A 10-Year Journey
- Step 1 : 225
- Step 2CK : 227
- One missed attempt at Matching
- Switched Medical Schools
Here's a success story 10 years in the making. We face many obstacles in life..... How you deal with them and persist thru the tough times makes all the difference...
Dear Dr. Barone,
I matched ! I MATCHED! I matched my first choice! You were one of the few voices of encouragement through my journey and I just want you to know how grateful I am for your motivating words. It means so much to me and I have tried my best to help others whenever possible because medicine is a competitive field but there is more success through cooperation and collaboration. This journey took 10 years. An entire decade. So here it is:
I started in 2009 at SGU. The reason why I went to the Caribbean was because my premed advisor told me that with my GPA I will not even get into a PA program. So I didn't even try to apply for US and only applied to SGU and ROSS. I got into SGU.
I struggled through the first semester and failed biochem by 0.87%. I still remember! Ended up repeating biochem and passed it with a B but was still on probation because the school required an A for a repeated course. I had to appeal and explain my B as a poor performance. That sucked and didn't make sense. I continued. I had deaths in the family during my first year and didn't know how to cope while away from home. I was depressed and had anxiety with panic attacks. At that time I didn't even understand what my emotions meant. I couldn't go through my final exams for second semester of med school because of extreme anxiety and requested a leave of absence. The school however asked me to repeat my entire second semester. During this time the general advice I was getting was that I was not cut out for medicine and I should look at alternative career paths.
I repeated the second semester even though I hadn't failed it. I passed. During the 3rd semester on Spring 2011, my depression and anxiety had gotten worse and I withdrew from the program completely. I was completely defeated and broken. I came home and started teaching at a local community center. But a few months into that and I started missing medicine. I decided to give it one more chance.
I applied to AUA for Spring 2012 and got accepted but they wouldn't transfer any credits so I had to start from scratch. I found a better environment at AUA and I also found the help that I so terribly needed for my anxiety and depression. I started doing better and did well in school. I passed Step 1 with a 225 on my first attempt and that was great. However, I then couldn't afford to continue with medicine due to finances.
From Fall of 2014 thru 2016 I had to accept that I couldn't continue and go thru a career change. Did part time work and took certification exams to teach high school science in NJ and right as I about to complete that certification process AUA secured title IV funding ( I can borrow from US govt). I went back immediately. Breezed through rotations and got great feedback from my attendings. I almost felt a high when I was in the hospital. I was just so happy.
In fall 2017 passed CK with a 227(not a great improvement) and CS felt like another day with my own patients. I applied for 2018 Match but didn't Match. I only applied into Family Medicine and had 4 interviews. One of my interviews was at a program where I had rotated twice and also had a LOR from one of the attendings.
I was devastated. But I had to pick myself up. I found a fellowship position being offered by AUA to teach in small group settings. It didn’t provide me with clinical experience but it was what I needed. I was with my old faculty who taught me. They celebrated my graduation even though I didn't match and they encouraged me. I was able to connect with students and help them overcome hurdles that I had as a student. But most of all I was able to gather the confidence I needed. I think this job was the only addition to my CV when I applied for 2019 match.
For this match season I had 8 interviews. I applied only to Family medicine but I applied smart. I did better research of my programs. As an IMG it is harder to match so I used Frieda and only applied to programs that had at least 50% IMGs. I also went to each website and checked if they had IMG in their PGY1 and 2 classes. I also tried to be realistic about the current political climate and applied into programs that had a diverse group of residents.
In the end on match day I got the email with the amazing news. I was already content with that but on Friday when I saw I matched first choice I was just eternally grateful to God. All the hard work and all the time paid off. This was the perfect time for it and the perfect place.
I do have a tiny bit of advice if u would like to pass on to other: Everyone has their own journey to MD and residency. Just focus on your own journey and don't try to compare it to others. In the end hard work pays off despite the bumps along the road.
10 years 2009 to 2019!!!! Thank you once again Dr. Barone. May God always bless you with happiness and health.
Z. A. March 28, 2019