NJBMD’s Blog from Student Doctor Network

Experiences in Academic Medicine – Pre-med to Practice

About njbmd’s blog

This blog will contain essays and tools for anyone preparing for or currently in medical school (or preparing to become a physician assistant). I am now at the end of my postgraduate training and would like to extend a hand of assistance to anyone who might be struggling either in premedical studies or in medical school/PA school. I will also write about my experiences from time to time. Please enjoy and comment on things that were helpful and things that you would like to see discussed here. Enjoy!

3 Comments »

  1. Dear to whom it may concern,

    What does one do who is a US medical grade in 2005″ Had barley passing USMLE Step 1 and 2 scores after 2 attempts each, had 8 months of residency experience in family medicine which went bad but, want to continue with family medicine. I am currently studying to take and hopefully pass step 3 in March.

    I have good clinical skill and great professionalism with patients and co-workers alike. I am a bi-racial African American and have not been getting any luck with ERAS 2008. I had 4 interviews total out of 78 total programs applied too. The interviews I had, letters state “you make a great resident”, “I would be great to work with you”, “we will give your application serious attention”…etc but when it came to 2nd look all but one suggested it would be a waste of my time(meaning, not going to be ranked).

    I am 38 years of age, married with two wonderful daughters. It has taken me years to get to this point. Do I walk away from it all and start a new career or keep trying? I was considering about applying to a Canadian family residency program.

    I love medicine, and it has always been a dream of mine to engage in patient care as a practicing physician. However, I am very disenchanted about the politics involved in medicine just to find a program that would have been relatively easy to get into 20 years ago. What the hell do I do?????

    Eric

    Comment by eric | January 11, 2008 | Reply

  2. There are a couple of things that are not clear from your post. You had some problems with your previous residency position. In general, those problems need to be fully resolved (on both sides) before you move onto another position. The reason for this is that before any residency program will consider you, they are going to want a letter or phone call from your previous program director. You need to be sure that your previous PD is willing to admit that you and the program were not a “optimal fit” but that you are a capable resident who just needs a program more in tune with your educational needs.

    Second, what did your in-service exams look like? Since you struggled with USMLE previously, a solid performance on the in-service exam would definitely make you more attractive to programs. Board pass rates are of considerable interest to programs so you need to demonstrate by your in-service achievements, that you have figured out why you struggled with USMLE and have solved those issues.

    Third, passing USMLE Step 3 will make you license-eligible so you definitely want to do this and take this exam only once scoring well. Traditionally, folks in Internal Medicine and Family Medicine do well with this exam but make sure you get this test done once and done well.

    Fourth, there is currently “political entity” that is keeping you out of a residency program. Quite simply, you have had some problems in the past – USMLE problems and residency program problems- that make you not attractive to most residency programs. These issues have nothing to do with you being biracial but more to do with your past performances.

    If you don’t match this year, you may want to look into finding a physician/group of physicians (with good connections) who will allow you to work with them and get some solid clinical experience of high quality (much like an observership). You need to do this pretty quickly as after being out of residency a couple of years, your chances of getting back in are slim.

    You also NEED a huge score on USMLE Step III so delay this test until you know that you can nail this exam solidly.

    Another strategy is for you to take a year and get some solid clinical research that is related to family medicine. Your project needs to net a significant publication and thus, you need to find a good mentor who is willing to be an advocate for you. Again, the more connected the person, the better. This person needs to see your “A-game” at all times so that they can make some phone calls on your behalf.

    Sorry that your post-grad experience has been rough but plot a strategy to maximize your clinical work and work on getting your academics solid.

    Comment by uvamedicine | January 11, 2008 | Reply

  3. I just want to say that I have enjoyed your blog immensely. I have read every single post and they were informative and entertaining as well.

    I was googling for information about the scope of Pediatric Surgery work when I stumbled upon your blog.

    I’m currently a 6th year medical student. Yes, here in Saudi Arabia we follow the 6-year plan and then we do an Internship Year after which we receive our Bachelor in Medicine and Surgery degree.

    It is my hope that I get to do my residency and fellowship training in the United States to become a Pediatric Surgeon. I’m very well aware of the hardships that come with that and how difficult it can be finding a position in the midst of all the competition in the medical field these days. However, I have faith. Most of our staff at our university, if not all actually, have done their postgraduate training at American, Canadian and British hospitals. It is very unfortunate though that the new graduates are struggling to score a decent position anywhere abroad.

    Please keep updating your blog and I’ll be a dedicated reader.

    Comment by Bassem | September 26, 2008 | Reply


Leave a comment