Be Confident and Stand Up For Yourself
- US IMG [Green Card]
- Step 1 : 197 [Second attempt]
- Step 2 CK : 215
- YOG: 2016
What would you say if a program director looks at your low board scores during the interview and says to you... "I don't even know why you are here!"?
Dr Barone,
Talking about success stories. I would like to share mine. I don't know if it counts as much of a struggle as I have truly read some very brutal experiences. But if my story can give hope to just one person out there ready to give up, I've done my job!!
I graduated from an international medical student in 2016. Moved to the states with my then boyfriend and now husband. Constantly aware I had to work towards my dream. Two days before my step 1 exam I heard the terrible news of my grandmother's returning Non-Hodgkins Lymphoma (NHL) and was devastated... I was well prepared and decided to just sit for the exam. No surprise ending up with a 192 and a fail.
I continued to work towards my goal and found a job as an Medical assistant (MA) at a reputable university hospital near me. I would go everyday motivated to make the most out of my experience. I would be the first one in and the last one out. I used the crap out of my up-to-date and would make a point to go over to the physicians and discuss every case every management options. I established a beautiful relationship with my doctor's. They encouraged me each time I felt I was falling behind. Feeling a little better and having worked my butt a second time around I go on to sit for the step 1 one more time. Despite believing I had outdone myself. Three weeks later I was shocked to see I had passed with only a 197.
I continued to move forward. I worked harder at work than I ever had. I looked for every opportunity to learn explore and widen my horizons. During the next 6 months I wrote and published 8 peer reviews papers. I become part of 3 large scale clinical trials running through the university and wrote protocol and became co-Is with some very affluent physicians. Step 2 CK was next and I passed that with a 215. Again. Terrible test taker or just terrible luck? I had no idea.
September was coming up and I was ready to get my application ready. My doctor's wrote me stellar LORs. I was humbled by their love and support. I interviewed at the same reputable university. And come March, I have matched today into Internal Medicine! To my dream program in my dream city!! With terribly low scores. One failed attempt. IMG.
What a journey it has been. And I really would like to thank you for helping me through this. I have watched your videos over and over again. And everything I felt like I couldn't do it I would hear your tell me I could and I just went on. So thank you Dr Barone and thank you for establishing this community that gives so much to everyone. The match, it seems, is really inevitable for those who don't give hope and continue to strive for their goals. I remember at the interview one of the faculty interviewer scoffed at my scores and exclaimed “frankly speaking we have 800 applications from Ivy League colleges and candidates with nothing less than 260. I don't even understand what you're doing here” and I looked him straight in the eye and said "I understand that I may not be your ideal candidate I understand that my scores are not ideal either. But I have worked my hardest to get here. And I will continue to work my hardest every single day of my life until I get in. This is not just a goal or interest for me. This is MY LIFE'S MISSION!! If you reject me today I will be back next year and the year after and the year after. I WILL NOT STOP "
B.P. March 22, 2020
Dr. Barone: Did you need a Visa?
Fortunately I did have a green card here in the US and I think that certainly helped my chances as the program I matched at does not grant visas.
Dr. Barone: What do you think helped you get matched at the place you matched with these low scores?
I think the only thing that helped me match was my attitude. Every time I failed I got back up thinking there's gotta be others out there like myself going through this. I have to admit, I would often find myself immersed in Reddit stories that would depress me for days because more people talk about their failures or reasons you won't get in than how you can. So for anyone doing the same, stop just stop everyone's journey is different. The only stories you should read are Barone rocks success stories. They gave me so much hope and kept me going !!
I also think contacts are everything. I was only hired as an MA at one sister outpatient clinic of this giant institution. But I went above and beyond my job title as I really just wanted my foot in the system. I had been out of school for 3 years and it helped my clinical skills a lot to physically see physician patient encounters every day. But I made the most of it. I was at every Grand round, every conference and networking event. I even started attending the resident imaging conference and learned to read echocardiograms and CTs. I went out of my way to introduce myself to the research directors , imaging directors, hospital president. I asked around for volunteer opportunities. I worked in the research lab on trials and data collection for 9 months for free!!! At that point I was literally working every weekend and 60+ hours. I understand not everyone can afford to do so, but if you can even do 1/4th of that I think it will matter.
I also think that my LORs helped me a lot. At two of my interviews, my interviewers mentioned some the remarks in my LORs and how they found that impressive. Quite honestly, they were all just honest incidents from the time I spent with those doctors but coming from people within their institution made a difference. I got multiple LORs - at least one from a physician pertinent to that speciality and at that institution is better.
I also went and did observerships and electives with program directors of each place I interviewed at. It's obvious that them feeling any sense of familiarty towards you increase your chances exponentially. So map out places that you think you are likely to match and go and spend some time getting to know the people there. It seems easy but not many people end up doing that and it definately affects the number of interviews you get.
I did tons of mock interviews with as many doctors at my work as I could. Each one of them would point various things out that I didn't realize like “you're using too many hand movements' or “you're eye contact is not strong enough”. Slow down. Speed up. Use this particular word instead of that. And I was shocked as to how many real interviews actually comprised of those questions. I felt a lot more comfortable each time I answered them and it felt like I was able to articulate myself better with practice. So certainly practice !!
Dr. Barone: OK everyone is wondering... Did you match at that program that the PD asked “what you where doing here”????
Yes, I did match at the program where a faculty head questioned why I was even in my chair. It really did throw me off. And i don't know if he wanted to instigate me but his face instantly softened after my (very dramatic ) response and I believe he just wanted to see if I could stand up for myself. I remember the same voice in my head yelling at me to sit back to appear relaxed to smile to talk slowly - all the things my mentors had taught me were thrown out the window but it really was a matter of defending myself and showing him how much I believe in myself !!!
So just one word of advise for anyone going through this.... Stand up for yourself. Be confident. Be patient. Stay positive. And the rest is all Fate!
Photo by Diao Darius (unsplash.com)