12-18-2007, 09:34 AM
I have to get it out and probably most of you won™t believe me. I have being reading this forum for the past 2 years; I found some good info in it, but I got discouraged many times too. I™m an IMG, citizen, old graduate (2000), with multiple attempts “ step 1 (2) 78, step 2 (3) 82, CS passed 1st time, haven™t taken step 3. For 3 years a struggled to find an externship and finally got it (14 weeks), with this came the LOR™s. I don™t have any previous residency training or research experience. This is my third time participating in the match. The first time I didn™t get a single interview probably because I didn™t have any USCE, the second time around I got 4 IV™s in Ped™s and IM but didn™t match. This year I applied to less programs compared to past years because I didn™t see any point in wasting my money if my application was going directly to the rejection box. The only thing I did different this year was that I strictly applied to programs that replied to me with their criteria or had the info in the website, I also looked at there resident rooster in their web page to get a feeling of what they were looking for. I applied to 80 programs total in FM, IM, and Ped. I got 5 IV™s 4 FM and 1 Ped. So far I have attended 4 IV™s , in every single interview I was grilled because of my attempts and score but I also received many complements on my Personal Statement ( I guess that™s why I got the IV™s). I remained calm during my interviews, answered with honesty, not trying to look desperate but confident as if I had a œ99™s. Then finally 1 week after my 4th IV, I got a call from the PD offering me a prematch in a Univ. affiliated FM program. At this stage of the game I didn™t think it twice an accepted immediately. In the next two days I got 2 second look invitation to the programs that I previously visited, without me asking. All this has been a moral boost for me, and now I feel that I™m the Dr. that I used to be 3 years ago when I started this process full of energy and optimistic.
Moral of the story don™t let go your dream, fight for it but be realistic too. If I hadn™t match this year, I was not planning to wait years and years, because every body knows that the gap between graduation keeps getting longer every year and competition is getting fierce.
My case was a mix of luck, strategy and GOD!!!!
Peace and good luck to all.
Moral of the story don™t let go your dream, fight for it but be realistic too. If I hadn™t match this year, I was not planning to wait years and years, because every body knows that the gap between graduation keeps getting longer every year and competition is getting fierce.
My case was a mix of luck, strategy and GOD!!!!
Peace and good luck to all.