The road to residency: how I got into a competitive specialty with low Step 1 score, no research and no electives

The following post is from one of my colleagues and good friends from residency. I know a lot of great medical students give up on their dreams should they not match in the first attempt. This post is for such individuals to tell you that there is light at the end of the tunnel! Dream big and you will make it!

"I first decided to study for the USMLE when I read questions from First Aid to USMLE that was sitting on my friend’s shelf (Thanks Nishchit). After reading that book, I was convinced that the training I would get in the United States would be the kind of training that would suit my personality and allow me to grow. I was right. I am a fourth-year Med-Peds resident at Case Western Reserve University- MetroHealth Medical Center, Cleveland, about to enter a fellowship in Critical Care Medicine at University of Pittsburgh Medical Center (UPMC), Pittsburgh. I am living my dream.

It wasn’t easy getting here though. In addition to being an IMG from India and needing a visa, I had a low Step 1 score, a good Step 2 score, passed CS and Step 3 in first attempts, and had no elective experience. I had only one month of observership when I first applied for Internal Medicine. I had no research or volunteer experience. Oh, and did I mention that I was three years out from my graduation? Needless to say, I didn’t match the first time. It was hard. It was crushing. After almost two years of studying, spending money to go the United States and having the right intention of simply wanting to learn, I didn’t match. I sat on the curb of a busy street in Bandra and cried my heart out. My partner who was sitting next to me cried with me.

I woke up the next morning, opened my laptop and looked at my resume. I looked at all the things my profile was lacking. I needed more US clinical experience and I needed to do volunteer work. At that time was working in an ICU in Mumbai. My work was shift based and it wasn’t hard for me to find another job. I found an LGBT clinic in Mumbai and started working as the staff physician. The clinic was located within the office of a large non-profit which had connections to the United States. (I did not know that at the time) I worked hard and made connections with two US physicians. One I reached out to myself- a Med-Peds physician running an LGBT clinic in Ohio and the other a Family Medicine physician who had come to the Mumbai clinic for a conference. The Med-Peds physician decided to take me on as an observer. The Family Medicine physician got me interviews at his program. I worked hard during my observership with the Med-Peds physician and got into the residency program there. 

It all seems smooth now, as I recount the steps I took to get a residency in the United States. It wasn’t easy though and often I wondered what I would do if I failed.

My path is unique and can hardly be replicated. But I have found that the common thread between my story and other success stories is ‘persistence’.

USMLE scores are extremely important, but they’re not all that matter. If your scores are not good, make sure the recruiters see your other qualities that will make you a good resident. My profile wasn’t very good on paper, so I set out to correct that. I also knew that I was a hard worker and people liked my work, so my goal was to demonstrate to my future boss that I would make a good resident. It worked. I got into a highly sought after residency program.

The road to a residency in the United States is a long and hard, but in the end, it is fair and I assure you that you will grow as a physician. However, before you embark on this journey, make a commitment to yourself that you will get into a residency program in the United States.

You WILL fail if you give up! But you WILL succeed if work hard and persevere! Failures that come along the way are only to make you stronger, to make you a better professional. So take that in your stride and work on making yourself a more attractive candidate. The rest is, as they say, up to what some call God, some luck and some providence. 

Varun Shetty

varunshetty@protonmail.ch"

His story continues here http://neilnf.blogspot.com/2017/12/the-road-to-fellowship-aiming-for-stars.html