
- One pending publication
- Working with Neurologist right now as an Assistant/Scribe
- Observerships with top Neuro residencies aka Barrow Neuro Institute in the MS clinic (Loved this opportunity)
- Three other Neuro Observerships
- One IM Observership and one NeuroPsych (Thought earlier I may be interested in Psych too but decided Neuro is what I really want to do)
- Volunteer for a national diabetes clinic/working directly with Physicians to provide free screenings for patients & medical advice
- Despite board scores, have had great feedback on my clinical knowledge. I suffer from a medical illness i'd rather not disclose, so my test taking skills have suffered but my in person, clinical skills are great. Addressed in Personal Statement
- Great sample of LOR's, I know there isn't anything poor written in them.
While Neuro seemed like it was right within my reach this MATCH, clearly it wasn't, so i'm preparing to apply again, this time with more IM prelims. You might be wondering why I didn't apply broadly to this as well first time? Great question, I wasn't thinking about it and it slipped my mind since I became overly focused on matching in to Neuro.
Anyways, right now I am spending time volunteering to help those affected by COVID. I genuinely love the field of medicine, and I still keep up with my clinical knowledge through the job I have. My Attending Physician is amazing, and allows me to have in depth discussions with him on all the patient's he sees (the one I work for, always asking what I think of a diagnosis and how my thought process would go). I love Neurology, I won't stop until I figure out a way to get there. Helping people is what I wake up for every day, and also why I didn't let MATCH affect me as much, because I knew I just had to work that much harder to prove myself. (Side note, even he, who knows my board scores, has attested to my work ethic/clinical knowledge and was surprised I did not match this cycle either).
Looking now for an IM prelim or even by a miracle, PGY1 neuro spot should one open between now and July. If anyone knows of anything, please let me know. I know a lot of people are posting on here these days, and i'm more likely to be overlooked based on my stats, but I know I am more than that.
In the meantime, due to COVID I already know many other options to help boost my resume are suspended i.e. observerships, shadowing, research etc. I did have another research opportunity lined up which slipped because of this situation. If you have advice on what else I can do, I love staying busy and staying focused on my end goal.
Thank you, and again please be gentle, I know what position I am in, but focused on how to get out of it.
(And I guess this wasn't short and "to the point" but thank you for reading).
EDIT: You may be wondering why I attempted MATCH a year after graduating - I did not pass Step 2 CK during this time and received my score too late/needed to do the retake so I postponed it, since as an SGU grad we were required to have this completed prior to applying for residency.
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